Leonard misses mist to win Peninsula rally

Press, 17 April 1978, Page 3

Leonard misses mist to win Peninsula rally

By

JOHN FRIDD

Leo Leonard should take up the cloth. On the first speed stage of t-he Autosport Club’s Wrightcars. Toyota car rally on Banks Peninsula on Saturday night the mist rolled back to allow him fast passage along the Summit Road, then closed back in as if by command to frustrate his rivals. Leonard was half a minute faster than any other driver on that stage and this proved immensely valuable: he won the 153 km event by th- incredibly small margin of only o.o3min from Dave Parkes (Nelson), with the Christchurch driver, Rob Gerard, o.43min back in third place.

Leonard’s win vaulted him into the lead in the five-part Mainland rally series. After three rounds he has 40 points, the perfect score, with his worst performance, a did-not-finish at Dunedin, deducted. i

Seventy cars started the event, which was held on sealed and metalled road, in fog and driving drizzle. Only 52 cars arrived at the finish i ravan in Akaroa at midnight.

Where the fog was constant it proved a great leveller, rendering Virtually use-

.less the powerful quartzhalogen driving lights used by most drivers (some cars have eight such lights). Carl Rabbidge (Timaru, Mazda RX3) consolidated his place as one of the South Island’s top drivers by finishing fourth and Trevor Crowe (Christchurch) made the most of his relatively underpowered Hillman Avenger to come fifth. Geoff Owen (Christchurch) drove his Escort RS2OOO smoothly to finish sixth. Leonard’s win was another milestone in his highly successful comeback to rallying. Before the event he replaced the 1800 cu cm BDA engine in his Torro Toys Escort

with a more powerful twolitre unit and this proved reliable. The Timaru driver blasted along the 12km Summit Road stage in 9.o3min, followed by Bill Pottinger (Christchurch, Magnum

Motors Escort) in 9.somin and Parkes in his M. S. Motors Escort 1600 in 9.B7rnin. Alec Doig /Waikuku-) and his co-driver, Brian Stokes, will remember the stage for a long time. The fiery Doig tried to take a tricky downhill comer in Gebbies Pass

itoo fast and his Escort 1600 (sledged off’ the road and 70m down a bank. Doig got out of the' car and started walking up the! hill with the Zetka safety} triangle which must be dis-' played after an accident, while Stokes struggled to unfasten his safety harness. Unfortunately, the car set off down the hill again, with the hapless. Stokes crouched on the floor wondering whether to leap out. The Escort eventually crashed into a tree 170 m further down the hill. Stokes was unhurt. Parkds won the second stage in 6.l3min, followed by Pottinger and Gerard, tied on 6.22 min. Wayne Murdoch (Timaru, Avenger 1600) turned in a fast time on the first stage but blew the clutch on his car during the second after getting stuck in a wafer table.

The third stage, from Port Levy to Pigeon Bay, was cencelled because of timing problems.

Parkes won the fourth in 12.9 min, with Gerard close behind in 12.92 min and Alan Hewlett (Kumara, Isuzu Gemini) turning in his best performance of the night with 12.95 min. Pottinger, who was second at that point, struck trouble in stage four when he slid backwards off the road ancj lost 15min getting his Escort back on the road. He withdrew from the rally. Leonard was trying so hard in stage four that he spun three times on the seal. Gerard, driving in his first rally for a year and finding it difficult to “get back into the groove,” came right in

I the fifth stage and won it in 110.54 mm, ahead of Leonard, I with 10.62 min, and Parkes, with 10.64 min. However, I Leonard came back in the [final stage to win in 14.45 min. Gerard finished in 14.53 min and Rabbidge in 14.73 mm. Leonard worked hard for! his win. Both Parkes and Gerard proved that they are capable of beating him.

“I’ll have it over him on the fast gravel,” said Gerard later. “This rally was real Escort country but I’ll give him a run for his money at Marlborough next weekend.” Simon Scannell (Christchurch) seeded fifty-seventh in his first rally, drove his Escort 1300 intelligently to finish a creditable ninth. Points after three rounds of the Mainland rally series are:

Leonard 40, Rabbidge 38, Murdoch 37, Crowe 35, Alan Wills (Duntroon, Mazda RX3) 32. Results:—

Over-all.—L. Leonard, S, Barclay (Timaru, Escort RS1800), 54.27 min elapsed, 1; D. Parkes, S. Green (Nelson, Escort 1600)i, 54.3, 2; R. Gerard, P. Cunliffe (Christchurch, Mazda RX3j. 54.73, 3; C. Rabbidge (Timaru, Mazda RX3), 55.79, 4; T. Crowe (Christchurch, Avenger 1858), 56.63, 5; G. Owen (Christchurch, Escort RS2000), 57.26, 6; F. Kidd (Winton, Escort 1600),. 58.37, 7; W. Burt (Timaru. Toyota Corolla). 58 67. 8; S. Scannell (Christchurch, Escort 1300), 58.73, 9: E. Richardson (Christchurch, Mazda RX3), 59.32. 10; L. Wilson (Karamea, Mazda RX3), 59.33, U; A. Wills (Duntroon, Mazda RX3), 59.34. 12. Classes: C (more than 1600 cu cm): Leonard 1, Gerard 2. Rabbidge 3. B (1301 cu cm to 1600 cu cm): Parkes 1,. Kidd 2, A. Hewlett (Kumara, Isuzu Gemini) 3. A (up to 1300 cu cm): Burt 1. Scannell 2, G. Cliff (Christchurch, Datsun 1200 SSS) 3.