Only one S.I. rally hope

Press, 22 September 1977, Page 32

Only one S.I. rally hope

By

JOHN FRIDD

Dick Rayne, of Fairlie, is the South Island’s only hope of success in this year’s Pall Mall rally series, which ends in Auckland this week-end.

home and 15 for the secondplaced vehicle, Marshall will have to beat Millen by two places to take his first national championship. As Marshall has announced his retirement, he will probably go all out to win the Auckland rally to go out in a blaze of glory. On the other hand, Millen, usually a steady, fairly cautious driver, will be driving his no. 2 car, in which he has installed a very powerful motor, and might try to beat Marshall at his own

Rayne is leading the unmodified 1300 cu cm to 1600 cu cm class in his sleek Toyota Celica and has only to finish the Auckland round to win the class from his nearest rival, Malcolm Stewart, (Escort Mexico) of Dannevirke.

The South Island has no top contenders in the open class, which will probably be fought out at the weekend by New Zealand’s two top drivers, Rod Millen (Mazda RX3) and Mike Marshall (Escort RS1800). ; Millen has 47 points and! I Marshall 40 after three'

game for once. Lurking in the background will be Blair Robson (Escort RS1800). With 31 points, Robson could still take the

rounds. With 20 points championship if both Millen awarded for the first car and Marshall strike serious

trouble. Fourth in the championship after three rounds is the flamboyant Colin Taylor, (Escort) of Wellington, with 25 points. Fifth is the find of the year, Bob Couch (Scrabble Escort), of Auckland. The final Pall Mail round at the week-end, organised by Morrie Chandler of the Northern Sports Car Club, is shaping up to be New Zealand’s most exciting rally this year, apart from the Radio New Zealand inter-

national. It will be run over 885 km, including 385 km of highspeed special stages, compared with 645 km and

240 km for the Canterbury round. The first and last specials will take place in Auckland city, through public domains.

The rally will take the 150 cars as far north as Dargaville. Most of the special stages will be run over fairly light-metalled, winding roads, apart from two stages through the Woodhill Forest and one which will send the cars dashing up the southern motorway extension, which is still under construction.

The rally will kick off from the Manakau city centre at 1 p.m. on Saturday and end in Auckland at midmorning on Sunday. Only nine South Islanders will make the trip north for the event. Many southern drivers are not in the running for class money and did not feel it worth the expense to go to Auckland. Bruce Reid, of Christchurch, is taking his Datsun 1200 SSS north to try to hold on to third place in the up-to-1300 cu cm modified class, which will probably be won by Tony Baker, (Datsun 120 Y SSS) of Rotorua. Reid has finished only one of the three rounds to date but his class win in Canterbury gave him 20 points. Baker now has 52 points and Bill Sutherland, of Waikaka, is second in his 120 Y, with 42 points. Two other South Islanders, Dave Parkes (MS Motors Escort 1300), of Nelson, and Ross Young (Datsun 120 Y), of Invercargill, are also well up on the points table and could press Reid for third place. Two top Timaru drivers, Carl Rabbidge (Mazda RX3) and Bob Robb (Datsun 160 J), are taking their cars north for the rally. Rabbidge, who has run a fairly standard engine for most of the season, now has the highlymodified engine which powered Rob Gerard’s car to victory in the West Coast rally early in the season. He has the skill to give the top North Islanders a fright in the open class.