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Melbourne - Peter Gazzard out drove a star studded field in
a Chrysler Crossfire to take a category victory in the Alphera Dutton Rally on
the weekend. The Crossfire upset a prestigious field including a handful of the
high performance BMW M3's, two Ford XR6 Turbos and a Nissan 350Z, to be the
overall winner in its class and place an impressive twelfth in overall
standings.
Over three days, from August 6-8, Gazzard and his co-driver Kurt Stiles put
the Crossfire through 27 different driving tests including motorkhanas, sprints,
skid pan work and hill climbs. The car performed well in all of the events and
especially shone in the motorkhana events, where a combination of strong
braking, sharp handling and quick acceleration was required.
The strong performance of the Crossfire placed the Gazzard team in a
remarkable twelfth position overall, out of a field of 72 teams, leaving many
pricier Porsches, renowned Suburu WRX's, a Mitsubishi EVO and many other exotic
cars in its wake.
Gazzard said that the Crossfire surprised a lot of people. “It created a lot
of interest both with its looks and even more so, it's performance. The car has
a great combination of power, traction, breaking and superb handling qualities.
It's an excellent package and outstanding value for money when you look at what
they're selling for.”
Team-mate Stiles said the Crossfire was a lot of fun to drive. “I think if
more people knew about this car there'd be a lot more on the road.”
The Alphera Dutton Rally brings together motoring aficionados from around
Australia of all skill levels, in standard, road-registered vehicles and saw 88
prestige and exotic vehicles compete.
You can see all the action from the Alphera Dutton Rally on SBS this Sunday
August 15 at 12:00pm on Speedweek.
| Class G team results: |
| Driver |
Co-driver |
Model |
| 1. Peter Gazzard |
Kurt Stiles |
2004 CHRYSLER CROSSFIRE |
| 2. Andrew Gordon |
Will Gordon |
2002 BMW M3 |
| 3. David Whitehead |
Michael Stillwell |
2004 BMW M3 COUPE |
| 4. Dean Sammut |
Vin Stenta |
2003 FORD XR6 TURBO |
| 5. James Stanford |
Simon Johnson |
2004 CHRYSLER CROSSFIRE |
| 6. Scott Osborne |
Neville Bowen |
1994 BMW M3 |
| 7. Marco DiPietrantoni |
James Davie |
1986 BMW 535 IS |
| 8. Murry Coates |
Steven Drury |
2004 FORD XR6 TURBO |
| 9. Karen Blanchard |
Cabel Ham |
2003 BMW 330 CI |
| 10. Sam Gould |
Chris Kenny |
2003 NISSAN 350Z |
The 2004 Chrysler Crossfire Coupe with six-speed manual or five-speed
automatic transmission (at no additional cost), has a Recommended Retail Price
(RRP) of $69,990.
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