Silver Fern Rally - Bristow Takes Historic Trophy
Silver Fern Rally - Bristow Takes Historic Trophy
Vince
Bristow/Dean Mitchell of the United Kingdom have won the
Historic
Trophy in the 2014 epay Silver Fern Rally which
ended in Queenstown this
afternoon.
In doing so they
created history as they became the first
international
crew to win the event since it was
instigated in 2006. The rally has
taken place every
second year since that time. The pair drove a Bryce
Biggs
supplied Ford Escort which was the car driven to victory in
the
Challenge Section of the event two years
ago.
Bristow and Mitchell had a brief stint in the lead
earlier in the week
before Cantabrian Jeff Judd regained
the position until Friday morning
when he blew an engine.
From that point on Bristow had a comfortable
lead
although he admitted to some nervous moments over
the last day and a
half. This was Bristow's fourth
attempt at the event. "I'm really
chuffed to bits. It's a
great event, fantastic people and a lovely
country. This
is the fourth time I have done the event and it is good
to
finally get to the end at the front."
Bristow had a
final margin over fellow Brit Simon Tysoe and
his
co-driver Craig Dolman of 10 minutes 19 seconds with
kiwi driver Shane
Murland and co-driver John Benton
third. Tysoe was "more than happy and
over the moon" with
second while Murland said it was "great to make
the
finish."
Australians John Spencer/Tony Best (Nissan
240RS), David Hills/Paul
Bennett (Ford Escort) and Keith
and Mary Anne Callinan in another Escort
rounded out the
top six.
Meanwhile Dave Strong/Rob Scott of Auckland won
the Challenge Section in
their Honda Civic R after
leading for most of the week. As their rivals
struck
trouble they extended their lead and finished with a buffer
of
over 25 minutes over second placed Brodie Anderson/Rob
McConachie of
Dunedin in a Ford Escort with Charlie
Evans/Sue O'Neil of Hamilton third
in a Honda
Integra.
Strong said it was a "relief" to finish. "It was
unfinished business
after breaking an axle with 10
kilometres to go two years ago." Towards
the end he and
Scott ignored the Challenge result and went all out
to
seal the third fastest overall time for the entire
event which they
achieved. Strong said, "we did not have
the pace but we kept out of
trouble. We were not quite
fast enough but others hit trouble, perhaps
because they
were going too quick."
Deane Buist/Andrew Bulman of
Christchurch won the Silver Frond section
which was run
over the last three days of the event. Buist, the
Historic
Trophy winner of the 2012 Silver Fern, had more
than 15 minutes in hand
over second placed Ashton
Wood/Fred Merkin (Upper Moutere) with Garry
Cliff/James
Cowles of Christchurch third in a Datsun 160J.
Competitors
in the Historic Trophy and Challenge Sections of the
event
left Picton eight days ago and covered 1150
kilometres of Special Stages
in Marlborough, Nelson, the
West Coast, Canterbury, South Canterbury,
Otago,
Southland, Central Otago and the Southern Lakes District
while
the Silver Frond competitors joined the event for
the final three days.
Historic Trophy
1: Vince
Bristow/Dean Mitchell (UK) Ford Escort
2: Simon
Tysoe/Craig Dolman (UK) Ford Escort
3: Shane Murland/John
Benton (Paraparaumu) Ford Escort
4: John Spencer/Tony
Best (Australia) Nissan 240RS
5: David Hills/Paul Bennett
(Australia) Ford Escort
6: Keith Callinan/Mary Anne
Callinan (Australia) Ford Escort
Challenge Section
1:
Dave Strong/Rob Scott (Auckland) Honda Civic R
2: Brodie
Anderson/Rob McConachie (Dunedin) Ford Escort
3: Charlie
Evans/Sue O'Neil (Hamilton) Honda Integra
4: Jacob
Scannell/Chris Lancaster (UK) Suzuki Swift
5: Ed
Mulligan/Catriona Kelly (Australia) BMW 325i
6: Bruce
Herbert/Jim Hey (Palmerston North) Mitsubishi Lancer EX
Turbo
Silver Frond
1: Deane Buist/Andrew Bulman
(Christchurch) Ford Escort
2: Ashton Wood/Fred Merkin
(Upper Moutere) Ford Escort
3: Garry Cliff/James Cowles
(Christchurch) Datsun 160J
4: Kevin Lynch/Wayne Julian
(Greymouth) Toyota Corolla AE86
5: Nigel Barclay/Mark
Leonard (Christchurch) Ford Escort MKI
6: Deborah
Kibble/Heather Johnston (Waimate) Mitsubishi Lancer EX
Turbo
Lindsay Beer
2014 epay Silver Fern Rally
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Photograph:
Winners are grinners (from left)
Challenge winners Rob Scott/Dave
Strong, Historic Trophy
Winners Vince Bristow/Dean Mitchell, Silver
Frond winners
Andrew Bulman/Deane Buist celebrate at the finish of
the
2014 epay Silver Fern Rally in Queenstown today -
please credit Geoff
Ridder
ENDS