Podium finish for ETCO Rally Team

After a treacherous and wet Rally of Waitomo, the ETCO Rally team of Glenn Inkster and Glenn Goldring have walked away with an excellent third place overall, as well as winning both the North Island Rally Series and Rally Xtreme Series round.

The team faced wet and windy conditions right from the Te Kuiti start, however the adverse conditions did not dampen the spirit and the day started with two close fourth stage positions and a second to put the team in third in the rally, behind Chris West and Hayden Paddon, the drivers first and second in the New Zealand Rally Championship.

The team continued to push on and were surprised to be keeping the leaders on their toes and beating former national rally champion Richard Mason. The excellent run continued until the sixth stage.

On the sixth stage a tricky piece of road saw the car brush a bank and the decision was made to cruise out and check for any problems. With nothing to gain and everything to lose over the last two stages, the crew backed off and despite a spin on the final stage that cost over twenty seconds, came home for a standout third place. The result puts Inkster and Goldring 1st equal in the North Island Rally Xtreme series and keeps them in the lead of the North Island Rally series

With the ETCO Lancer Evo 6.5 requiring nothing more than a wash and some fuel, the team headed to Mystery Creek for the Rally New Zealand Media Day, a great chance to show off the car and Inkster’s driving skills. Despite a centre diff problem that was replaced by the slick service crew, the day was a huge success for the whole team.