Gebbies Pass

The first run of the day was undertaken with perhaps a slight degree of caution by the 28 drivers as they got their first look at the road at race speed as the forecast 140kmh winds had arrived.  The only casualty of the high winds was the portaloo which blew over 3 minutes into the run. Fortunately no-one was in it.  Neil Webb was the sole driver not to set a time as the driveshaft broke in his Mitsubishi Mirage.  The battle of the Evo's was taking place at the front of the field between Stefan Moser-Rust, Evo 5, and Mark Higgins,  Evo 3, on 2:39.19 and 2:39.76 respectively.  Less than a second behind was the Evo 1 of Jeremy Beaton. Further down the field Sam Gardiner, Subaru Legacy,  Derek Hartley,  Subaru Impreza WRX STi, and the Evo 4 of Jussara Kokshoorn were all on 2:57's.

Tony Coakley’s day came to an early end when the gearbox in his Fiat Uno packed up.  Also ending their day on this run was Paul Smart in the MK2 Escort and Jeremy Beaton who pulled off the course and was looking under the Evo 1’s bonnet. There was a short delay in proceedings while a marshal shifted role to that of cowboy to keep an eye on a wayward cow.  Mark Higgins overtook Stefan Moser-Rust for 1^st place setting a 2:32.08.  Neil Webb had replaced the driveshaft in his Mirage and was back in business in 2^nd  overall on 2:32.89. Rounding out the podium was Stefan Moser-Rust on 2:34.82.  The 1601+ 2WD class MK2 Escort and Toyota Starlet of Tim McIver and Stu Carter were duking it out for 6^th place with .68 between them. The battle for 9^th was now between Jussara Kokshoorn and Willy Hawes, Toyota 86, who were separated by .33 of a second. Another close competition developed between Mike McDonald,  Mitsubishi Mirage, and the BMW 318i of Lucy Rickard-Green who were separated by .22.

Given the continuing windy conditions it was agreed that run 3 would be the last one of the day.  Lucy Rickard-Smith did an absolute blinder on this run knocking almost 6 seconds off to set a 3:13.65 to secure 24th place overall from Mike McDonald.  Jussara Kokshoorn also knocked close to 6 seconds off her second run time to hold off Derek Hartley, Willy Hawes and Sam Gardiner for 10^th place. It was a tight finish for 4^th, 5^th and 6^th with another impressive drive from Bjorn Cowdrey, Honda Civic, on 2:40.12. He was closely followed by Jeremy Beaton with a sole run time under his belt; even closer was the Toyota Starlet of Deane Buist who was a scant .06 behind Beaton on 2:40.79. The battle for the podium positions was also extremely close as they were all on 2:32’s.  Neil Webb remained in 3^rd  place with his 2^nd run time being his fastest.  Mark Higgins also didn’t go any faster on this run due to an engine issue. Stefan Moser-Rust laid down a tidy run to secure 1^st place by 0.01 on 2:32.07.

Thanks to the competitors for turning up despite the weather forecast.  Congratulations to Stefan Moser-Rust for winning the event. 

Little River Hill Climb

The aftermath of Saturday’s winds was evident along Kinloch Road with bits of tree covering large sections of the course.  After hand clearing the larger bits of debris two Indian files were run to help clear the remaining smaller bits of debris.  Yesterday’s engine issue with Mark Higgins Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 3 saw him withdraw from the event.  Carl Vaughan was the only driver on this run to set a sub 2 minute time on this run with a 1:59.94 in his Formula Suzuki.  Half a second behind was Jeremy Beaton, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 1.  A further 1.5 seconds further back was Neil Webb, Mitsubishi Mirage, with Stefan Moser-Rust’s Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 5 not far behind on a 2:03.15 in 4^th.   The battle for 5^th place between Bjorn Cowdrey, Honda Civic, and Stu Carter, Toyota Starlet, was an incredibly close one with .04 of a second between them.  Another good battle was developing between Sean Sands, Ford Escort MK2, Sharon Keir, Honda Civic, Jerry Wayne, Vauxhall Chevette, and James Martyn in the Toyota Corolla.  .85 of a second covered the four drivers. 

It was back into the competition after a break for lunch.  The day came to an early finish for two drivers on this run.  Stefan Moser-Rust went off the road at a left hander about three quarters of the way along the course.  Fortunately he was ok.  A tell-tale trail of oil showed all was not well with James Storey’s Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 1 as he came to a halt not far from the start line.   Neil Webb moved into 1^st place on a 1:55.98 which was a 7 second improvement on his first run time.  Carl Vaughan was in 2^nd overall 1.5 seconds behind Neil with Jeremy Beaton in 3^rd 3 seconds further back.  A close contest was taking place for 7^th between Paul Price, Mazda RX7, Sean Haggarty, Subaru Impreza, and Jussara Kokshoorn, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 4, who were all on 2:12’s. 

The 3^rd and final run of the day saw Carl Vaughan and Nigel Kiddey, Honda Civic, not finish the run as they put their cars in the bank.  Neil Webb knocked a further 1.7 seconds off to take 1^st place from Carl Vaughan.  3^rd overall was Jeremy Beaton on 1:59.88.  Stefan Moser-Rust’s sole run secured him 4^th overall.  The day’s closest result was between 9^th and 10^th with Wayne Muckle, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 4, finishing .07 ahead of Paul Price.  

Twenty competitors did both events and were eligible to compete for the Banks Peninsula Hillclimb Weekend Trophy.  This trophy is awarded to the competitor with the fastest combined time of both events. For the first time the trophy would head north with Neil Webb’s 3^rd and 1^st overall in a combined time of 4:27.17 securing him the win from Stefan Moser-Rust and Jeremy Beaton.  Congratulations to Neil Webb on winning the Little River Hillclimb and the weekend.

Many thanks to our course set up crew and course marshals for enduring the strong winds throughout the Saturday and doing a superb job as always on the Sunday.  We greatly appreciate your help and couldn’t put these events on without you all. 

Click Here for results.

Article added: Saturday 11 November 2023