Following the completion of last weekends WRC Rally of Norway by Auckland pair Andrew Grant and Glenn Goldring, this weekend they start at event in the UK (23-24 February 2007).

Invited to the ‘Sunseeker Rally’ near the seaside town of Bournemouth (185km from London), it follows on from their performance in Norway the weekend prior.

The unplanned diversion in their journey to contest a snow rally event in Europe has not been without its hurdles to get the logistics sorted inside a week.

“The challenge's to get us to this event have been many but the opportunity is great and the rally sounds very exciting,” said driver Andrew Grant.

“We have changed our flights, accommodation and itinerary around and the organisers have accepted and handled a rather 'late' entry. The Ford Fiesta we are using has had to be transported back from Norway to York (England). It has since been re-prepared, then loaded up and transported down to Bournemouth, all in a matter of six days. As well as getting ourselves there, when we last spoke to Olly Marshall from Prospeed (who are supplying the car), he says they are encountering customs delays.

Bournemouth, regarded as an affluent seaside town, has been described to the pair as having ‘elderly ladies with blue rinse hair, walking their poodles along the pier’.

A regional rally event in comparison to the top-calibre competition encountered in Norway, expectations are modest. Having never contested an event in a front-wheel drive Ford Fiesta before, the potential for international exposure is motivation enough for the pair.

“We would like to thank the people who have helped greatly this week in getting the Ford Fiesta ready and entry accepted. They include Tony Jardine (Jardine International Media Communications) Olly Marshall (Prospeed) Rick Smith (Sunseeker Rally Organiser) Grant Norton (Jardine International Media Communications) and Sean Moriaty (Motorsport News, UK) to name a few,” added Grant’s co-driver Glenn Goldring.

The event is a round of the British MSA gravel rally championship and starts on Friday 23rd February with two spectator stages. With a further 12 stages held on the Saturday, the event totals 110km of gravel.

“We don't know very much about the stage terrain except that they are likely to be sandy and quite open and fast,” said Grant.

Ends.

Editors notes:

*Contact with the pair is difficult, email if you would like to establish a time for telephone type interview.
*There is a short broadcast quality in-car video clip available (will require licensing). For more information: lance@inspire.net.nz

For more information: www.agr.co.nz or http://www.rallyesunseeker.co.uk/

Photo images:

*Finishing the WRC Rally of Norway - Kiwi pair of Andrew Grant (bottom left) and Glenn Goldring (bottom right) with the ST Motors crew in Hamar. Click to download

Video and audio footage will be available during the event. For more information: lance@inspire.net.nz

Andrew Grant 021 309 448
Glenn Goldring 027 277 4321
Lance Hastie 021 329 909 lance@inspire.net.nz