Perfect season continues for van Klink

Christchurch’s Marcus van Klink has continued his winning run in the Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Championship at the Lone Star Rally Canterbury over the weekend, once again topping the two-wheel drive standings with a top ten overall finish.

After two victories to start the season, van Klink’s participation in the third round was in doubt when he was struck down with a severe ear infection leading up to the event. Despite this, he immediately set the pace, more than seven seconds ahead of his nearest rival.

As the rally moved out of the forest and north towards Cheviot, van Klink and co-driver Dave Neill only got faster and by the end of the third stage already held a lead in excess of a minute and more impressively sat sixth outright.

As the rain set in and darkness set over the event, some of the four-wheel drive cars were able to leapfrog the Universal Plumbing Triple Rotor Mazda RX8, but his two-wheel drive lead continued to grow. By the time the rally finished, he was almost two minutes ahead of his nearest rival to secure a third consecutive win.

“This year the car has just been magic and we had an awesome run over the weekend. It was pretty special to be knocking on the door of the top five earlier in the day,” said van Klink. “The competition in the class is pretty strong, so it’s pleasantly surprising to be that far ahead, plus to stay in the top five in the championship is pretty cool.”

The Klink Rallysport team now head to the next round of the championship, the Stadium Finance South Canterbury Rally, on June 22. They’ll be looking to not only extend their 22-point lead in the Motorsport NZ 2WD championship, but also maintain or improve their fifth overall in the Gold Star championship.

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