Deane Buist (Toyota Corolla) has extended his lead in the 2022 Mainland Rally Championship (MRC) after competing in the Lawrence Rally in Otago on Saturday (5 November). Buist, along with co-driver Andrew Sim, was the second MRC competitor home and fourth overall, finishing 26.2 seconds behind MRC round winner David Quantok (Skoda Fabia AP4) (main picture) who finished third overall.
The Lawrence Rally, run over five Special Stages in and around the township of Lawrence in Otago by the Otago Sports Car Club, also doubled as the sixth of seven MRC rounds which was won by 2021 winner Andrew Graves/Glenn Frew (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo III), 1min 27.6 sec ahead of Carter Strang/Stewart Robbie (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X) in second.
Second on the points table, Tim McIver (Ford Escort) was the ninth MRC competitor to finish and has slipped to 31-points behind Buist. Ray Casey (Subaru Impreza) continues to hold third just one-point ahead of Sean Haggarty (Subaru Impreza) who is one-point ahead of James Macdonald (Subaru H6).
Autotech Services, RDL Performance and Brita Safety have put up cash prizes for each Class winner at the end of the Mainland Rally Championship season. $500, $250 and $100 for 1st, 2nd and 3rd respectively for each class as well as trophies for all classes and overall, for both driver and co- driver. Vehicles are divided up into seven different classes according to engine size, year of manufacturer and two or four-wheel drive.
Leader of Class A (2WD 0-1300cc), Jay Ritchie (Toyota Starlet), has extended his lead over Pat Norris (Toyota Vitz) to ten-points.
With Class B (2WD 1301-1600cc) leader William Hawes missing the rally, Kerry Sloan (Toyota Starlet) has moved into first place with a two-point lead over Hawes with Jared Parker (Toyota Levin) third ahead of Raimon Wilkinson (Toyota Trueno).
Buist was the only driver competing in Class C (2WD 1601cc and over), wrapping up the title with one-round to spare and a 42-point lead to second placed Marcus van Klink.
Sean Haggarty continues to lead Class D (4WD 1601cc and over) with a narrow eight-point gap back to Dave Ollis (Subaru Sti).
Nigel Ede (Subaru Legacy) has increased his lead to an unassailable 44-points over Eric Clark (Subaru STi) who rolled in SS4, in Class E (Pre 1996 Classic 4WD), while leader of the Historic Class F&G, Tim McIver (Ford Escort) has a 25-points lead over Ally MacKay.
The battle in Class H6 has got tighter with one round remaining. Having missed the first two rounds, James MacDonald (Subaru H) has won the last four narrowing the margin between the top three. Nick Marston (Subaru H6) continues to lead with a seven-point gap back to Tom Milliken (Subrau H) with Macdonald just three-points behind in third overall.
The final 2022 Mainland Rally Championship round is the first day of the 2022 Silver Fern Rally which gets underway Sunday 20 November 2022 in Christchurch, finishing seven-days later back in the city.
Overall Points after 6/7 rounds (Top 11)
1/ Deane Buist 120
2/ Tim McIver 89
3/ Ray Casey 78
4/ Sean Haggarty 77
5/ James Macdonald 76
6/ Nick Marston 71
7/ Marcus van Klink 66
8/ Ray Wilson 64
9/ Josh Marston 62
10/ Matt Summerfield 58
11/ David Quantok 55
Lawrence Rally – Mainland Rally Championship Round 6 Results (Position, Driver 1/Driver 2, Car)
1/ David Quantock/Grant Marra Skoda AP4
2/ Deane Buist/Andrew Sim Toyota Corolla
3/ Caleb MacDonald/Alan MacDonald Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI
4/ James Worker/Brad Smith Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI
5/ Ray Wilson/Ian McKee Subaru Impreza
6/ Ray Casey/Jimmy Martin Subaru Impreza
7/ Sean Haggarty/Bella Haggarty Subaru Impreza
8/ James MacDonald/Josh Edwards Subaru H6
9/ Tim McIver/Brent Wilson Ford Escort
10/ Nick Marston/Peter Calvert Subaru H6
11/ Kerry Sloan Tim McDonald Toyota Starlet
12/ Tom Milliken/Chris Cunningham Subaru H6
13/ Raimon Wilkinson/Ryan Wilkinson Toyota Trueno
14/ Amy Keighley/Nikita Gibson Subaru H6
15/ Jared Parker/Lachlan Thomson Toyota Levin
16/ Nigel Ede/Mark Grimmer Subaru Legacy RS
17/ Jay Ritchie/Jono Taylor Toyota Starlet
18/ Pat Norris/Kylie Cotton Toyota Vitz
19/ Chris Hogan/Merdara Ausicd Suzuki Ignis
20/ Jeff Judd/Brayden Sim Toyota Corolla AE86
21/ Dave Ollis/Dwayne Kennett Subaru Sti
dnf Ally Mackay/Mikko Johnston Ford Escort Mk1
dnf Eric Clark/Catriona Flynn Subaru Sti
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