This year’s Lone Star Rally of Canterbury kicks off with a ceremonial start in Eaton Place beside the Lone Star Café and Bar Manchester Street at 17:00 on Saturday 1st June. Prior to that there is a driver signing session inside Lone Star between 16:00 and 17:00 pm.
The 2019 rally is round 3 of the Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Championship and round 3 of the MRF Tyres Mainland Rally Series.
The rally proper starts outside Joe’s Garage Rangiora at 07:50 Sunday 2nd June. Stage 1 takes competitors through Ashley Forest starting at the main gate and finishing at the Kowhai River exit. The only viewing in Ashley Forest is at the top of the rally sprint road. Spectators will be able to drive up the “downhill” of the rally sprint and park at the hair pin.
From there competitors tour to Amberley for servicing and then up to Blythe Valley for Rubber Developments Ltd stage 2. Very good spectating is available at the Stonyhurst/Blythe Valley Roads intersection. First car starts this stage at 10:11.
Next is a 25 minute service in Cheviot and a tour to the RD Petroleum stage 3 starting at 12:01. Spectator viewing is at the intersection of Leamington and Downs Roads, Parnassus. Cars then tour through to Waikari for another service before tackling Weldworks Ltd stage 4 and the Flooring Warehouse stage 5. Stage 4 starts at 14:21 with spectator viewing on the corner of Broxton and MacDonald Downs Roads, Broomfield.
There is no spectator viewing in stage 5. Following this is a short tour to service in Broomfield before heading back to Ashley Forest for the Morrison Cars Rangiora stage 6 starting at 15:49. This is the Power Stage for the NZ Rally Championship competitors with the 5 fastest cars collecting extra point towards the Championship. This stage runs the entire length of Mt Grey Road and finishes on the “uphill” road of the rally sprint with great viewing at the same location as stage 1 and includes the spectacular “noters” corner.
Competitors then tour back to Rangiora for a slightly longer service to allow teams to fit driving lights for the final 2 forest stages in the dark. Agnew Bros Upholstery Ltd special stage 7 starts at 17:26 and takes crews back through the forest for a repeat of stage 6, the Autoparts Ltd stage 8 starting at 18:00. Viewing at spectator point 1 is bound to be exciting at night with crews already having run this stage in daylight.
Crews then head back to the Rangiora service park for a splash and dash before heading back to Lone Star Café and Bar Manchester St for the ceremonial finish. First car is due back in Eaton Place at 19:14.
The battle at the front should be intense with last years rally winner Josh Marston up against the current leader in the NZRC, Ben Hunt. Also in the hunt will be Matt Summerfield, a previous winner and Phil Campbell in his new Ford Fiesta AP4. The various Classes will also be hard fought and expect to provide a great competition. A strong field of 68 cars in total will cross the start line on Saturday night.
Spectator maps are available from all the stage sponsors mentioned above plus Autotech Rangiora, Magnum Compliance and Palmside NZ.
Just a reminder that the only spectator viewing in Ashley Forest is at the top of the rally sprint which is spectator point 1. There is absolutely no access to any other part of the forest. This is a stipulation of Matariki Forest and will be strictly enforced.
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