Pit Stops

Press, Volume C, Issue 29517, 19 May 1961, Page 9

Pit Stop s

N.Z. RALLIES TITLE

yUTTH four of the seven ’’ rounds counting towards this season’s New Zealand rally championship now completed, the contest is extremely close and interesting. The lead is at present held by D. K. Rolfe, of Auckland, who has 20 points, but he is being seriously challenged by last year’s champion, A. N. Boustridge. of Greymouth. Boustridge will have 17 points if his provisional win in the Westland Motor Club's gold star 11-hour rally last week-end is confirmed, as is almost certain. Until recently, competitors in major trials did not bother travelling long distances to take part in events in other parts of the country, but the sport has grown to such an extent that even Cook Strait is no longer a barrier. In March, a team from Canterbury undertook the great expense of shipping their three cars to and from Wellington for a week-end event, and an entry from Martinborough has now been received by the Rallies and Trials Enthusiasts Club in Christchurch for its Alpine Rally to the glaciers later this year. At present, the cost of shipping is the bar to a regular interchange of

visits between the islands, but at least one club is considering financial assistance to competitors coming from a long distance. South Island rallyists now have the hardest task ahead of them, since of the three remaining gold star trials, two of them are set down for the North Island. But North Island events always attract at least three times the number of competitors as those in the South Island, and gold star points are consequently more difficult to earn. If the results of last week - end's Westland Motor Club rally are confirmed, the position for the championship at present will be:— D. K. Rolfe (Auckland) 20 points. A. N. Boustridge (Greymouth) 17, J. W. Hayes (Hawke's Bay) 12, M. A. White-Johnson (Christchurch) 10, J. N. Mclntosh (Wanganui) 7, B. B. Hepburn (Christchurch) 7. The remaining rallies counting towards the championship are the Northern Sports Car Club’s Indianapolis trial on May 27-28, the Otago Sports Car Club's Micro-pein-Hepolite trial on June 24-25, and the Auckland Car Club’s Hepolite trial on July 29-30.