Ruapehu roads for car rally

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 6, Issue 282, 11 April 1989, Page 3 (Supplement)

Ruapehu roads for car rally

Dust clouds on the horizon and headlights blazing - the AC Delco Rally is in the Waimarino this Saturday April 15, promising some memorable moments for both competitors and fans.

The highly entertaining spectator sport has this year attracted around 55 entries, the majority from the Wellington region but with some competitors from as far afield as Auckland. The rally is a restricted national event, open to all members of North Island clubs. It is not part of the National Championship which, this year, consists of four rounds plus the International. Public road closures permitting, the rally is 300km long altogether, with seven special stages totaling 150km. Only 43km of the special stage distance j is sealed road. For those Waimarino people planning to j watch the rally, there j will be information j available at Ruapehu Motors in Goldfinch Street, Ohakune - the official scrutineering point for the rally - from 6 -9pm on Friday evening, and at Rally Headquarters throughout Saturday. Winstone Afforestation offices at I the south end of I Raetihi have been des- « ignated the rally headquarters and the main service area, where provisional results will be available progressively throughout the day.

Spectators are encouraged but must stay in areas designated for viewing the race. This is for the safety of spectators, who may accidently find themselves on a special stage with 55 high

speed rally cars. Parking will be available at the finish of each stage, and in the case of the public road stages of the event, the roads will be closed to spectator vehicles one hour before the stage is due to start. The race starts at the Hobbit Motel in Ohakune at 8am, with the first car due to fin-

ish there at around 5pm. Approximate start times for each stage have been recorded to aid spectators in Teaching vantage points in plenty of time to view the race: Stage 1, 8.45am with spectator parking at the junction of RaetihiPipiriki Road; Stage 2, 9.45am with parking at Ohura Road/Makakihi

Road; Stage 3, 10.45am at SH 4/Middle Road; Stage 4, 1pm at Oruakukura road/Whangaehu valley Road (this is also good viewing at the start of Stage 5, which is all seal); Stage 5, 2pm at SH 4/Fields Track; Stage 6, 3.30pm at Raetihi/Pipiriki Road; Stage 7, 4pm at Raetihi-Pipiriki Road/Mangaeturoa

North Road. For those who like to watch rally cars being serviced, the official service areas will be: at the junction of Ohura Road and Middle Road (after stage 2); at the

junction of Highway 4 and Middle Road (after stage 3); at the junction of Oruakukuru Road and Whangaehu Valley Road (after stage 4); and in Raetihi at Forest HQ, at all times.