Comfortable rally win

Press, 26 September 1988, Page 28

Comfortable rally win

By

JOHN HAWKINS

The outgoing Mainland car rally series champion, Roger Townshend, ended the season on a high note by taking a comfortable win in the final round at Timaru on Saturday. A delighted Townshend finished the rally, which was run in hot and dusty, conditions, more than two minutes clear of his closest rival and successor to the title, Robbie Hart, of Nelson. The promised battle for the championship between Hart and another Subaru driver, Simon Davies, of Christchurch, never eventuated. Davies was eliminated from the rally early in the second stage when he ran off course into the shoulder of the road with the impact being enough to force his retirement from the rally and dash his title aspirations. With Davies out of the event, the pressure should have been off Hart, but a couple of incidents left his car looking far from pristine at the finish of the five-stage event. “You could say I pressured myself really," said the new champion. "We ran off the road to avoid a lamb at one stage and then I hit a gate on stage three.” Apart from the panel damage, the incident damaged the Subaru’s oil cooler and with a wary eye out for a loss of oil Hart’s challenge to Townshend for event honours was over. The hot conditions, combined with high-speed sections, meant a high toll in terms of mechanical attrition. There were 53 finishers from the original 70 starters. Townshend really took a grip on the event from the start of the second stage, winning four stages and still pulling into the finish at Levels Raceway with the car in immaculate condition after

thrilling the crowds with a display of power sliding on the sealed surface. The only stage not won by Townshend was the short opening stage at Centennial Park, which fell to another Christchurch driver, Gary Cliff, in a Mazda 323 fourwheel drive. Cliff was forced out of the event with a broken axle in stage three. An amazing performance on the first stage was set by Steve Gray, who recorded second fastest time in his class A Toyota Starlet. Gray went on to finish fifth over all and win the class (1300 cu cm). In one of the best battles of the day, Timafu’s Wayne Murdoch narrowly defeated the national junior champion, Stu Weeber, for third position. Just one second separated the two at the finish, both drove Toyotas. Sixth position was a just reward for Graeme Coey, who persevered in his Mitsubishi Starion after a fault with the car delayed him for 40s in the first stage. Results: — Northbound Motors Spring Rally. Over all: R. Townshend, G. Adams (Escort RS1800), Ihr 4min 13s, 1; R. Hart, P. Hart (Subaru RX turbo), Ihr 6min 17s, 2; W Murdoch, G. McFarlane (Toyota Corolla), Ihr 7min 17s, 3; S. Weeber, J. Judd (Toyota Sprinter), Ihr 7min 18s, 4; S. Gray, A. Morris (Toyota Starlet), Ihr 7min 425, 5; G Coey, M. Fletcher (Mitsubishi Starion), Ihr Bmin 14s, 6. Class C, 1600 cu cm and over: Townshend, 1; Hart, 2; Coey, 3. Class B, 1301 cu cm — 1600 cu cm: Murdoch, 1; Weeber, 2; C. Banks, G. Wilkinson (Datsun), Ihr lOmin 6s, 3. Class A, 0-1300 cu cm: Gray, 1, D. Buist, W. Barnard (Toyota), Ihr Bmin.sBs, 2; G Goile, B. Glanville (Toyota), Ihr lOmin 535, 3.