A Very Short Stop

A very short stop, for refuelling and a meal, was made in Gisborne by the Heatway Rally drivers and navigators and their crews at midnight on July 12. They checked in at the Midway Service Station for gas etc., then went to the Sandown Hotel for a well earned meal. Two hours after arriving you wouldn't know they'd been anywhere near the place.

Mikkola's Ford Escort RS1600 speeds through the night.

Eventual winner Hannu Mikkola, the "flying Finn," who dominated the rally from the start in Christchurch to the finish in Auckland, prepares to take off, north of Gisborne.

Australian Colin Bond (Torana XU1) was the first driver to be greeted by the large crowd which turned out to watch proceedings

Other early arrivals were Shekhar Mehta and navigator Wayne Jones in their Datsun 180Β SSS. They eventually finished third in the rally

Arriving in their Capri are A.O. and J. A. Woolf

Another of the early leaders in the rally, S. Millen, with co-driver D. O'Donoghue, arrives in his Torana XU1.

Rally director Murray Thompson (right) surveys the activity as the cars are checked and refuelled.

Tim Bailey's Porsche 911T finished the special stage, before Gisborne, driving on his gearbox and handbrake.

Last year's winners, Andrew Cowan and navigator Jim Scott, were unable to make it two in a row.

More of the spectators gathered round the Midway Service Station to watch the goings-on.

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The Gisborne Photo News

No 230 : August 15, 1973

A Very Short Stop