Blog
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Quick 2018 update & moving forward to 2019
Michele & Waverly, here at the Piaokuni Road Rallysprint. Well, what an end to the 2018 ABC Pipefitters Northern Rallysprint Series, Saturday evening (27th October) saw the South Auckland Car Club rooms packed out for the end of season prize giving. This season has had its fair share of ups & downs, but it was certainly great to finish on such a high and bodes well for the 2019 series. With every event throughout this season attracting large entry numbers it was great to see everyone show up, weather they were collecting trophies or not, it’s the support that counts, and to have guys travel down from Northland, up from Hamilton and over from the Thames Valley areas as well as the Hibiscus Coast and the two local car clubs of Pukekohe and South Auckland was extremely rewarding.
Massive congratulations to the 2018 series winners, Graham Featherstone and co-driver Dave Devonport, this being a record of 5 consecutive championships for Feathers, one that’s certainly going to take some beating. Matt Jensen and Kieran Anstis pushed them extremely hard and certainly made Feathers work hard for his victories.
Other notables performances through this season that deserve a mention was that of Michele Brunt and Waverly Jones in their 1600 Starlet, both girls well known for their co-driving abilities with their other halves, it was great to see them having a go at being an all females crew and mixing it up with the blokes, proving to be pretty competitive, Michele coming away with an equal 2nd in the series class B championship for drivers,and Waverly also collecting 2nd in class in the Suspension Tech co-drivers’ championship. Michele also picked up “Listo’s Star of the series”, an award for outstanding performance, speed and commitment.
Michele & Waverly with their spoils. Don and Wendy Needham also deserve a mention for taking the champions title for the 2wd classics, after also having an up & down season….literally. A roll at round 5 looked like ending their 2018 campaign, but due to the lengthy time before round 6 it gave them enough time to complete the repair of their MK2 Escort, this after also being refused to run at an earlier round due to a damaged door lock which could not be repaired in time for the next run, costing them valuable points. The couple just pipping Craig and Suzi Tickle’s BMW 2002 by 1 point at the final round. Now that was close.
” Dondy ” and wife Wendy, throwing the Escort around on round 6 of the series. The 2wd guys also deserve a mention, many of them run in different classes but we do have a top 2wd trophy, this year it went to Steve and Rob Goodare, but once again what top class competition he was up against. Charlie Evans, RX7. Grant Liston, Honda Integra and Anthony Jones in his Millington powered MK2 Escort…..and of course Mark Bradly deserves a round of applause for his giant killing efforts in his Datsun 1200. Mark also keeping his hands on the 1300 class champion trophy.
Mark Bradly, seen here at the Bothwell loop road Rallysprint. on his way to retaining the class A champion title So, with 2018 over and dusted you would think it’s time for a rest…..Wrong! With round 1 of the 2019 series already being organised for January 20th it’s still going to be all go for competitors to get their cars ready, round 2 will be in February, more details to follow as we will be having another convenors meeting in a couple of weeks.
A few new changes will be being made prior to the start of the 2019 series, I’ll be notifying everyone as soon as there done and up on the website so you all know what’s going prior to the series starting up again.
We (Tracy & myself) did make noises of taking a back seat for 2019 to concentrate on a few other “Priority” jobs we have to do….like getting our rally car out and joining you guys, it’s still on the cards and still high on our list, along with finishing off our house projects and sorting out our wedding. However, things have changed a little over the last week or so, and instead of trying to slow down a little we have now decided to stay on board but have also made the decision to get more involved with a couple of other local series that need a helping hand. We are hopefully getting involved with the Top Half Rally series, and the local Hillclimb series….WHY, you may ask.
Well the Hillclimb series, the Rallysprint series and the Top Half rally series, were years ago all run by the same clubs, these events were all known as “ Interclub” events and were all traditionally held in the Top half of the North Island. The Hillclimb’s and Rallysprint’s still are but due to the obvious reasons the rally series has somewhat moved due to the loss of several rallies, and now it really covers any were in the North island were we can get a rally.
So, to my point. We are climbing onboard and trying to inject some enthusiasm to try and bring the top half rally series and Hillclimb series upto the same level as the rallysprint series. We have spoken to the people involved as they are both wanting to have a break and both are happy to take up our offer of help. We have also spoken to prospective sponsors/helpers and things are looking very encouraging. Its early days and we have lots of ideas so watch this space.
Now, getting back to the rallysprint series and one last thing before we sign off. We have eluded to this topic before, and that is the “Rallysprint Challenge”. This has come about because of Jason Byrnes magazine “A little bit sideways “ The coverage he has given the series has been brilliant and has attracted the attention of fellow competitors of the Engine Room automotive series. They are keen to have a “one off ” end of season Rallysprint against each other. So, we thought about it and now the wheels are in motion to do so, a neutral venue has been suggested and the locals in that area are extremely keen to help us out……a couple of calls have been made, meetings arranged so in the next few weeks we will try and get something sorted, maybe even a two day event….Rallysprint & Hillclimb, both on gravel and possibly on the Labour day long weekend in 2019.
Now, perhaps the biggest accolades must go to our sponsors ABC PIPEFITTERS, for supporting the series for the last 5 seasons, long may it continue. It’s great that with their support this series has gone from strength to strength and we cannot thank them enough. Also to CHRIS ALEXANDER of SUSPENSION TECH, for also coming on board to launch the Co-Drivers championship, and to go along with this NEIL ALLPORT MOTORSPORT has brought a new dimension to the series with supplying pace notes, which helps our up and coming young crews to learn their trade in a safe environment instead of having to jump straight into a rally and try to learn notes in an environment that is a little daunting to them so early in there motorsport apprenticeship
So to all the above…..THANKYOU SO MUCH.
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Latest Rally Sprint Update
Hello everyone, and welcome to this latest update.
It’s been a little quite within the series over the past couple of months due to the large gap in the calendar, but it was back to business a couple of weekends ago with the final round of the 2018 series. Once again it was another superb event, with a new look Maramarua Forest and for some, a very pleasant change. Firstly before we carry on a big thank you to the South Auckland Car Club, of course all marshals and helpers deserve a big thankyou but also a special mention to Waverly Jones, who was secretary for the event as well as co driving for Michelle Brunt. A busy day for Waverly.
Waverly Jones co-driving for Michelle Brunt Another mention here must go to Dale Perry for all his often un-noticed work within the forestry, people are quick to complain but I have not seen too much praise after Sundays event and in my view and what I saw of it, it was brilliant.
So, this brings us to our next event…..prize giving, hopefully you can all make it but at the time of writing we are still working on a date and checking the competition calendar to make sure we do not have any clashes. It is hoped to have it pretty soon after the Bathurst weekend, I’ll post it ASAP.( looking at Saturday 10th November, at this stage ) Hopefully everyone can make it, even if you’re not on the winners list I hope you can still make the effort, your part of the series and I’m sure you would enjoy the evening, it’s a great opportunity to catch up with everyone, have a few laughs and of course a few beers, dinner will be provided.
Moving onto the 2019 and Tracy and myself will be stepping away from the organising and running side of things, were actually hoping to jump the fence and join you guys on the competition side as our Starlet is almost ready. We have thoroughly enjoyed doing what we do, we feel we’ve made heaps of friends but find catching up with everyone very difficult at events, so hopefully we can do that next season.
I’d also like to say another huge thank you to Jason Byrne of “A little bit sideways”. His coverage of our events has helped lift the series, it’s opened the door of our series to the rest of the rallying community and I’m sure bigger and better things are to come for our sport due to Jason’s efforts.
I’ll just go back to last round for a moment and without giving too much away (As there will be a full report & photos in the next edition of “A little bit sideways”) I’d like to congratulate all our winners, whether it be overall positions or classes. To all other competitors’ thanks so much for supporting the series, it really has been fantastic to see the numbers of entries at all the rounds, it has been the best season for quite some time regarding entry numbers and series registrations.
One thing that has been evident over the 2018 series has been our “laid back” interpretation of our rules, over the years they have normally been fine, occasionally being “tweaked a little”, but with this season proving to be very competitive and numbers high it has highlighted several grey area’s which will be top of the priority list at the upcoming conveyors meeting.
At this stage I do have a little info regarding the 2019 Series, and it’s looking like round one will be on the 20th January, and it’s a beauty…..Ruarangi Road, hosted by the Northland Car Club. What a cracker to start the season, and believe it or not we also have our first registered driver as well. Motorsport Bay of Plenty member Mike Torr.
We are on the lookout for someone to take over the running of the series, and possibly sponsorship as well. We have had someone show some interest but as the series is run by several clubs a decision has to be made at the conveners meeting, so if interested please get in touch.
But, before committing number one priority is enthusiasm for the series, it’s all pretty simple and with only 6 rounds, plus prize giving I guess you could say it’s only going to take up 7 weekends of your year. So, for those interested here’s what the job description covers.
- The website and facebook pages need to be updated on a regular basis, these are the only two avenues of getting info out to the competitors (Possibly some assistance with these tasks)
- Registrations are open for the first three rounds, so you need to be able to collect these, registration forms need to be at these first three rounds, as well as internet banking details need to be online. (website)
- Results and points tables need to be on the website ASAP after each event, you will also need to allocate points, update points tables.( possibly some assistance with this task)
- Possibly write reports for “A little bit sideways”, and photos!
- Take care of any sponsor’s needs.
- Sort out all trophies and organise end of season prize giving.
Well, there we have it……a conveners meeting coming up, then prize giving and back into it with Ruarangi Road on January 20th 2019.
The prize giving date is not 100% confirmed, pencil it in 10th November, but I will notify ASAP.
Once again, thanks everyone for the support, Cheers for now.
Steve & Tracy.
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Round 6- Maramarua Forest. 2018
Next and Final round of the 2018 series, Sunday 9th September in Maramarua Forest, to be run by the South Auckland Car Club……More details to come nearer the time. Please Call Back.
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Round 5- Pirongia West Road. 2018
Hi everyone,
It’s been a while since a decent update so whilst we have an unfortunate break between our last round, the Pirongia West road event, and our final round on the 9th September I thought I’d put up a post to let you know things are not standing still regarding the series.
But before we go any further I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved with the series. The Car Clubs and their members, the competitors who have really come out in great numbers to support the series, Our sponsors & supporters, and of course a bunch of people who let all this happen…..the residents who allow us to use their roads, Probably none of them will ever see this post but never the less your tolerance is greatly appreciated.
Round 5 of the series has just gone by, and what a superb event, set as usual in stunning country side with a road “as smooth as a baby’s bum “, 60 crews took to the start line, and what a line-up of cars. Where else would you have such a number of entries with such a variety of cars covering 70 decades of motoring, from Phil Campbell’s Fiesta AP4 car to Jo Worth’s Volvo Amazon and Chris Alexanders MK1 Cortina.
It was an event full of incidents, which lead to a nail biting last run, Congratulations to Matt Jensen on taking the victory, congratulations also to Phil Campbell for building such a car and going extremely well on his debut event, fastest on the first three runs but, a bit of a splutter on the fourth. Jensen, however was super-fast on his fourth, but you can read all about it in the next report in A Little Bit Sideways. As mentioned above there was of course plenty of other little incidents and accidents!!! Which you can read about in the same report.
The results of this event have really made the upcoming last round very interesting, there are quite a few very close scenarios that could play out, especially when you take into consideration the “Drop round”. So although round 6 is some time away, it’s going to be a cracker….and the other consideration is the fact that a few competitors now have time to fix up their cars, were as if we were running next month then their season could well be over!
Prior to this next round we will be having a convenors meeting, were I know we have a lot to talk about, mainly the disruptions of the early rounds, timing issues and correct protocol of our rules & regulations. Next seasons dates will also be another big topic, as it always is but, the recipe we had for this year’s calendar was pretty good apart from this big gap between rounds 5 & 6. So, hopefully we do the same in 2019, and can rectify this break in our calendar.
Another topic on the discussion list will be our 2018 prize giving, with our last round being in early September it’s fair to say that sometime in mid to late October would be the date.
Work behind the scenes is also ongoing regarding “North v’s South” Rallysprint, that’s a one off rallysprint at a neutral venue between the competitors of the” ABC Pipefitters Northern Rallysprint series”, and the competitors of the “Engine Room Automotive Sprint series”. This event could well be a fantastic finale to both series, the interest it could potentially stir up for our sport would be invaluable, so fingers crossed we can pull it off…..more to come on this topic soon.
Last, but certainly not least is this new look website, which if your reading this your obviously on to it. We are in the early stages of development, the information posted on here at the moment is virtually the same as the old site but hopefully it’s easier and more attractive to look at than the old site. There’s a lot more to come, so please keep calling back, any updates on the site will be also posted on the ABC Rallysprint facebook page. I would also like to thank Jason Byrne for all his hard work on building and updating this site, his help, patience, knowledge and enthusiasm is unbelievable, it’s the same passion that he puts into his magazine, hopefully it rubs off on you and you all subscribe to his mag. See else were on this site to find out more details.
Well, there we have it. A superb series so far, plenty of ups & downs, plenty of controversy, plenty of incidents but still plenty to look forward to, read all about it in A Little Bit Sideways. Keep checking back.
Cheers for now.
Steve Russell.
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Win for Matt Jensen at Pirongia West Road 2018
Well, with round 5 over and dusted just one round remains to settle the 2018 ABC Pipefitters Northern Rallysprint series. However that round will not be untill 9th September, this will be the South Auckland Car Club round in Maramarua forest….More to come on that later.
But what event the latest round turned out to be, firstly a massive well done to Lyndsay Homes and the Hamilton Car Club and all other marshal’s and helpers. With such a big field of 60 cars the event was superbly run and the way it was re-shuffled from previous events was credit to the car club.
Well done to Matt Jensen on taking his first victory of the series, he’s been so close on several occasions so a very deserving win, now that will make the last round very interesting! The event did have it’s dramas with several rolls and breakdowns, all playing a very important part in the results.
The results & points tables will be updated in the next few days, apologies to a couple of you who had points missing from the last round, it will be rectified and will be on the new table once updated.
As mentioned above there was plenty of incidents and a full report and pictures will be in ” A little bit sideways” magazine.
Thanks also to all the competitors that turned out in such large numbers to support both the event and the series, see you all at Round 6.
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Pirongia West Entry List
Here is the entry list for this weekends Pirongia West Road Sprint – Round 5 in our series.
For those of you that have not seen this road before, here are a few images
https://alittlebitsideways.co.nz/nrss-pirongia-west-road-gravel-sprint/
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Round 4 – Piakonui Road 2018
Sunday 22 April, one week after the opening round of the New Zealand National Rally Championship, and prior to this the Thames Valley Car Club were a little apprehensive regarding the entry levels for the rallysprint, and rightly so, it’s a huge problem for clubs running events close to rally dates as it does normally have knock on effects. However, no one need to have worried as 62 crews turned out for round 4 of the ABC Pipefitters Northern rallysprint, the largest number of entries for a round this season.
It’s a hard task for drivers doing the rally Championship to try and get through the Otago rally, then drag their cars all the way back home only to then get them prepared for a rallysprint the weekend after, so congratulations to Graham Featherstone and Anthony Jones, Dave Strong also did the rally but had the luxury of using a different car, but still probably had plenty to do to get prepared, spare a thought to for the guys who prepare their cars. Another huge well done has to also go out to Warwick Redfern, who after a big accident at the Bothwell loop Road Rallysprint also made the event.
So, to the action, and as always at Piakonui there was plenty of it, with many crews having incidents, most of them just the usual spins and overshoots, but there were a couple of more serious incidents, thankfully no one was hurt, although there was one very lucky dog!
Fastest on the first run was Clinton Cunningham in his fiesta, he and co-driver Crunch Bennet must have been relieved to finally make an event, and then to be fastest was the icing on the cake. The gap between Cunningham and the next man was less than a cigarette paper, that man being Graham Featherstone. Warwick Redfern was again pushing hard and took third on this first run.
This first run, for those not in the know, or who don’t understand the rallysprint rules is all about being flat out from the moment the flag drops. The top 16 is the really important run for those guys going for the overall win. So after this first run our top 16 consisted of 7 class E cars, (open 4wd) 4 class G ( classic 4wd) 2 class D ( over 2litre 2wd) 2 class C ( upto 2 litre) and 1 class B ( 1600), Just to put some perspective into whose doing what and who punches above their weight. It’s not that the event is over for those who don’t make the top 16, as these rules also apply to the classes but it may explain to people why one guy may post a faster time than someone else yet appear lower down in the results.
So on this first run you could rightly assume that the 5 cars from the 2wd classes are pretty quick, as there were 14 other 4wd that did not make the cut. Steve Goodare, Charlie Evans, Grant Liston, Craig Stevens and Scott Ogle are without doubt very quick.
The second run saw Graham Featherstone stamp his authority and experience on this event, after all it is his local one. Matt Jensen was the big mover on this run posting a second overall, Cunningham was still there in 3rd with Redfern holding off Dave Loughlin. But this being the 2nd run meant that now it was the top eight positions that were the important ones….the pressure now starts. Now we have 7 4wd vehicles and one 2wd in the hunt. That sole 2wd guy being Steve Goodare in his mighty Nissan Sunny.
The third run, and again feathers pulls a few seconds out on the rest, just to keep it comfortable. Cunningham was again the second fastest and must be thoroughly enjoying this event, getting in some much needed seat time, but having the car going so well must also be very encouraging and satisfying. Redfern and Loughlin were the other two chasers in the top four, as now the eight has been cut to four.
Matt Jensen could also have been here such was his speed on the previous run, however a little too hot into a right hander, which did come after quite a long straight saw the Evo pilot make a much published exit from the event. It turned out to be a bit of a humorous exit although really it could have been much more serious, both he and co-driver very lucky not to have a huge bill from one of the residents……not to mention a vet bill.
To be fair to Matt the only escape road once he made the decision he could not make the bend was the driveway of a resident, which he took but was still carrying quite a bit of speed, he could not pull up and ended up hitting a carport, there was a car parked in there and a dog tied to the pole holding up the car port…..the dog escaped un hurt, the residents car was undamaged but the car port did take a little hit!
Now, the really important run, the fourth were we will now be cutting out two more drivers with the two remaining going into a top two run off. Feathers was once again very fast, pulling another second over Cunningham, whom I’m sure would be just glad to be still here, certainly Crunch would be just to justify his time and effort in simply getting to the event. Cunningham just scraped in, holding off a hard charging Redfern to make the top two.
Now, although I,ve taken a different approach to writing this article to what I normally do there has still been plenty of other action within the classes, although no real surprises. What has been encouraging with this series this year is the participation of the “Northlanders”. The Northland Car Club has had quite a few guys register and enter all rounds so far, which has been brilliant for the series. A couple of them are having really good seasons so far, none more so than Brendon Oakden, currently leading the class G. He had a battle on his hands today with local fella Kian Scherer, and had to settle for 2nd best. But with Scherer not being registered it was back to keeping an eye on Kevin Bennet, which he did and went onto take the maximum points for the class.
The classic 2wd class was taken by Don Needham in his mk2 Escort, it’s his local event but it’s a very deserving win, there’s probably not a more enthusiastic competitor in the series than Dondy. Craig Tickle took the silver with his BMW 2002, and Chris Alexander took the Bronze with his Mk1 Cortina.
Class B, possibly to re named the Toyota class??? Saw Scott Ogle take the win, followed by Justin Glavish and current class leader Russell Jenkins, all in Starlets.
Class C, I was just about to write “ dominated “ by Grant Liston, but Craig Stevens was also present and looking back at the times its apparent that Listo had to work really hard to take the class win, with John Whooley and Ethan O’ Hagen making everyone work hard. Listo 1st, Stevens 2nd, With Whooley 3rd.
Class D, as I mentioned in the last report on the Bothwell Loop this is an awesome class, purely for the cars. Take our top three. Steve Goodare in his Nissan Sunny, not 100% sure of the capacity of this car but its certainly well over 1500cc. Then we have Charlie Evans in his RX7, pure competitiveness…if there’s such a word, then Anthony Jones in his Millington powered Escort, who wouldn’t like this class? Now, just quickly going back to my earlier paragraphs regarding the elimination process and this is a great example of how things work.
Steve Goodare progressed further than Charlie Evans in the overall elimination process, so gets more points on the overall finishing. However once eliminated he still continues in the class, were although he was still fastest on all four runs Charlie kept with him and qualified through the elimination process to meet him in the top two run off….where he beat him, thus gaining more points for the class, but lost out to him in the overall standings.
So getting back to class D results, it was Evans 1st, Goodare 2nd and Jonesy 3rd.
Class A, up to 1300cc. This was won by the reigning champion, Mark Bradly in his 1200 Datsun. Chris Clarke took 2nd with local hero Murray Brown taking 3rd in his Nissan sunny.
So, back to that top two run off for the overall. Now normally we would now have a top two run off in all classes, however, as today’s event had a few hold ups at the start, and the field was so big, then add in a couple of holdups due to incidents the top two run off was pulled earlier by the organisers, who judged time was running out regarding road closure, therefore that fourth run was the last run. Thus Featherstone was declared the winner. I must point out that all competitors were made aware of this decision earlier on in the day.
As usual, an awesome event, superbly organised and run by the Thames Valley Car Club. A stunning piece of road, loved and hated by competitors as some found it difficult to get into a flow, others loved it due to its technicality, whatever your take it was a superb event.
