Media Release
24 September 2002
Autosport Club (Inc.)

HANMER RALLY ENTRANTS FACE CHANGED ROUTE

Saturday the 28th of September 2002 will see a lineup of 39 crews take the start of the Autosport Club's Hanmer rally, the first event of the Hanmer Motorsport Weekend, sponsored by the Hot Springs Hotel. Logging in the forest has brought about a change to the route. The drivers will now take on a 21.5km stage, made up of the former SS1 and 90% of the former SS2, repeated 4 times, and an autocross stage.

Entries have been steady for the event and the seeded driver list is available on the Autosport Club's website, www.autosport.org.nz.  Top seed is Jeff Judd in his Subaru Impreza WRX, who will be fighting closely with second seed John Silcock in the Mitsubishi Lancer EVO VI. Third seed is recently crowned NZ 2WD club rally champion, and last year's Hanmer Rally winner Deane Buist. This year Deane will be driving the ex-Rocky Hudson Subaru Impreza WRX, and his co-driver will be Christchuch competitor Dermot Martin, taking the left seat after damaging his own Lancer EVO IV at Nelson two weeks ago.

Also returning to the contest after organising last year's Hanmer Motorsport Weekend are Les and Andrea Summerfield with a newly built WRX. After suffering niggling problems at the Nelson Rally, Summerfield will be on a mission. Merv Hatcher set a blistering pace before being sidelined at Nelson in the EVO III, and he also will be out to challenge the top three seeds.

Running alongside the modern machinery will be the quintessential Ford Escort BDAs and a large collection of Toyotas. The 1601+ 2WD class is dominated by the ever quick Escorts but the Mazda RX3's and larger capacity Toyota Corollas are always in with a chance in this contest. Glenn and Brent Buist are favourites after a good class win in the BDA at Nelson. In the mid-size class the FWD Corollas of Blair Logan and Andrew Sim are expected to feature prominently. The dark horse entry in this class is the return of former top 0-1300cc contender Jason Clark in the immaculate newly rebuilt DX Corolla 4AGE.  Watch out for the Starlets and Corollas in the small engined class as well, particularly those of Don Mathias, Grant Goile, and Bruce France, who recently took second place in the small classic class at the Nelson Rally. The battle for class honours is always an exciting one, and with very capable drivers throughout the field spectators can expect a high standard of driving.

Again this year the Hanmer Rally is shaping up to be an exciting event that is easily accessible to spectators. The Autosport Club welcome everyone to the event and hope to see a great turnout to watch the action. Spectator maps will be available later in September from the Hot Springs Hotel, Hanmer.

David Fletcher
Event Publicity
Autosport Club (Inc)
(021) 261-0082