Waiouru rally drivers help club win trophy

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 9, Issue 393, 2 July 1991, Page 7

Waiouru rally drivers help club win trophy

Waiouru car club members participated in various hillclimb events and helped their club totake back the Jensen Cup, recently. Six car clubs of the central North Island take part in an annual clash, involving a series of

hillclimb events run on either gravel or sealed roads. Members of these clubs vary in motor racing experience, many of them are backyard mechanics. Two of these backyard mechanics, John Sparkes and Trevor

Romeril, belong to the Taihape and District Car Club but are resident in Waiouru. In 1990 the Jensen Cup was taken away from their club by Hawkes Bay, in a battle that had everyone waiting until the very last of the hillclimb events to decide the winner. This year the members of this small club were determined to get the cup back.

The last two events of the Jensen Hillclimb Series were held over Queens Birthday Weekend at Dannevirke and in the Hawkes Bay. The Dannevirke event was plagued by constant rain and wind, which was not a good combination for a gravel road. Nevertheless, John managed a third placing in his class (1600-2000cc) with a time of 1-21.72 sec-

onds. Trevor did not compete because his car has been set up for sealed roads only. Hawkes Bay was the complete opposite of the Dannevirke event, with great weather. Trevor competed in this sealed-road event, coming seventh in his class (1300-1600cc) with a time of 1-21.06 seconds. John however had terrible luck with his

towing car and was unable to even get to Hawkes Bay in time for racing. Over 15 members of the club competed over the weekend, however and won the Jensen Cup in a landslide victory. The overall points were Taihape 635; Hawkes Bay 297; Manawatu 205; Wanganui 98; Dannevirke 59 and South Rangitikei 34.