By BOB PEARCE
Winning the Greg Todd Memorial Rally at Maramarua was a bitter-sweet experience for Aucklander Marty Roestenburg.
On the one hand, he celebrated his narrow win over the Subaru driven by Stumpy Holmes, of Waiuku. On the other, he was resigned to the probability that he would be unable to afford his entry into the international Rally of New Zealand next month.
Sponsorship is the problem. Roestenburg had to pull the plug on his South Island campaign in the national championship because he had chewed through his budget.
Now without the money for a proper tyre budget, he fears his involvement in the international will be as a spectator rather than at the wheel of his Mitsubishi. That will be particularly galling for his co-driver, Colin Smith. After 16 years in the passenger seat, the Tauranga journalist finally navigated for a winning car.
Holmes also had to pare back his competitive outings this season for lack of sponsorship. He bypassed the national championship to concentrate on the Canberra Rally, the Queenstown Hillclimb and the Rally of New Zealand.
The idea was to get as much exposure as possible with a view to running a new car next year in a more ambitious programme.
He earned his media exposure the hard way in Canberra by rolling his Subaru spectacularly to the delight of the photographers. In the international he hopes to achieve the same by his success on the road.
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New Zealand rally fans can look forward to fierce competition within and between the international teams when the world championship comes here next month.
Team orders do prevail, but not without tears. Ford driver Carlos Sainz ignored his bosses to establish a two-minute lead over team-mate Colin McRae when the drivers were ordered to slow down to ensure a one-two finish in the Acropolis Rally at the weekend.
The Spaniard made his point by crawling through the last stage to allow McRae the win but not much glory.
Last year, Subaru driver Juha Kankkunen ignored team orders to beat team-mate Richard Burns in Argentina. This time, despite a non-finish in Acropolis, Burns leads the championship by 14 points and should have no fears about his colleague in New Zealand.
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New Zealand's most successful woman racing driver, Heather Spurle, has signed to race in the opening round of the Malaysian touring car championship at Kuala Lumpur on June 25. Spurle, the world women's water speed record holder, will drive a factory-prepared Mitsubishi for the MBM Zaifa team at the Grand Prix circuit at Sepang.
The Aucklander hopes to see the deal extended for the full series, which ends with a support race for the Formula One Grand Prix in October.
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The Isle of Man Senior TT was won by David Jefferies on a Yamaha R1 in a record-breaking time of 1h 51m 22.8s. In the process, Jefferies also passed the magical 125mph mark in setting a new outright lap record of 125.69mph.
The first Kiwi home was Britain-based Blair Degerholm on a Kawasaki ZXR7RR in seventh place. Another expatriate, Bruce Anstey, was 14th on a Yamaha TZ250 (the only 250cc in the top 20).
Other New Zealand finishers included John Hepburn (Timaru) 16th on a Yamaha R1, Nigel Healey (Feilding) 20th on a Yamaha R1, Steve Bridge (Hamilton) 25th on a Yamaha R1, Warren Turner (Palmerston North) 28th on a Yamaha R6 and Hugh Reynolds (Christchurch) 31st on a Yamaha TZ250.
Shaun Harris, who had been so successful earlier in the week, retired at the end of the first lap with his Yamaha firing on only three cylinders.
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Young New Zealand drivers Simon Wills and Matt Halliday have plenty of evidence of the unforgiving nature of the new Canberra street circuit used at the weekend for the first time.
The V8 Supercars bashed into each other and the barriers. But the Formula Holdens literally fell apart.
On one of the bumpiest parts of the circuit Wills' chances in the second race were scuppered when all the spark plug leads fell off on one side of his engine. Halliday, meanwhile, had retired when his gearcase split, spewing gears and oil over the track.
Wills, who won the first race, has lost the lead in the series to West Australian Christian Murchison. Halliday is third. The next round is at Willowbank in Queensland on July 1-2.
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Toyota is apparently prepared to forfeit at least part of the $150 million deposit it paid to reserve a place in Formula One for 2001.
It now seems unlikely the team will race next year, preferring to test and develop with a view to racing in 2002.
The deposit effectively blocks any other team from joining the grid without buying an existing outfit as Bernie Ecclestone has ruled that there will be no further expansion.
One avenue for another entrant might be the team run by former driving champion Alain Prost. The Prost team has been spectacularly unsuccessful and is rumoured to be up for sale.
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Professor Sid Watkins, the British neuro-surgeon who is the hands-on expert at all Formula One Grand Prix, watched the Monaco Grand Prix from his own trackside hospital after being slightly injured when the FIA medical car crashed before the race.
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Team Kiwi Racing, the Auckland-based team planning an assault on Bathurst and the Australian V8 Supercar championship, is taking its message around the country.
The road show will start on July 10 at the team's base in Mays Rd, Penrose. It will be at Ebbett Waikato, Hamilton (July 11), Firestone Direct Rotorua (July 12) and then Hastings, Palmerston North, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin, Invercargill and New Plymouth (July 21).
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