Motorsports | Subaru Global

Event Bulletin
28 September 2006

Not even a puncture on the final stage could prevent Sam Murray from taking third place in the national rally championship which finished in Nelson today.

Palmerston North's Murray was battling for second place on the day with Brett Martin (Taihape) when his Subaru Impreza WRX STI punctured five kilometres from the finish of the last stage.

Any chance of the runner-up spot behind Rotorua's Dean Sumner disappeared, but he limped to the finish of the test to claim third place, just 10 seconds behind Martin.

That result was good enough to confirm Martin's runner-up position in the series, with Murray coming third for the season.

Two other Subaru drivers started the weekend looking for a podium place, but had their hopes dashed.

Chris West rolled on the second stage of the first heat after a ball joint came loose on his Winger Subaru Impreza WRX STI. The car ended up, upside down in a river.

Hopes of repairing the damage overnight so he and co-driver Garry Cowan could start the second heat were discarded after inspection of the car revealed the damage was too great to be repaired with an "all night effort"

The 2004 champions had to be content with fifth overall for the year.

Dunedin's Emma Gilmour had a fraught day on Saturday with her tyres not suiting the conditions and she finished seventh.

Today she was lying second behind Sumner after the first two stages only for transmission problems to force her out of the event, leaving her in fourth place for the season.

Masterton's Richard Mason had already won the title at the previous round in the Wairarapa in his Subaru Impreza WRX STI and Subaru had secured the manufacturer's title there as well.