Inkster, Winn looking good for a fifth win
HAVE fourtime and defending Targa New Zealand titleholders Glenn Inkster and Spence Winn (Mitsubishi Evo 8) done enough to claim a record fifth consecutive event win in Queenstown tomorrow?
That was the question being asked as the 57 remaining teams arrived in Heriot for the final stage of the penultimate day of the 24th annual multiday Targa New Zealand tarmac motor rally yesterday, the 41.33km marathon over the Moa Flat road to Ettrick.
Having built a lead of close to 7min after winning six of the seven stages held between Dunedin and Duntroon on Thursday, the Auckland pair looked hard to beat in the Allcomers Extreme 4WD Class 10 and overall.
They were also almost half a minute quicker than secondplaced fellow Mitsubishi pair Haydn Mackenzie and codriver Matty Sayers on the first of two runs through the 29.91km George King Memorial Dr northeast of Mosgiel yesterdaymorning.
Surprise early event pacesetter Mackenzie went on to win the next three stages, but he is no longer in the hunt, courtesy of a carbending crash which caused him to miss the final two stages on Wednesday.
If Inkster and Winn do falter, waiting in the wings are Aucklanders David Rogers and codriver Aidan Kelly in Rogers’ Mitsubishi Evo 10. They went into the Moa Flat stage last evening in second place, 7minplus behind Inkster and Winn, but almost a minute up on Christchurch rally ace Marcus van Klink and codriver Matt Richards who lead the allcomers extreme 2WD class 7.
Fourth overall and leading the production 2WD class 6 heading into the final stage yesterday was top local pair Martin Dippie and Greg Ball in Dippie’s Porsche GT3 RS. They were 20sec behind van Klink and Richards, but enjoyed a buffer of 90sec over fivetime event winner Tony Quinn and his codriver, Kieran Anstis.
In contrast to previous years, Quinn and Anstis have run very much under the radar, despite the Queenslandbased Scot running one of the latest Porsche GT3 RS models.
Standout performances yesterday were again put in by veteran gravel rally specialist Brian Green and codriver Fleur Pedersen (Palmerston North) in Green’s locallydeveloped Mitsubishi Mirage Evo, and by Christchurch sonandfather combination Rory and Stewart Callaway.
Green and Pedersen were fourth overall up the 12.9km Mt Cargill stage yesterday morning, then an eventbest second overall to Haydn Mackenzie and Matty Sayers in the 11.9km Hillend stage in West Otago after lunch. That left them sixth overall heading into the Moa Flat stage, just 2.1sec behind Quinn and Anstis.
The Callaways were a minute back in seventh — and leading the Production 4WD class 9 — after elevating themselves up the order in their Subaru Impreza WRX ST1 in the rain and cold of Thursday’s stages north of Dunedin.
Up to eighth overall and back in the lead of the Classic 2WD class were event and category stalwarts Mark KirkBurnnand and his father, Chris (Wellington) in their E30 BMW M3.
Classic gravel rally specialist Derek Ayson and codriver Gavin McDermott (Ford Escort Mk 2) edged ahead of the BMW in the final stage of the day on Thursday but a determined Mark KirkBurnnand claimed the class lead back yesterday. He clocked the fifthquickest time overall through the second run through George King Memorial Dr and headed into the day’s final stage eighth overall, over half a minute ahead of Ayson and McDermott.
After a final overnight stop in Queenstown, the rally concludes today with six further closed special stages, including the penultimate and highly anticipated 23.96km traverse over the Crown Range.