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Oh, I Do Like to Speed Beside The Seaside |
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| By Jody Seabright The Rutherford & Bond Toyota sponsored Shelly Bay Sealed Sprint was another successful event for the Wellington Car Club last Saturday as they ran their annual sprint along Massey Road, covering 2.6km from Scoarching Bay to Shelly Bay. Although the number of entries was down from previous years, the quality was as good as ever. As the day progressed it threw up some interesting surprises. Firstly the weather was kind, despite the forecast for cold southerlies and rain, the day was calm and overcast, making for a pleasant outing to the seaside. The road surface made the course extra challenging with parts covered in a small metal chip making some sections like driving on ball bearings. This showed up as slower times to previous years. There were three crashes during the day where each involved a yellow coloured Toyota, a SL coupe, an AE86 Tureno, and a Corolla. Then the three fastest drivers were all driving cars they had borrowed for the day. Overall winner and winner of Class E (4wd) was Stokes Valley resident Ron Scanlan in a time of 1 minute 16.75seconds. His objective for the day had been to give some tuition to the car’s owner, up and coming driver Piran Pigneguy of Korokoro, prior to the Taranaki Tarmac Rally early next month, however their dramas began on Thursday night. While preparing the car for the event they blew the engine and turned a conrod into a horseshoe. So after spending all Friday rebuilding the engine they managed to get to the start line on Saturday, just. Second was Wellington Central based Murray O’Neil with a time of 1:18.19 in the Harbour City Security Subaru Legacy he had borrowed from Craig Shepard. Then Third was Lew Henderson from Khandallah who registered his best time of 1:19.92 in the same Legacy O’Neil was using, meaning this car was not only borrowed, but well used. Class D (2000cc and over) was dominated by another Khandallah resident Don McLean in his potent 350hp Datsun 260Z. His best time of 1:20.93 was well ahead of Rotorua based Kerry Mason’s 1:22.29 in a 2 litre turbo powered Ford Escort. Then while Marson had started fast and went progressively slower, Simon Legge of Houghton Bay started slow and improved over the day as he got his 6.6 litre Rover P5C down to a best time of 1:24.48. In Class C (1600cc – 2000cc) it was a very consistent Stephen Jopson from Newlands who won the class with a best time of 1:21.18. This was despite him not completing his last run when the Ford Escort jammed into 4th gear. Next in the class was Island Bay based Gordon Diggle who also ran consistently in his 2 litre engined Mitsubishi Mirage with 1:24.07. 3rd in another Ford Escort was Upper Hutt man Craig Blackler with his best time being 1:29.37. Class B (1300cc – 1600cc) was a clear win for Shane Mackay from Otaki in his Toyota Starlet. Luckily for him his Starlet is painted brown, so he survived the road to record a 1:22.49. Long time competitor Leslie Edwards from Paraparaumu showed that both he and his Datsun 1200 SSS are still competitive by taking second in class with 1:25.93. Then Peter Collins from Upper Hutt also had luck on his side as his red coloured Toyota Corolla came in 3rd with a time of 1:36.33. Class A (0 – 1300cc) was an easy effort for Seatoun based Ewart Anderson in his Mini as he was the only one in the class, however his best time of 1:24.53 was still 13th fastest overall. This time would have been good enough for 2nd in Class B or 3rd in Class C. Wellington Car Club was also pleased to be able to take mayor Kerry Prendergast and her husband Rex Nichols for a blast down the road. The support shown by the mayor in trying to get major motorsport back into Wellington was acknowledged as Don McLean and Murray O’Neil took the pair on a high speed run down the road course. |
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