NATIONAL EVENTS
FIVE OUT OF FIVE FOR HUNT AND RAWSTORN
Coromandel Peninsula’s roads played host to the Dayle ITM Goldrush Rally of Coromandel, round five of the New Zealand Rally Championship (NZRC). The treacherous weather of the previous week and overnight rain made roads rather slippery for the 62 cars that started the rally. As in previous years, the roads surrounding the Whitianga township provided the challenging 127km of special stages, but the super special stage had a new address: running through the factory roads beside the local airport.
At the top of the field, Ben Hunt came into the event with the championship all but won and sealed the deal to take his second championship title with his win in this round. Ben and co-driver Tony Rawstorn triumphed in five of the eight stages. He goes
into the history books as one of just four drivers to have won five rounds in a single season in the 44-year history of the sport. Next month, no doubt, he will be aiming to make it six out of six.
The eyes of classic fans might have been drawn to the Open 2WD class cars. Those featured included several pre-’90s cars such as the Escorts of Anthony Jones and Wayne Pittams, and Charlie Evans’ Mazda RX-7 in among some of the more recent cars. It was the Escort of Anthony Jones and codriver Tanya Gwynne that notched up the win. That put them equal on points with Marcus van Klink, who had had to withdraw from the event earlier in the week due to appendicitis, setting up an exciting final round. They won seven of the eight stages, beating second-placed Charlie Evans and codriver Sue O’neill by 3min 12s.
The father-and-son combination of Todd and Laurie Brenssell entered their recently restored ex–andy Frith Toyota Levin into the 2WD class. The car features a 1600TE engine, which, for this first outing, was run with a detuned cam. As Laurie says, “My son was more keen on finishing and will improve the car after that event in preparation for next season.” Although they came in last in a field of 42 finishers, they were stoked to have made it to the end of a challenging first day out for the Levin.
The NZRC will take a two-month break before heading into the final round — the Hamilton Car Club Waitomo Rally.