COROMANDEL RALLY - NZRC 5 Queenslander Bruce Fullerton contested the event in a Mitsubishi Starion. which took him past Inkster to fifth. Turner and Blackberry were equal fourth fastest, leaving Turner with the same 7.1 second margin over Blackberry in the fight for the final podium spot. As one shower passed, another threatened while teams returned to the service park before repeating the previous two stages. Once again Reeves headed home Inkster through Tapu Coroglen, this time just over eight seconds separating the pair, while Graham Featherstone finally was able to show the speed that had him as a favourite for second in the championship prior to the round, with the third fastest time. He edged out Turner and Cox, who had made major tyre changes in an effort to rekindle his fight for the championship runner-up spot. Once again the big loser on the stage was Hawkeswood, who again missed out on picking the right tyres in the service park and slipped back to seventh, behind Holder. The third and final run through the 309 road stage was another Reeves benefit, putting the victory well beyond doubt with a margin of 47.6 seconds with only three stages remaining, two of which were a short tarmac publicity stage. Featherstone once again showed what might have been with a time only 0.4 of a second off the Australian’s pace. Summerfield’s third fastest time made his second place look increasingly comfortable, while Turner held third, just over 10 seconds ahead of Inkster, who was now under no pressure from behind after Blackberry spun and found himself stuck in a ditch. Although he did no damage, he was unable to regain the road. Hawkeswood moved back into fifth after a spin from Holder, who now had Featherstone only 2.4 seconds off his 28 | RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE - SEPTEMBER <strong>2016</strong> tail, and Kingsley Jones moved into the Gull Rally Challenge lead following Blackberry’s demise and an oil leak for Robson, that meant he was now keeping an eye on third placed Jono Walker, who was having his best run of the season. Gosling continued to dominate the Historics and would continue on to take a well-deserved victory, as well as claiming top two-wheel drive overall for the event, and the power stage for extra bragging rights and bonus points. Graham Featherstone. Second place for Silcock secured him second in the championship behind van Klink, who retired from Coromandel with an alternator failure, while Judd’s third place meant he took third for the year. Anthony Jones took his third round win of the year in his Escort, but second place was enough for Dave Strong to take the Open twowheel drive championship for the year in his Honda Civic. Third in the class, and a stage win, was enough for Dylan Thomson to be awarded the Dunlop Drive of the Rally and the free set of Dunlops that go with it, while Jack Williamson rounded out a tough season with a solid fourth place. The Gull Rally Challenge on the day and for the year would go the way of Kingsley Jones, ahead of Lee Robson, while Jono Walker’s third place on the day won him the Gull Rally Scholarship prize of a drum of Gull Force Pro E85 liquid horsepower, but it wasn’t enough to stop Warwick Redfern taking third for the series. Jeff Torkington took the round win for two-wheel drive and with it, victory for the year over an absent Greg Murphy. Other championship classes saw Max Bayley take out FIA two-wheel drive (without contesting the finale), Carl Davies come home for the Rookie title and Sloan Cox become Junior Champion for the second time. With only one gravel stage remaining, the major placings and the minor money were fairly sorted, but with a tight battle for the championship runner-up spot behind Holder, the power stage and the bonus points would wind up crucial. Hawkeswood blasted through the stage to claim the stage win and the big haul of points, but it was a second fastest time for Sloan Cox that sealed him second in the championship, only one point ahead of Hawkeswood. Turner set the third fastest time and that meant he would take fifth in the championship, just behind Featherstone. Inkster complimented his fourth overall with fourth in power stage to claim two bonus points. But a single bonus point for fifth fastest would hardly have mattered to Reeves, who claimed a magnificent victory, the first for Mazda in the NZRC in 23 years and by a margin of 23.6 seconds. Summerfield was relieved to round out a tough season with second place, while Turner continued his run of podium finishes this season, now up to three from three starts, with another third - not bad considering he had never had an NZRC podium at the start of the season. Inkster, Hawkeswood, Holder, Cox, Featherstone, Kingsley Jones and Robson rounded out the top 10, narrowly edging out the frustrated Cunningham and Phil Campbell. Jono Walker, Carl Davies and series sponsor, Brian Green, rounded out the top 15 on an event that started with the highest numbers of the season, and ironically offered up the least DNFs after a crazy season of rallying.
GET $500 OFF YOUR NEW WEBSITE PROMO CODE: RSM<strong>2016</strong> JOIN THE WINNERS WITH AN R6 WEBSITE R6 WEB DESIGN CREATE YOUR ONLINE BRANDING, CREATE YOUR WEBSITE, MARKET IT FOR YOU ONLINE AND MUCH MORE. TALK TO US TODAY. MOTORSPORT WEBSITES | DRIVER PROFILES | EVENT MARKETING P: (07) 3889 9822 W: R6WEB.COM.AU E: SALES@R6WEB.COM.AU SEPTEMBER <strong>2016</strong> - RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE | 29
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