Piakonui Marks Mid-Season

Nikki Sim May 6, 2023 Latest Updates Leave a comment 1,024 Views

Rain & Mud on the Menu..

Sunday 30th April saw the masses converge at Thames Valley Car Clubs Piakonui Road ready to rock & roll for round 3 of the Northern Rallysprint Series.

Usually, a quiet backdrop in the lush farmlands of Richmond Downs, 48 crews bustled in & set up camp ready to race a road with a different angle.

The impending weather dampened spirits but not drive. Many, curious on what this road was going to bring, had red bands & jackets as part of the apparel kit.

The aim was to deliver something new for competitors, spice up the regular course with a new flavour. Undertones of whipping wind, sideways rain & slushy roads, all added challenges to test competitors’ resilience. Undoubtedly, we prefer rally with the sun high & a slight breeze on our back, but not on this day!

There were those not delighted & those happy either way. The consensus was a good number of corners tightened whereas previously those same corners opened up. It didn’t quite have the same flow. The logistics better suited for the traditional anticlockwise direction as well.

You can’t always have it neat though. Drivers really having to dial in where traction trumped pace.

Allocated start times aided drivers to start line positions, necessary when the pits are a long way from sight. Run 1 was slightly daunting after the reconnaissance run, but drivers got straight into the groove. Brooklyn Horan having the misfortune of bonnet pins working loose 300m from the finish line resulting in bonnet up & a smashed windscreen. Dave Wright had mechanical gremlins leaving him unable to get to run 1, Rodney James faced an overheating issue & Brent Milner was seen being towed out of stage in his Toyota Starlet.

Phil Campbell dominated with a time of 5:52, this would be the fastest stage time of the day. Matt Jensen responded with a time of 6:02. Phil Broadbent led the class B battles with Lukas Ramsay nipping away at his heels, 2 secs off. Tony Young almost had class competition for the day until Brent Milner had to retire. Grant Liston was at the helm of class C & Brooklyn Horan put in a respectable 3rd place time despite the bonnet issue. 3 contenders were eyeing up 3rd for class D, Wayne Pittams, Chris Ramsay & Mcrae Sloper all finishing on a 6:32. For class G, there were 3 & class H, Colin Cole a mere 0.04 sec off Craig Tickles 2nd place time.

Jay Pittams started run 2 with a good push, Phil Campbell bolting on new tyres & proceeding to go 4 sec slower. The road had deteriorated between running as car 1 then running again after nearly 50 cars had been over. John Whooley smacked a bank after setting an excellent time on run 1 & despite losing little time in the stage, was forced to change his rear tyres to an inferior pair for run 3 as stones were lodged between tyre & rim.

Sam Broadbent had set his sights on Dad who was clearly comfortable on the back country roads. Daniel Haines was on the improve on his 2nd run time, while Charlie Evans & Dave Strong were still battling at the front of the class D. E class teams were fiercely attacking for 3rd place positions, Mike Torr just 0.05 sec ahead of Matt Jensen. Chris Sherrif & Nick Thompson were being very consistent with their run progression, while Craig Tickle took a chunk out of his run 1 time.

Colin Cole having to retiring in this run.

Back at pits, the circulating clouds set in. Some pits kids enthusiastically wiped down the sides of cars ready for the next run, while others envied Phil Campbell’s pits setup. Phil surpassing his competitors here as well with a water blaster set up ready at hand.

The road was deteriorating further with some run 3 times ending up slower than that of run 2. Dave Strong strategized & ran his special Pirellis & closed the gap to 1 sec behind Charlie Evans in the battle for class honours & 4th overall. Mike Goldsbruy redeemed himself to finish first in class B & a respectable 2nd place for Lukas Ramsay. Brendan Andrews tailed Grant Liston to take out 2nd in class C & Hamil Pala was in good form & snagged 2nd place from Mike Torr.

Jay Pittams set the 2nd fastest time of the day on this run with a time of 6:05 & Brian Best was sitting just outside of class honours after a really good push.

The end result, the same top 4 overall as the last rallysprint in Maramarua.

Phil Campbell

Jay Pittams

Charlie Evans

Dave Strong

There were technical issues during the day, one being mud on the finish beams & two being the lack of ability to print results, both not ideal. Despite this, Thames Valley Car Club persevered & ran a great event in terrible weather conditions.

Thank you to the many TVCC volunteers, hot chocolates for everyone!

📸 Also many thanks to Geoff Ridder for the selection of fantastic action shot images.

There is a bit of a break now in between the rounds. Hibiscus Coast Motorsport Club have a rescheduled date for their round of the rallysprint series, round 4 is on Saturday 15th July.

The points calculators are tallying & the tables will be up soon. Check out where you’re sitting as we hit the halfway mark of the series, the competition as strong as ever.

There are 3 rounds to go & a bit of a shin dig planned for later in the year to round out a very enjoyable 2023 series so far.