DUVAUCHELLE

A varied field of 34 competitors entered the first day of the Complete Tyre and Auto Banks Peninsula Hillclimb Weekend.  Sean Haggarty in his Subaru Impreza set the early pace on the first run of the day with a 1:34.79.  This may have had something to do with him getting two looks at the road on each run as he was also competing in a Semog Bravo Cross Car.  Having a close battle for second were Mark Higgins and Stefan Moser-Rust, both driving Evo’s, on 1:35.52 and 1:35.90 respectively.  Stu Carter, Toyota Starlet, was the first 2WD in 4^th less than a second behind Stefan.  Ken Walkerden’s Lancia Montecarlo came to a halt part way along the course and needed to tow the rest of the way.  Also competing were six Vintage Car Club members including Lindsay O’Donnell’s very nice 1954 Austin Healey Corvette who was fastest of this group.

Mark Higgins moved into the lead on this run knocking just over 4 seconds off to set a 1:31.37.   Stu set second fastest time on this run only 4/10ths of a second behind.  .64 adrift was Stefan with Sean not far behind.  Having a good battle for 7^th, 8^th and 9^th were Willy Hawes, Toyota Celica GT4, Tim McIver, Ford Escort MKII and Matt Dellit, Mazda RX7 S1, all on 1:37 covered by .13.  Robert McCallum, Ford Escort MK2, had an altercation with the bank resulting in a DNF.  Phil Mauger’s 1996 Ford Escort Cosworth was blowing out a lot of smoke which ended his day early.  Terry Inder, 1974 Datsun SSS, was closing in on Lindsay setting 2:03.64, 1.2 seconds behind.

Mark held onto his lead on Run 3 by a scant .03 from Stefan.  Stu stayed in 3^rd with Sean .58 behind on 1:31.80.  Ross McKay, BMW Mini Cooper, Robert McCallum and Sam Gardiner, Subaru Legacy RSR, were fighting it out mid field on 1:41’s.  Malcolm Hoogervorst, Nissan Silvia, was trying hard on this run with the two of the radio marshals calling that he just made it past them.  Lindsay was still fastest of the VCC drivers going just under the 2 minute mark on this run.

Run 4 was the most eventful one of the day with Matt Dellit tipping his Mazda RX7 on its side.  Fortunately Matt and his passenger were uninjured.  Stu had a higher podium in his sights with the last radio marshal calling that he had just made it past them.  He got within .07 of Mark to take 3^rd overall.  The same radio marshal got a demonstration of Robert’s rally driving style as he went sideways past them.  Willy’s GT4 had some misfiring issues as his time on this run was 20 seconds slower than his previous two run times finishing 9^th overall.  Making an impressive Hillclimb debut was Paul Brooks driving Mark Higgins Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 1 RS.  He finished 6^th overall with a quickest time of 1:33.94.  Mark had mechanical issues on this run which meant Stefan was able to overtake him for overall honours setting a 1:29.70 just .76 ahead.   

LITTLE RIVER

The morning got off to a frustrating start with the timing gear at the finish line not working.  Once this was sorted it was business as usual.  Melanie Smith, Subaru Impreza RS, had a moment and cruised to the finish with the panel damage to the left rear of the car indicating an altercation with the bank.  This was the end of her and Dad Darryl’s day.  At the pointy end of the field Sean Haggarty in his Subaru Impreza, again doing double duty in car and cross car, set the fastest time on run 1 with a time of 2:03.40.  Hard on his heels was Mark Higgins, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 3, .39 behind.  Filling the 3^rd step on the podium was Willy Hawes, Toyota Celica GT4, 4 seconds adrift closely followed by Stefan Moser-Rust, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 5, just half a second behind.  Royce Bayer, 1960/2018 Bello RNB1, was the quickest of the VCC entrants with a time of 2:35.70.

Run 2 saw times drop dramatically as drivers got to grips with the road.  Mark moved up to 1^st with a 7 second improvement to set a 1:56.72.  Stefan and Sean were separated by .24 for 2^nd and 3^rd respectively.  1.5 seconds further back was Jeremy Beaton in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 5.  Sean Haggarty (Semog), Stuart Carter (Toyota Starlet) and Greg Crossan (Subaru Impreza WRX) were all on 2:06’s, covered by .55.  Wilfrid Henderson did the latter part of this run with the boot of his 1965 Jaguar MKII open.  Royce was still the quickest of the VCC group knocking just under 5 seconds off his first run time, a position he held for the rest of the event.  

Run 3 saw the more gremlins plague Willy’s GT4 with a call from one of the marshals that it was sounding bad and finally stopped just shy of the finish.  Mark continued to be in a league of his own with a .11 improvement.  Stefan and Sean went slower on this run which allowed Stu to close in setting a 2:03.33.  Deane Buist, sharing the drive of Tim McIver’s Ford Escort MK2, pipped Jeremy for 5^th with a 2:04.44.     

The 4^th and final run of the weekend was uneventful apart from a holy moly call about Robert McCallum, Ford Escort MK2, who may having been trying to hold off Greg who was .19 behind and catch Leigh Marston, Subaru Impreza WRX STI, who was half a second ahead in 9^th overall.  2^nd to 5^th overall were covered by less than 2 seconds.  Tim held off Deane to take 5^th overall on 2:03.68 while coming incredibly close to Stu in 4^th .35 ahead.  Sean was 3^rd with a quickest time of 2:06.66.  In 2^nd on 2:01.76 was Stefan.  Already holding a comfortable lead Mark set a final run time of 1:54.35.   

This was enough to secure the overall Banks Peninsula Hillclimb Weekend title for Mark which is determined by adding the fastest time from Duvauchelle and Little River together.  Stefan was 2^nd overall from Stu. 

Congratulations to Mark for winning Little River and the overall weekend and to Stefan for winning Duvauchelle.

Many thanks to all our helpers over the weekend.  Without their invaluable assistance we would not be able to run these events.  Thanks also to the competitors who travelled from all round the South Island.

Click Here for results.                          

Article added: Monday 18 October 2021