Eyes on the prize at Gisborne for van Klink

Eyes on the prize at Gisborne for van Klink

Kaiapoi-based rally driver Marcus van Klink has his eyes on the prize for the final round of the Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Championship, powered by Brother, Rally Gisborne, where a finish will all but guarantee van Klink the historic national rally championship.

To date, this season has been the best to date for van Klink and co-driver Dave Neill. Starting with a maximum score at Rally Whangarei, the pair then went on to win the Malcolm Stewart Classic Rally in the Wairarapa and the Otago Classic Rally, those two results giving the pair victory in the Classic Challenge Trophy.

But with the ability to secure the title at the previous round, which ran in conjunction with Rally New Zealand, a series of problems saw van Klink take home no points, meaning he would have to wait until the final round to again try and wrap up his first national championship title.

This will be the first time that van Klink will tackle the roads around the Gisborne area and from what he has been told, is looking forward to getting the Mico Plumbing supplies Group B replica Mazda RX-7 into action on the flowing roads around the east cape.

“For us, really the main aim is to wrap up the championship, which at Rally NZ we found out is easier said than done,” says van Klink. “That will be the final box for us to tick, other than that we have won pretty much all the other classic rallying titles this season.”

“Although I haven’t competed in Gisborne before, I have heard some really good things about the roads up there, so I’m looking forward to having a crack at them,” he added. “The boys at Palmside have again worked hard to have the car ready so thanks to them and Mico Plumbing Supplies, our major sponsor.”

The Gisborne Vehicle Testing Waikanae Beach Holiday Park Rally Gisborne begins with a ceremonial start on Friday night, crews will leave Reads Quay at 7am on Saturday morning before tackling seven special stages totalling 170km. A further five stages the following day add another 125km of special stages before the finish back at Reads Quay on Sunday afternoon.

ENDS

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