2002 - Round Two
Plymouth International Hotel Taranaki Tarmac Rally

Thanks to our sponsors - Redhills Benz, Valvoline, STS Subaru Reckers.

Last year I went to the Taranaki Tarmac Rally as a service crew for a friend, and everyone raved about the roads and the event. This year, I went as a driver, and from what I saw, I am also able to say, "what a great event". The roads are terrific, although the more horsepower you had, I am sure the more fun you would have, as some of the straights are over 800m long!!!

Our event was a mixed bag, with a retirement 500m from the finish of stage 4, with what sounds like a failed rod (the bit which joins the piston to the crank), brought on by a lack of oil pressure. So how did the start of the day go, well...

Stage 1: 11.81km. We did a 6min 26sec time through this stage. I wasn't flat out all the way, as this was the first time on tarmac for me, and the tires I had were a hard compound (thank god for the sun), so I took it fairly easy through the stage, too gauge how everything felt. It was a fun stage, lots of really nice flowing corners, with a great little junction in the centre of the stage to keep you on your toes (although the car in front happened to fail to stop at the Give Way sign, and removed it on his way through). Just after this, as approx 7km, I noticed that the oil pressure was almost nonexistent, a precursor to what was to come later in the morning. The stage finished on a long 600m straight, which was slightly downhill, and I have to say, this was the fastest I have ever been in the Leone. We were flat in 5th, and as the speedo isn't working, I would assume we were doing at least 195-200km/hr. Over the finish and then 300m to stop before the control, which was a little difficult to say the least, and judging by the other skid-marks, others had trouble slowing as well.

Stage 2: 10.45km. We did a 5min 52sec time. Another very fast stage, with some big cuts on the corners. I found from the previous stage I was able to really attack the corners, as the tyres were hanging on great, and when they let go it was very progressive. We again had minimal oil pressure!!!

Stage 3: 17.97km. We did a 13min 15sec time. What a fantastic stage, it started out fast and twisty, then moved into a fantastic road which ran along the edge of the Naki mountain. Real tight and twisty in the middle, which lots of tight hairpins, and nasty corners over the crest. We also had to watch for gravel on the road, thrown there by the previous cars as they cut the corners. Had a real blast through here, although, the lack of power-steering on the Leone meant I was a little tired at the end of the stage. There was some real carnage in this stage, with cars off and in the trees all over the show. The gravel had caught a few out, and they had shot straight off into the scenery. There were also a lot of wooden onelane bridges which had to be take carefully. The stage then opened out in to a fast sweeping double lane public road, which was back in 5th gear, and flat out again to the finish. Oil pressure was back up on this stage, so things were looking good.

Stage 4: 13.88km. I had decided at the start of this stage, that it was time to wind the pace up a bit, as the car was flying, and the tyres were great, so much grip. As we took off again I noticed, no oil pressure, so in the back of my mind, I was thinking just how long would the engine last now. Nearing 13.2km I changed down for 4th gear right corner, and started to accelerate, only to notice a distinct lack of power, looking at my gauges, the oil pressure had dropped to zero, and the temp was up, and at that moment, the engine went bang, and sounded like a Massey Fergusson tractor. I pulled off an parked the car, and it was day over, just as we were starting to get going.

Our class was won overall by Peter Sunberg/Trevor Jones in the fantastic MG Metro 6R4, second in Class E were Alex Gilmour/Gordon Gilmour in their rapid Subaru RS Legacy, and third were Brian Weir/Darryn Todd in the Mitsubishi Mirage Cyborg 4WD. Overall Brian Green took honours in another amazing car, the Ford Escort WRC. For a full list of results, please click here.

So it is back to the drawing board, with a new block and fancy internals, rather than the standard engine we have been running over the last season and a half. Next event is the Gregg Todd Memorial Rally in July.

Thx

Simon Bell and Sam Ackland
Redhills Rallyteam