While the overall 2022 Mainland Rally Championship (MRC) title has been decided, the final podium places and Class titles are still at stake as the final round, the Christchurch One-Day Rally, takes place this Sunday. The event is also the first of the seven-day 2022 Silver Fern Rally which starts and finishes in Christchurch.
Deane Buist may have secured enough points to claim the overall MRC title at the Lawrence Rally earlier in November, but the fight will be for the remaining podium places between Tim McIver (Ford Escort), Ray Casey (Subaru Impreza), Sean Haggarty (Subaru WRX), James Macdonald (Subaru H6) and Nick Marston (Subaru H6) with just 17-points covering the five drivers.
Buist has competed in three different cars this season, including a Toyota Celica Gp B, Ford Fiesta and a Toyota Trueno, producing consistent results across the season. He now has enough points on the board to enable him to sit-out the final MRC round.
The seven round series has had its ups and downs for a number of competitors and has rewarded the most consistent. The very quick Class D (4WD 1601cc and over) AP4 cars have been the dominant car winning five of the six rounds so far. Josh Marston (Holden Barina AP4) took victory in the opening Westland Rally Sprint and Rally Canterbury (Round 3). Robbie Stokes (Ford Fiesta AP4) won Round 2 at Rally Otago and Matthew Summerfield (Mitsubishi Mirage AP4) won the South Canterbury Rally (Round 4). The Nelson One-Day Tarmac Rally saw Tim McIver win in his 2WD Ford Escort while David Quantok (Skoda Fabia AP4) won the Lawrence Rally round.
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.
Just ten-points separates leader of Class A (2WD 0-1300cc), Jay Ritchie (Toyota Starlet), over Pat Norris (Toyota Vitz). With Ritchie not having entered the final round, Norris just needs to finish to claim the Class title.
In Class B (2WD 1301-1600cc), leader William Hawes (Toyota Starlet) has a two-point lead over second-placed Kerry Sloan (Toyota Starlet) with Jared Parker (Toyota Levin) third ahead of Raimon Wilkinson (Toyota Trueno).
Buist has an unbeatable lead in Class C (2WD 1601cc and over) and his absence from the event could see both Peter Bowden (Ford Escort) and Andrew Sim (BMW 316i) fight over the remaining podium positions.
The Class D (4WD 1601cc and over) title is still to be decided with Sean Haggarty (Subaru WRX) continuing to lead with a narrow eight-point gap back to Dave Ollis (Subaru Sti) and four more to Ray Casey (Subaru Impreza).
Nigel Ede (Subaru Legacy) has an unbeatable 44-points lead over Eric Clark (Subaru STi) 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 (Ford Escort) with Jeff Judd (Ford Escort) just one-point further back.
The battle in Class H6 is tight heading into the finale. Having missed the first two rounds, James MacDonald (Subaru H) 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 rally comprises of approximately 110kms of special stages and 260kms of touring. Special Stages are all on public roads. The end of season prize-giving for the 2022 Mainland Rally Championship will take place at the Lone Star in Manchester St, Christchurch from around 7:30pm on Sunday evening.
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
Entry List (Driver 1/Driver 2, Car, Class)
Peter Bowden/T.B.C. Ford Escort RS, C
Ray Casey/Jimmy Martin Subaru Sti Impreza, D
Nigel Ede/Mark Grimmer Subaru RS Legacy, E
Tony Gosling/Blair Read Ford Escort RS1800, E
Sean Haggarty/Bella Haggarty Subaru WRX 1998, D
William Hawes/Jason Dwyer Toyota Corolla 1988, B
Chris Herdman/Erin Ollis Toyota Starlet 1980, E
James MacDonald/Josh Edwards Subaru H6, H
Nick Marston/Peter Calvert Subaru Impreza, H
Tim McIver/Brent Wilson Ford Escort, C
Shane McKenzie/David Pettigrew Mitsubishi VR4, E
Phil McManus/John Walker BMW 318ti, C
Tom Milliken/Chris Cunningham Subaru Impreza, H
Pat Norris/Kevin Cooke Toyota Starlet, A
Dave Ollis/Gemma Thomas Subaru WRX STI, D
David Owen/Mitzielene Machida Ford Escort RS,G
David Quantock/Emma Quantock Skoda AP4, D
Andrew Sim/Caleb Sim BMW 316i, C
Kerry Sloan/Tim McDonald Toyota Starlet, B
Jack Stokes/Ford Fiesta R2, B
Michael Tall/Matt Richards Mitsubishi Mirage, D
Kyle Thomson/Taylor Judd Toyota Starlet, B
James Worker/Brad Smith Mitsubishi Evo 6, D
Karl Celeste/Andrw Oakley, Toyota Levin
Jeff Judd/Stephane Prevot, Ford Escort, F
Brian Green/Fleur Pedersen, Ford Escort
Robbie Stokes/Nicole Summerfield, Ford Escort
Ally MacKay/Michael Hendry, Ford Escort
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