A little bit sideways Rallying in New Zealand, where we like to get A Little Bit Sideways! Up to date Rally News from teams around the country together with event reports.
New Zealand’s fastest Police Officer, Darren Galbraith, heads to the third round of the Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Championship, the Lone Star Rally Canterbury, looking to repeat his podium finish at the previous round.
It was a tough start to a season that offered a lot of hope for Galbraith. Twice a champion of the Gull Rally Challenge, Galbraith started the season in Otago with a new and more competitive car for his debut in the outright championship, hopes were high, however brake problems and a turbo failure put paid to a strong start to the season.
After a busy couple of weeks that also required and engine replacement and gearbox rebuild, Galbraith and co-driver Rocky Hudson headed to the other end of the country for Rally Whangarei. Despite having never written his own pace notes before, he and co-driver Rocky Hudson took a strong third place, battling for the lead until head gasket failure forced them to limp home.
Galbraith now heads for Canterbury, an event where he has experienced success in the past, coming home in second place two years ago. With a strong Whangarei result kick starting his season, another podium would put Galbraith in a strong position heading to the mid-season break.
“Whangarei was a great way for us to get things underway after a pretty tough Otago, it’s encouraging to know we can run at the front of what is a pretty competitive national championship field,” says Galbraith. “I’m looking forward to Canterbury, for whatever reason we seem to go pretty well on forestry roads, so we’ll see where we end up.”
The Lone Star Rally Canterbury kicks off with a ceremonial start from Lone Star in Manchester Street, Christchurch on Saturday afternoon. Crews then leave Rangiora at 8.30am on Sunday to take on 10 high-speed special stages totalling 195 kilometres, before returning to the Lone Star for the ceremonial finish from 7pm.
Galbraith Rallysport is proudly supported by Ranger Specialist Coatings, LJ’s Auto Align, Farmlands Grain and Seed, Trident Homes, All About Signs, Harbour View Motel Timaru, Cromwell Collision Repair, Rapid Performance, My Travel Broker, Saikou TWB, Todd Mudie Group, Autoparts Partsworld, Cool Air Refrigeration and Air Conditioning, Repco Timaru and the Paddon Foundation.
Press Release by BB Media
