Cox adds hillclimb title to trophy cabinet

Cox adds hillclimb title to trophy cabinet

Rotorua driver Sloan Cox added the MotorSport New Zealand National Hillclimb Championship to the Junior Rally Championship he won last season in the final of the two leg sprint event at the weekend.

There were twelve competitors, six from each island, who contested the final two stages in Wellington. Joining them were 28 local hillclimb competitors on the gravel and 42 on the seal.

Sloan Cox headed Christchurch’s Michael Tall by one second on the 4.4 km Valley View Road gravel track, and also led the championship field on the sealed 1.4 km Alexandra Road test but was pipped by local driver Ron Scanlan for fastest time.

Points from the championship competitors qualifying events were carried through to the final and double points were on offer for each day. That meant that any competitor could win the event but with Cox locking up 300 points he put himself beyond the reach of Tall who finished second overall with 560.

Third on the points table was Tauranga’s Dave Loughlin with Marcus Beaufoy (Gisborne) fourth. They shared the same car and at the end were separated by just three points. Leigh Marston from Christchurch was fifth.

The Hillclimb Championship is one of MotorSport New Zealand’s oldest clubsport titles.

ENDS

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