It was a day of mixed fortunes on the roads surrounding Timaru for the 2024 Silver Fern Rally. Day 4 consisted of eight special stages covering a distance of 120 kilometers.
Early on it looked like leader James Ford’s (Ford Escort) day would come to a premature end after he hit an object in the grass and bent the rear axle. Fortunately, this happened on the last stage before lunchtime service, so they were able to carry out the axle change.
“A lot of people have dropped out today which is beneficial to us,” said Ford. “The engine is running ok now after not running quite right the last few days so we will see how we get on”.
James Ford, in a Ford Escort in a ford – photo Peter Whitten
They lost around five minutes to Marcus van Klink who took over the lead. This was only temporary because just a few stages later, the engine of the RX7 started to fail.
“It was running smooth, with no sign of trouble,” said van Klink. “Then the engine started sounding a bit off. We did a short stage and thought it might just be the coil or injector. The service crew checked and found an issue with the front rotor. We figured there wasn’t enough time to do an engine swap so withdrew”. The time required to replace the engine meant the team chose to retire from the event.”
With Marcus’s misfortune Robbie Stokes inherited second place, seven-minutes behind Ford while Robert Gough moved up into the top three. The top four positions are held by Ford Escort’s.
Robert Gough who now sits in third place – photo Steve Ritchie
Father of James Ford, Chris Ford, is also racing in a similar Ford Escort having bought both cars down from the UK. He sits in 27th place, also in the 2WD Historic class. They had an issue today getting stuck on a bank although this didn’t seem to dampen their spirits.
“It’s been a great day, and really good fun,” said Ford senior. “The stages are fantastic and everyone is really positive”.
Chris usually competes in tarmac rallies in the UK.
The Tuttle Porsche Team, also from the UK has entered two Porsche’s. They currently sit in fifth and twelfth places, and still going strong without any major issues. No.3 Porsche is being driven by Kris Rosenberger while No.11 is piloted by Evgeny Kireev .
Another well known personality that is in New Zealand for the event is Phil Mills. Phil was Petter Solberg’s co-driver when they won the 2003 WRC Championship. He is the Team Director for his Viking Motorsport team. They have brought over three Ford Escorts. Driving No.29 is Robert Gough who now sits in third place . Bonamy Grimes is driving the No.16 Escort and lies ninth. The current leader’s car (James Ford) is also run by Viking Motorsport.
Spanish driver Daniel Alonso (main photo) and his co-driver Candido Estevez continue to have a strong rally at the half way point. They are currently placed thirteenth in the 2WD Historic class.
Jeff Judd off road in SS33, Blackline Rd 2 – photo Viking Motorsport
Still leading the Time Trial is Dallis Yates and Alise Inger who have a 73 points differential to Timothy James and John Mulrennan’s Porsche.
Nov 28 the field will leave Timaru and head further South where they will run on the fantastic Central Otago roads.
2WD Historic Trophy Overall Results – Day 4 (Top 20)
1/ James Ford/Neil Shanks, Ford/Escort RS, C
2/ Robbie Stokes/Amy Stokes, Ford/Escort, C
3/ Robert Gough/Jeremy Rogers, Ford/Escort, C
4/ Roger Chilman/Patrick Walsh, Ford/Escort, C
5/ Kris Rosenberger/Nicola Bleicher, Porsche 911, D
6/ Shane Murland/Kane Seymour, Ford/Escort, C
7/ Philip Kadoorie/Ryan Champion, Lancia Stratos HF, D
8/ Charlie Evans/Dayna Kiekebosch, Mazda RX7, D
9/ Bonamy Grimes/Matt Edwards, Ford Escort, C
10/ Allan Dippie/Paul Coghill, Porsche 911, D
11/ Evgeny Kireev/PG Andersson, Porsche 911, D
12/ Daniel Alonso/Candido Estevez, Ford Escort, C
13/ Andrew Siddall/Gary McElhinney, Ford Escort C
14/ Grant Shand/Rosa Shand, Ford Escort, C
15/ Jeff Judd/Stephane Prevot, Ford Escort, C
16/ Brandon James/Dale Furniss, Ford Escort Mk2, C
17/ Richard Spink/Nigel Hutchinson, Ford Escort RS 1800, C
18/ Iain Dobson/Harry Stubbs, Ford Escort Mk1, C
19 Ken Macdonald/Daniel Johnson, Ford Escort, C
20/ Brian Green/Brianna Little, Ford Escort, C
