The Star: January 12, 2017

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36 Thursday January 12 2017 follow us on facebook.com/riseupchristchurch The Star Sport In Brief GILLOOLY TO US COLLEGE Former Burnside High School student Toby Gillooly has secured a four-year basketball scholarship at New Mexico Highlands University in Las Vegas, New Mexico. The 18-yearold, who finished secondary school last year, has been a standout player for Burnside and Canterbury age group teams in recent years. Gillooly was also part of the Canterbury Rams team which finished at the top of the round-robin in the National Basketball League. He leaves for the United States next week to play for New Mexico in the NCAA Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. He hopes to secure a professional contract in the Australian Basketball League following college. BIG TOUR FOR CYCLIST Christchurch’s Alex Frame will take on one of the world’s top cyclists next month. The 23-year-old will go up against current Tour De France champion Chris Froome, who will ride for Team Sky at the Herald Sun Tour in Victoria, Australia. The strong international field will also include Colombia’s Esteban Chaves, who finished second overall in last year’s Giro d’Italia. Frame will be part of the six-man JLT-Condor team which will compete in the tour from February 1-5. Frame finished in a disappointing 18th place at the national men’s road race championship in Napier last weekend, but can now turn his attention to riding with some of the world’s best in Australia. DRAGONS PLAY-OFF CHANCE The Canterbury United Dragons can move into a play-off spot if they beat Southern United in the on Sunday. The Dragons currently sit fith in the Stirling Sports Premiership, New Zealand’s top football competition. Last weekend, the Dragons secured a dramatic 3-2 win over Tasman United when striker Stephen Hoyle scored in extra time. BID TO RETAIN CRICKET TITLE Canterbury will begin their defence of the national under-17 cricket title at Lincoln University tomorrow. The team start the week long tournament against Otago. Russley teen’s Melbourne result putts him onto the golfing map Sprintcars ready to tear up Ruapuna • By Allan Batt THE PITS will be bursting at the seams this weekend when the Racecourse Hotel and Motor Lodge Ruapuna Speedway host the 47th New Zealand Sprintcar Championship. With 35 entries, this will be the biggest turn out of the V8- powered sprintcars in the South Island. Christchurch hopes will probably rest on the shoulders of sprintcar rookie, Luke Keegan, who is currently leading the prestigious War of the Wings series. Keegan is a also three-time winner of the national modified championship and has looked fast and smooth this summer. • By Gordon Findlater HIROKI MIYA has achieved a top three finish at one of Australasia’s biggest junior golf tournaments. The 16-year-old from Russley was one of four Canterbury players to make the trip to Melbourne last week to compete at the Victorian Junior Masters at the Churchill Park and Waverley golf clubs. Rounds of 73, 70, 76 and 71 were good enough for Miya to finish in a tie for third. “I was really happy with the week, but the conditions were tough to adjust to. It was over 30 degrees every day. That’s the first tournament I’ve played in Australia and the heat was nothing like what I’m used to,” said Miya. There were also promising results for fellow Canterbury players Dominic Brettkelly, of the Hororata Golf Club, Kazauma Kobori, of Rangiora, and Tom Parker, of Christchurch. Brettkelly finished seventh overall while Kobori and Parker finished in the top 25. Past champions in Melbourne include current world No 1 Jason Day who won the tournament in 2005 and was also world junior amateur champion at the time. Two-time Australian Open winner and former top 20 player Aaron Baddeley also won the event in 1998. Some big names have competed in the event without tasting success. The 2013 Masters champion and former world No 1 Adam Scott finished in the top five at the tournament four years in a row from the age of 15. “I was aware of the history of the event because they had signs of the names of previous winners near the putting green. It was cool to know that they’ve Other Christchurch-contracted drivers expected to feature include the current New Zealand Sprintcar Grand Prix title-holder Matt Honeywell, veteran Ray Baughan, Shaun Ashton, Jackson Lovelady and Ben Gilmore. American Jonathan Allard, of Chico, California, will defend his title and will be keen to make up for his last appearance in Christchurch, when a crash in his final heat race caused damage which saw his engine overheat when he was in a strong position during the championship race. Racing will take place on January 13 and 14, and start each night at 6.30pm with the public gates opening at 4.30pm. won that and what they’ve gone on to achieve since,” said Miya. With those kind of names being thrown around, Miya’s result at the tournament would suggest he’s on track to be a ON THE RISE: At 16, Hiroki Miya is one of the country’s most promising golfers. Last week, he finished third at the Victorian Junior Masters in Melbourne. name to watch over the coming years. In December, Miya won the Faldo Series Asia New Zealand Championship at Clearwater. The win qualified him for the 11th Faldo Series Asia Grand Final, which will be hosted by Sir Nick Faldo at Laguna Lăng Cô in Danang, Vietnam, in March. Miya’s goal in the coming years is to secure a scholarship at a United States college and one day turn pro. Miya is currently competing at the North Island under-19 championship in Hamilton, which finishes on Friday. DEFENDING CHAMP: American Jonathan Allard (inset) will defend his New Zealand Sprintcar Championship title at Ruapuna this weekend. PHOTO: JAMES SELWYN
The Star follow us on facebook.com/riseupchristchurch Thursday January 12 2017 37 Driven E-Class spearheads Mercedes-Benz charge • By Ross Kiddie LUXURY VEHICLE sales figures for 2016 once again show the dominance Mercedes-Benz has in that part of the market. It finished in No 1 position with 20 per cent growth over the previous year. A lot of that can be attributed to the extensive line-up within the Mercedes-Benz brand, and the raft of new models which have landed in the last couple of years. One of the most recent new arrivals is the E-Class – a series which could loosely be termed the mainstream model within the brand, taking into account, it also claimed the New Zealand Motoring Writers’ Guild Car of the Year Award for 2016. The E-Class lands here in multiple specification levels with several engine options – diesel and petrol – the range starts at $99,900 for a 2-litre petrol-powered model. The evaluation car sits more towards the top end of the series at $149,800, and its 3-litre, V6 turbocharged diesel engine is rated by Mercedes-Benz at 190kW. In true diesel fashion the turbo boost helps to produce a magnificent 620Nm of torque. Bear in mind the compression ignition engine was invented by German automotive pioneer Karl MERCEDES-BENZ E350D: New Zealand Car of the Year for 2016. Rudolf Diesel, and German engine manufacturers have worked hard over the years to produce high horsepower, quiet running, clean burning engines with an emphasis on fuel efficiency. The 2987cc unit in the E-Class impresses in all these areas. Some of the statistics provide interesting reading, the E-Class in this form will make 100km/h from a standstill in 5.9sec and will scamper to 120km/h from 80km/h in 3.8sec. It will also return a 5.6-litre per 100km/h (50mpg) combined cycle average, sipping fuel at the rate of just 5l/100km (56mpg) at 100km/h (engine speed just 1200rpm). That’s good reading for a car which carries a bit of bulk but that is offset by the clever engine manufacture and sophistication of the nine-speed automatic gearbox which is finding its way across Mercedes-Benz badged product. The transmission is a stunner, so smooth are the changes it’s almost like there are no changes bar the needle shift on the tachometer. Of course, there’s a driver selectable function through steering-wheel-mounted paddles, but I never used them a lot, far preferring to let the gearbox do its own thinking, the engine/transmission combination never disappoints. That sums up the car in total, it is beautifully built with high quality trim materials and an inviting interior in terms of Value Cars www.valuecarswarehouse.co.nz 32 Moorhouse Ave | 03 366 7768 appointment. The test car was finished in brown leather, the entire ambience is clean and spacious. All seats provide sumptuous occupant comfort, also allowing for a lot of onboard space. More importantly are the number of safety features built into the E-Class. They are way too numerous and comprehensive to detail, but to say the latest from the Mercedes-Benz factory would be one of the world’s safest cars. For comfort and convenience there’s a multitude of features and options. One of my passengers referred to the giant on-screen display as looking like two iPads joined together, the graphics are intense and can be structured to suit the driver’s preference and/or driving style. I like the display as it sits in sport mode, the colours are vivid and the readouts easy to understand. There is also head-up display offering the driver constant visual interpretation of speed and other key elements. It’s fair to say the E-Class is a standout in terms of technology, and any prospective buyer will just adore its features, I certainly did. As its price would suggest, and given Mercedes-Benz’s reputation for luxury car manufacture, it’s no surprise then that driving the The biggest range of vehicles in one location • Price – Mercedes-Benz E350d, $149,800 • Dimensions – Length, 4923mm; width, 1852mm; height, 1468mm • Configuration – V6, rear-wheel-drive, 2987cc, 190kW, 620Nm, ninespeed automatic. • Performance – 0-100km/h, 5.9sec • Fuel usage – 5.6l/100km E-Class is a step towards luxury rather than sporty. The driver and occupants are pampered, especially in terms of ride comfort, the air suspension is just glorious, even riding on low profile tyres the ride is still sublime. Bear in mind, though, that lower grade models don’t get the air setup as standard. I can also report that on a Port Hills/plains loop the E-Class handles delightfully, it has controlled balance and involving steering. I’m a big formula one fan, and with the success Mercedes-Benz has had in 2016, and in the last few years, I’m in no doubt that that is also contributing to offthe-showroom-floor sales. With the impetus the brand has had in recent years, I don’t expect that to change any time soon.
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