Canterbury’s Josh Marston and Andrew Graves have won the 2020 Westland Rally held in the Grey and Buller district on Saturday. Second home was Job Quantok/Grant Marra with Marcus van Klink/Dave Neill in third.
While both Marston (Holden Barina AP4) and Quantok (Skoda Fabia AP4) each won three Special Stages, it was Matt Summerfield/Nicole Summerfield who were fastest out of the blocks wining Special Stage 1 by 0.02 seconds from Marston. Campaigning their brand new Mirage AP4, the pairing struck engine trouble in SS2 and retired from the event.
This opened the door for Marston to take the lead, defending it through to the last eighth Special Stage.
Stage four was cancelled due to an accident.
“Stoked to take the win to be honest,” commented Marston. “We were just hoping to be quick as it is a blind rally and the roads are so fast.
“Gutted for Matt (Summerfield) as they were always going to be good competition. Job (Quantok) was great and proved very quick and therefore pushed us all the way.”
The team behind Marston’s Holden Barina AP4 have been putting in the hours over the off-season as they work towards the national championship.
“The car has been great, it is a rocket, particularly with our MRF tyres on board. I cant say enough about it. I’d like to think we will be competitive this season in the nationals. Certainly we want to take the fight to Ben (hunt) and with Matt (Summerfield).”
The first round of the 2020 NZ Rally Championship gets underway at Rally Otago 3-5 April
Overall results (Top 10)
1/ Josh Marston/Andrew Graves Holden Barina AP4
2/ Job Quantock/Grant Marra Skoda Fabia AP4
3/ Marcus van Klink/Dave Neill Mazda RX8
4/ Graham Ferguson/Ross Moody Ford Escort RS1800
5/ Sean Haggarty/Sean Sands Subaru WRX
6/ Garet Thomas/Robert Burrowes Subaru WRX
7/ Robert McCallum/Peter Kennard Ford Escort
8/ John Giltrap/Paul Millar Mitsubishi Lancer EVO 9
9/ Robbie Stokes/Jack Stokes Ford Fiesta R2
10/ Andy Martin/Matt Hayward Subaru WRX
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