ALPINE RALLY STARTS TOMORROW

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31196, 21 October 1966, Page 9

ALPINE RALLY STARTS TOMORROW

'J’OMORROW morning 75 cars will start on the Rallies and Trials Enthusiasts’ Club’s four-day Alpine rally around the South Island. There are five starting points but the most popular is Christchurch, with 33 starters, followed by Blenheim with 27 starters, Dunedin and Invercargill each with six starters, and Nelson with three starters. The rally is restricted to crews of two, and there are 35 cars from the North Island. The entry includes two women crews: Miss C. Dewar and Miss I. Stephenson (Morris 1100) of Auckland, and Miss B. A. Armstrong and Mrs C. M. Gregory (Anglia GT) of

Christchurch. This latter crew is sponsored by “The Press.” There is a long list of substantial cash prizes, and the winning crew will also hold, for one year, “The Press” Alpine challenge trophy. During the rally the competitors will take part in timed runs around the Ruapuna Park and Teretonga Park racing circuits, and there will be a hillclimb near Oamaru and driving tests at Nelson. The first Ruapuna Park tests will be held tomorrow from soon after 8 a.m. Progress results will be

issued throughout the rally. Competitors include the national gold star winners of the last three years: J. Butts (Christchurch), D. Benefield (Auckland) and R. Rolfe (Auckland). A Triumph 1300 driven by J. Trigance and J. Horley of Auckland will be among the Blenheim starters and it will be the first time this comparatively new model has taken part in motoring competition in this country. This particular car has already been driven overland from Britain to New Zealand.

There are four stopping places during the 1600-mile event: Nelson, Fox Glacier, Invercargill and Christchurch. The competitors will stop overnight at three of these places and finish the event at the fourth: the Christcurch starters, for instance, will finish at Christchurch on Tuesday evening.

Tomorrow the Christchurch starters will travel to Nelson, the Blenheim and Nelson starters will travel to Fox Glacier, and the Dunedin and Invercargill starters will travel to Christchurch.

The rally is being run with the assistance of Shell Oil (N.Z.), Ltd., and Dunlop (N.Z.), Ltd., and with the co-operation of the x South Island Publicity Association.