Four Rounds down, just two to go, and now it’s a 2-Dayer with 50% more points up for grabs at the Vertex Lubricants International Rally of Whangarei to be run on the fabulously cambered ex WRC roads in the Kaipara District.  

By winning his second round of the season, Aucklander Jack Hawkeswood’s win at a heavily amended, yet still incredibly intense and close fought TRAFFIC SAFE NZ Rally Hawke’s Bay, means the Toyota pilot is now just a single point behind Canterbury’s Jack Stokes.  

Jack H effectively won this round with a stunning drive on the opening 34km Waihi stage where, in terms of how close they had been at the three South Island rounds, he was almost a second per kilometre faster than the Skoda Rally2 trio of the Stokes brothers and Quentin Palmer. Jack H then managed that near half minute lead superbly to beat Robbie Stokes by 24.9 seconds and Jack S by 48.5. By winning the Power Stage Jack H left Hawke’s Bay with the maximum 30 points and thereby clawed back 6 points in his pursuit of Jack S.  

Quentin finished a solid 4th to maintain 3rd in the championship but has now drifted further away from the leading pair to be 29 points off the lead.  

As a 2-Day Round, Whangarei has four points scoring opportunities – the Power Stage (which is Stage 4 the 24k Greenhill test), both Days (Legs) and the Overall Rally result. There’s 5 points for winning the Power Stage, 7 points for winning a Leg and 25 for winning the Rally. Therefore, a maximum of 44 points is available for a clean sweep. Finishing 2nd on all four provides 36 points, so there could be an 8-point swing come Sunday afternoon if the Jacks finish 1st and 2nd. So as early as Stage 4, by Saturday lunchtime, we could have a tied championship if Jack Hawkeswood beats Jack Stokes through there by one place.  

However, news that four times champion Ben Hunt has been drafted in by Hawkeswood’s Force Motorsport Team to drive Dad Andrew’s 2017 championship winning yellow Mazda 2 AP4, has created a whole new set of possibilities as to the likely Stage, Legs and Overall Rally results.  

The Stokes brothers tried to make the Hawke’s Bay result work in Jack’s favour and there’s no reason to think the same managed approach by them won’t be attempted again, if necessary, at Whangarei. However, Force Motorsport have now countered that and Ben, and stand-in co-driver Jared Hudson, can be expected to do their level best to position themselves between their teammate and the Stokes Motorsport pair wherever possible.  

Regardless, the pace at the front will undoubtedly be frenetic right from the outset with Jack Stokes sure to be more competitive than he was on his first visit to Hawke’s Bay last month. He put on a stunning display on exactly the same roads at Whangarei last year in the Fiesta AP4 to lead the round for the first six stages, take it back on the first pass of Pohe island, and then dropped to second when the wipers failed in the atrocious weather conditions on the repeat run of the SSS. Ultimately, he won half the 17 stages that were run and would have beaten his brother for the rally win had it not been for a puncture on the second pass of Waikiekie on the Sunday that cost him 3 minutes.  

Mike Young was there in a non-championship capacity, driving his Toyota Yaris AP4 last year and fought Jack S tooth and nail throughout the Saturday, with the lead swapping no fewer than five times during the day. In fact, these two AP4 cars won 11 of the 17 stages between them, so that augurs well for the Mazda 2 AP4 that Ben Hunt will drive being able to mix it with the Rally2 cars throughout the event.

Top Speeds achieved were also heavily in favour of the AP4’s as well, with Mike hitting 191.1kph and Jack S 190kph on the first pass of Tokatoka while both Skodas managed ‘only’ 183kphs and were consistently outpaced by the AP4’s and the Yaris Proto of Haydn Mackenzie. The Sunday was more of an even spread until the final Bull stage where Jack S recorded the highest Top Speed of the event at 194.2kph, 2kph faster than Mike and Haydn, with the Skodas 11kph slower.  

Admittedly last year had a very different lead-in that meant Ben Hunt only needed a measured drive in his Skoda to secure his fourth GoldStar, Robbie Stokes was a Man on a Mission to prove a point and put Ben under as much pressure as possible and Jack Hawkeswood was debuting his current Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 and was under strict instructions to keep it in the middle of the road and focus on learning how to drive it and get the best out of Toyota’s latest WRC2 rally weapon.    

The roads being used are another suite of the classics of North Island rallying and revered from the halcyon days of the WRC visiting this region many times, 30 years ago in the days of Smokefree and Propecia. They are renowned for their fabulous ‘dancing’ camber and average speeds which last year ranged from 93kph on Bull up to 123kph on Tokatoka.

At the time of starting the research for this edition of these Stats, it was the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 aircraft terrorist attack on the Twin Towers and that reminded me that this tragedy almost had a major effect on the running of the 2001 WRC Propecia Rally New Zealand which was set to start just ten days later. The worldwide shutdown of flights created a great deal of uncertainty for several days as to whether international team personnel would be able to get here and I can remember Nicky Grist (then Co-driver for Colin McRae in the Ford Focus WRC) telling us, once he had eventually arrived, that he and several other drivers were actually sitting in their aircraft on the runway at Heathrow Airport when word came through that the Twin Towers and Pentagon had been struck. Ultimately everyone did arrive safely - some by pretty circuitous routes - and in time, and the rally ran as planned with Leg 2 running on a raft of roads being used this weekend. Ruawai was also the Service Park location that year too.  

In 2001 yet another WRC Rally NZ created more bits of WRC history as all 14 Works Cars - from Subaru, Ford, Mitsubishi, Peugeot (all with 3) and Hyundai (2) – finished the event – remember there was no SuperRally in those days. Hyundai led a WRC round for the first time ever when Kenneth Eriksson, running 14th on the road, was leader after the Raglan stages on Day One, and yet again the winner of that year’s Rally NZ, Richard Burns, went on to become World Champion for that year.  

Being run in September, the dominant feature of the rally was road sweeping, so much so that Grist called it a “High Speed Farce”. Burns, along with Subaru’s newly recruited Team Manager George Donaldson, played the tactical game at the end of the first day – much like John Kennard did during his days with Subaru in Spain back in the mid-nineties – so Burns held back to ensure he started Leg 2 ninth on the road.  

The first stage of that Leg was what I refer to as the Maccas stage, because of it being in the shape of the Golden Arches, the monster 59k Parahi/Ararua test that used sections of this year’s Greenhill and Bull stages. Harri Rovanpera was fastest in 33:59.9 (104kph) in his Peugeot 206 and was just 0.3 of a second quicker than Burns in his Subaru Impreza, which meant Richard leapt from 9th into the lead and was never headed for the rest of the event.  

Other stages used up north that year were Batley (20k), Waipu Gorge (11k), Brooks (16k), Paparoa Station (12k), Cassidy (22k), Mititai (27k) and Tokatoka (10k). So that’s 8 stages totaling 177k – with no repeats. Burns won six of them with Didier Auriol (Peugeot) fastest – by only 1.1 seconds from Burns – on Cassidy which, along with Mititai, contained roads being used for Omana on Sunday this year.  

Tokatoka, which is double it’s 2001 length this year at 19k, is most commonly remembered as the stage that claimed multi APRC and Aussie champion Cody Crocker who had a massive accident there in his Group N Subaru that year.  

In spite of Mr Grist’s opinion, 2001 was an absolute highlight for the Rally NZ organisers as it was voted "Rally of the Year" by WRC teams, “praised for its spectator-friendly layout, technical challenges, and the thrilling competition it fostered on its high-speed roads. This recognition underscored the rally's appeal, blending demanding terrain with opportunities for close racing and large crowds.”  

The other significant incident that comes to my mind on these roads dates back to 1997 when Tommi Makinen turned his Mitsubishi into a triangle at 100mph in the Parahi stage and thereby made it three Off Road Retirements in a row – the first two in 1995 and 96 while leading and this one when in hot pursuit of the flying Subaru of one C. McRae. This happened on what is part of the Greenhill stage this year.

OTHER NZRC CATEGORIES  

In the 2WD Championship Ari Pettigrew’s decision to not go to Hawke’s Bay did not cost him too much as the returning Jackson Clendon won that round from Ben Harding and Dave Strong, so Ari still has a 14-point lead over Ben, with Dave now 4th another 7 points further back. Deane Buist’s clutch problem seriously dented his championship aspirations (he is now 3rd), so much so that Deane has not come north and has indicated he will now focus fully on the Silver Fern Marathon Rally in November. Tim Mackersy is back after sitting out Hawke’s Bay and will be looking to repeat his excellent podium finish at the other 2-Day round at Otago back in April. The 2WD Co-Drivers series mirrors the Drivers with Jack Norris still in front with Charlotte Harding 2nd, Karl Celeste 3rd, Rob Scott 4th, then Lauren Mackersy.  

The Rally Challenge at Hawke’s Bay went as expected to the very rapid local Grant Blackberry who has now taken the lead from Thomas Paul with Josh Keighley up into 3rd ahead of the brothers Silcock, Harri 4th and Josh now 5th after finishing 2nd in The Bay. All these crews have opted to miss Whangarei, but Christchurch’s Rory Lawn has decided to come north to make the most of being one of only two entries in this round. This will be Aussie Rob Darrington’s second appearance of the championship and after running a Toyota Yaris AP4 at Otago, he will be driving the ex-Tony Gosling Subaru Legacy RS. Therefore, Rory has a great chance to move up the ladder, but the maximum 30 for winning the round would need to be offset by the Best Three Rounds Count Rule, so he could only add 16 points to his total, which would move him up into 3rd Place, still 15 points behind Grant and 8 down on Thomas. Once again, the Co-Drivers Title matches the Drivers with Ric Chalmers now in front from Bridget Airey, Neill Woolley, Mark Greenwood, Daph O’Rourke and Matt Sayers.    

Apart from the five front running Cat 1 contenders, the category for this round also sees the return of Pierre-Henri Brunet from Vanuatu who is fresh from winning his home International Rally last month. He will again be steering the most state-of-the-art car in the event, his Skoda Fabia Rally2 RS.  

As mentioned last time, Categories 2, 3, 4 and 6 competitors are able to drop their worst points scoring round from any one of the first five rounds, so Whangarei is the final ‘optional’ round and with a maximum of 44 points going to the clean sweep winner – first on the Power Stage (this time the 24k long Stage 4 Greenhill) 5 points, winning both Legs (7 each Day) as well as the round (25) – this is a key round to have in your Count of the Best Four Scores.  

Cat 2 is back to no crews this round so, despite Jackson Clendon’s great performance at Hawke’s Bay the current leader is still Fuyuhiko Takahashi with Edgar Vigo Lopez still 7 points behind, and Jackson 3rd 13 points off the leader. So BoP will be the place to crown this winner. Cat 2 Co-drivers has Ken Takahashi leading from Fatima Ameneiro and Sean Lockyear.  

Cat 3 will have the glorious sound of a Porsche back in action with Ari Pettigrew returning, although he is now playing catch up to Dave Strong, starting 5 points behind on the current Points Table. However, Dave already has 4 scores and Ari just 3, so whatever Ari takes away here can be added to his total, whereas Dave can only improve his total by a net maximum of 20 after deducting his Canterbury result. Therefore, Ari could head to the final round at Battery Town Rally Bay of Plenty on 148 points, while Dave’s best would be 129 if . Tim Mackersy is the only other possible contender and if Dave and Ari both had the misfortune to fail to finish, Tim would be in the box seat to take the lead on 128 with Dave staying on 109 and Ari remaining on 104. Again, the Co-Drivers reflects the Drivers with Rob Scott currently in First, Jack Norris 2nd and Lauren Mackersy 3rd.   

Once again, it’s a full house in Cat 4 with all three Historic contenders attending. Phil Macquarie continued his clean sweep of the three rounds he’s done and starts Whangarei in the box seat to return to the top of the table as Pat Norris already has four results. Phil is just 10 points behind Pat and, if his form continues as expected, could add the maximum 44 points heading to Rally BoP. If Pat can keep Mike Cameron at bay, as he just managed to do at Hawke’s Bay, and earns 2nd place points of 36, the most he can add to his total would be ‘only’ 11. Should this transpire Phil would have turned a 10-point deficit into a 23-point lead with the ‘compulsory’ final round to go. So both Pat and Mike really need Phil to have an issue at Whangarei if they are to stay in serious contention beyond this round. With Pat having several different co-drivers and Helen Cameron likely to have her swansong NZRC round at BoP, Phil’s navigator Andrew Brooks can unofficially be congratulated as our first champion of the year even before Whangarei starts.  

In the new Classic Rally Championship (Cat 6C) the unfortunate (and very rare) demise of Deane Buist at Hawke’s Bay means it’s effectively the age-old ‘classic’ two-horse (power) race between Rotary and BDA which sees current leader Ben Harding (Mazda RX7 Group B) with a 21-point advantage over the Ford Escort RS1800 of Roger McKay. These two will need to watch out for Andy Martin in his Escort, who could well take good points away from both or either title contender come Sunday afternoon. Andy could also be making a bit of NZRC history at Whangarei as he is starting his third round of the championship this year, and each time he has used a different car – and in a different category. At Otago he drove the Subaru WRX in Cat 5, at Southland he debuted his Porsche 991 GT3 in Cat 3 and at Whangarei we will see him in the Escort in Cat 6. Charlotte Harding holds the same 21-point lead over Dean McCrostie in the Co-drivers section, with Karl Celeste between them at the moment.  

As mentioned above for the Rally Challenge, Cat 5A has none of the title contenders competing ‘up north’, so Rob Darrington just has to finish on Saturday to take away the maximum 30 points, and therefore the category can be expected to be a great final round shootout between Grant Blackberry (85), Thomas Paul (78), Josh Keighley (70) and Harri Silcock (63) at the Battery Town Rally Bay of Plenty. Ric Chalmers, Bridget Airey, Neill Woolley and Mark Greenwood are the quartet fighting it out for the Co-driver’s title.  

Similarly, Cat 5B will ‘only’ have Rory Lawn starting, so he’s odds on to take away 30 points, and thereby extend his single point advantage over Josh Silcock. However, as Rory already has three scores, he can only improve his total by 5 points after dropping the 25 he got at Otago. So yet again Rally BoP should provide another great scrap to decide this category. The Co-drivers section is intriguing as if Ben Leech does not navigate at BoP for Josh, we can unofficially declare Matt Sayers the Cat 5B Champion now.  

Cat 5C is also the Rob Darrington show as he debuts there. So BoP should be a showdown between the Subaru Impreza H6s of leader Thomas Paul and Josh Keighley. The margin is currently just 6 points. Bridget Airey and Neill Woolley have the same battle ahead of them in the Co-drivers.  

In the Juniors Jack Stokes is the only starter at Whangarei, so come Saturday evening he could well have successfully defended this title, at what is his final year of being eligible for it. If he does, he will have won all 5 rounds.  

Ben Harding and Roger McKay are the Rookie contenders at Whangarei, with Rory Lawn rejoining the contest. Any sort of finish on Saturday by all three would see them all leapfrog both Silcock brothers and set up a five-way fight between them all at BoP.  

Like Jack Stokes in the Juniors, Dave Strong has the maximum points haul in the Gold Card Driver section, and just by finishing will maintain the top spot going to Rally Bay of Plenty and therefore be on the verge of winning his 3rd title in its six-season history. However, any sort of slip up by Dave and Pat could take the lead and even bring Mike back into contention.  

The high-speed retirement of Nelson Law at Hawke’s Bay and therefore his enforced absence from Whangarei, has well and truly opened the door for the returning Pierre-Henri Brunet Rob Darrington is the only other entry, so as long as Pierre-Henri finishes Saturday, P-H will become this year’s International Driver champion, regardless of whether Nelson is back for BoP.  

Two Jack Stokes round wins to Jack Hawkeswood’s two means Skoda and Toyota are tied on 94 points in the Manufacturers series. Jackson Clendon (Ford) and Dave Strong (Honda) did well for their Makes at Hawke’s Bay, so both have passed Porsche to increase their Manufacturers’ scores. Ford are now on 84 and Honda 80 with Porsche still on 69.  

The Teams Cup for Categories 1 – 4 and 6 has Real Fords of NZ (Tim Mackersy & Deane Buist) failing to score at Hawke’s Bay, so they have dropped to third behind Jack Hawkeswood and Dave Strong who both recorded maximums (2 x30) for Team South Auckland Car Club. The North Island Cat 6s of Ben Harding and Roger McKay almost matched Jack H and Dave, but both being in the same Class means the best they can score is points for First and Second – hence their round total of 56. So they are now up into second place 31 points adrift. The brothers Stokes Stokes Motorsport Team added 50 to their total and are fourth on 178 points.  

The margin in the Cat 5 Teams Cup has increased to 22 points in favour of Silcock Motorsport over Team H6 (Josh Keighley/ Thomas Paul), but with no-one running this weekend that’s the way it will stay going to Rally Bay of Plenty at the end of next month.  

All 29 Categories and Awards are available at any time on the ChrisSport website via the Black ‘2026 Points’ icon on the Options Line at the top of the Home Page.

They are also available on the Mobile Version by clicking on the POINTS icon on the Footer of that Home Page and then selecting the Series you want to view.  

The Points Tables get updated immediately after each Round.

AND THE SPORT HAS JUST HAD TO SAY GOODBYE TO ANOTHER WRC LEGEND  

A wonderful tribute by David Evans to one of the best Co-Drivers of his era – TERRY HARRYMAN - the incredibly popular Irishman has just passed away.

David's tribute is on Dirtfish and the legendary "Dear God" moment co-driving for Ari Vatanen in the Rothmans Opel Manta 400 (like Derek Ayson has) on the 1983 MANX Rally has become Global Rallying Folklore.

It's very easily found on youtube 

RIP Terry Harryman: 1938-2026  

Four-time national champion and reigning champ Ben Hunt is a surprise entry for the upcoming Vertex Lubricants International Rally of Whangarei.

The proven winner could also find himself having a big say in the 2026 championship battle, even without having a hope of winning this year's championship himself.

Hunt will pilot the Force Motorsport Mazda 2 AP4 car that Andrew Hawkeswood drove to the 2017 Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Championship.

But while his entry will be a boost for the event and for rally fans, the move gives the Force Motorsport team a rear gunner as such for their team's title hope Jack Hawkeswood.

Hawkeswood Jr trails Jack Stokes (Stokes Motorsport Skoda Fabia Rally2) by just one point heading into the final two rounds of the tightly-fought 2026 championship.

But with Stokes’ crew having a two-car line-up, with two-time NZRC rally winner Robbie Stokes in an identical Skoda to his brother, they have had a potential tactical advantage, where Robbie could take points away from Hawkeswood.

In fact, at the last round at Traffic Safe NZ Rally Hawke’s Bay, Robbie Stokes had been set to hand second place to his brother but for a timing issue preventing the team from implementing team orders.

Now Force Motorsport in effect have the same option available to them.

With a maximum of 44 points on offer over this Two-Day Round, Hunt could well be subjected to team orders at any of the four points-scoring opportunities - the Power Stage (SS4 Greenhill at 24k long), both Day Legs and the Overall Rally - to try and give Hawkeswood the best possible chance at title success, or at least get ahead of Jack Stokes to take away what could be vital championship-deciding points.

It remains to be seen whether the AP4 car is a match for the more modern Rally2 cars but we at least know the driver, and his stand-in co-driver Jared Hudson, have the ability to mix it at the front over the final two rounds.

The name Bourne returns to rally competition in New Zealand when Possum Bourne’s middle child, Spencer (age 28) lines up for the Ashley Forest Rallysprint on Saturday 19 September, thanks to Kiwi rally star Hayden Paddon and Paddon Racing Group (PRG).  

This is the first time a Bourne has competed at Ashley Forest for 26 years, after Possum won the famed North Canterbury rallysprint in 2000.  

Spencer Bourne will be driving a replica Prodrive Subaru Impreza WRX in Group N spec, clad in Possum’s livery and sporting the numberplate, 555POS. Bourne shares the car with PRG technician Josh Cooper at the event, both working together as they take on a new challenge in their driving careers. Josh is the current MotorSport NZ Clubsport Champion.   

Paddon says, “We were lucky enough to have a couple of Possum replica WRXs added to our collection in the past year or so. Possum’s always been a massive inspiration to me, and he did a lot of things for our sport. I thought this was a way to get Possum’s son Spencer involved in the sport and to pay tribute to the Bourne family, keeping Possum’s legacy alive and give Spencer an opportunity to get more involved in rallying.”  

Auckland-based Bourne has competed in a few earlier events as a driver and codriver. The plan proposed by Paddon isn’t simply about following in his father’s footsteps; it’s about developing his own skills, gaining experience and see where rallying can take him. A major target is for Bourne to compete at the Otago Rally in 2027, completing various test days and development work with the team as part of developing his skills and experience.  

Paddon continues, “This isn’t a one-off event. We’re going to work with Spencer over coming months with the goal of him competing at Rally Otago next year. We’ll be coaching Spencer so he’s at the point where he can compete at Otago and properly enjoy it, feel comfortable in the car and the surroundings.”  

Bourne is understandably delighted about the chance to drive at an event formerly won by his father and see what opportunities are ahead in rallying.  

“The opportunity came out of nowhere when Hayden called me, after I’d asked him for some advice about the Possum Bourne Memorial Rally. Mum always told me to say yes to every opportunity, so I did. I’ve watched my dad competing in earlier Ashley Forest events and the road hasn’t changed. My goals for Ashley Forest are simple: to have fun and don’t crash the car.  

“I’ve stayed in touch with Hayden a bit over the years, and I’m a big supporter of his. He’s helped me in various ways like co-driving notes for an event and advice like not putting pressure on myself this weekend, to have a go at rallying and see what I can make of it.”  

Paddon says, “It’s going to be great to see Spencer out competing, in an iconic car in iconic Possum colours. My team and I are very proud to be part of this and keep this legacy alive for someone who was such a big inspiration for me and others in our sport.”  

Bourne was very impressive at the team’s pre-event test day in Central Otago, showing surprising speed given his limited rally experience.   

“I’m sharing the car with Josh Cooper this weekend,” says Bourne. “During our test day, I sat beside Josh driving for my first run in the car and that helped me see how the car behaves. Josh has been really helpful too; the whole team has. The car’s easy to drive, super responsive. It feels quite natural which is pretty special, to be honest. I think my father would be saying if I’m having fun, then I’m winning.”  

At the two-day Ashley Forest event, which sees competitors tackle the short, intense hillclimb course of only 1.7 kilometres. The current course record of 52.00 seconds was set by Paddon in 2023 in his Hyundai i20 AP4++. He’s chasing a new course record this year in the Hyundai and will also be competing a Group A Subaru. The PRG team is also running two cars for Emma Gilmour, one for Steward Reid and the Subaru for Bourne and Cooper.  

PRG appreciates the support of their partners including Hyundai New Zealand, Caltex Havoline Oil, Mitre 10 Trade, Winmax Brake Pads, Bar’s Bugs, EROAD, Ben Nevis Station, Design Windows, MITO, Repco, Machinery House, King Gee, KiwiFibre, Hankook, Z Energy, and Blaster.

Hayden Paddon and John Kennard, New Zealand’s most successful rally pairing, have added a second place podium position in WRC Rally del Paraguay to their long list of achievements with Hyundai on the world’s sporting stage.  

Running 28 to 31 August, the Paraguayan round of the 2026 FIA World Rally Championship was based in the city of Encarnación and became notable for the tyre problems and incidents among top-running competitors on Friday. While Paddon and Kennard had their own tyre issues later in the day, they demonstrated stage-winning pace to lead the rally outright by Friday lunchtime – the first time Paddon had led a WRC rally since Rally de Portugal 2018.  

The New Zealanders then gave it their all to hold on to second place from Friday afternoon through to Sunday’s finish, ending up 25.8 seconds behind the winners, Finns Sami Pajari and co-driver Marko Salminen, and 14.2 seconds ahead of third-placed Hyundai Motorsport teammates Adrian Fourmaux and co-driver Alexandre Coria.  

Paraguay’s second place adds to their third place at WRC Croatia in April this year, a remarkable achievement for the Kiwis who have been one of three driver/co-driver pairings driving Hyundai Motorsport’s third i20 N Rally 1 car at selected WRC events this year.  

Paddon said, “I’m not sure this podium is better than Croatia because of what happened in the second to last stage [red-flagged and not restarted following an accident involving Takamoto Katsuta and co-driver Aaron Johnston] but I feel like we can celebrate it. This feels proper, amazing. Everyone had their issues as we did too and since Friday we’ve been managing that gap to others behind me.  

“There’s certainly more speed there, but it felt unnecessary to deliver that this weekend. We did our job, second is almost as good as a win, particularly with the journey we’ve been on.  

“The car’s still a little bit foreign to me. There are things technically that could be better for me. The car’s very good on gravel. You’ve only got to look at Thierry and Adrian’s speed on gravel; it’s fast. There’s a little bit of finetuning for my driving style, which is a bit different. I learned a lot about the car this weekend that I didn’t learn in our pre-event test.  

“That’s all part of the process. We always knew it would be tough, jumping straight in the car, but probably surprised myself how well we did adjust.  

“I wondered if people thought we’d been a bit of a guilt signing this year, especially after Monte Carlo. Then I was happy with the progress we made on tarmac and knew we’d been given a tough opportunity with the rallies we had. Off the back of that success, we obviously got the reward of this rally. We knew this was such an important rally, and I did a lot of preparation to do the best I could.”  

Friday’s opening four stages, during which others suffered tyre and engine issues, Paddon and Kennard kept their cool to lead the rally by 23.9s by Friday lunchtime. On the afternoon’s repeat run through the same four stages, Paddon had his own tyre problems, but maintained sufficient pace to hold second place on the standings at the end of Friday, 11.9 seconds behind Finn Sami Pajari and 44.4 seconds ahead of championship leader Elfyn Evans in third.  

Of Friday, Paddon said, “I think everyone’s had problems, so if we can drive out of two stages on punctures and still be within touching distance, we’ve been unlucky but lucky at the same time.”  

Saturday brough nine competitive stages but not the forecast wet weather. Paddon and Kennard maintained a steady but competitive pace, with regular top four and five stage times to hold their second place overall by day’s end, now 24.1 seconds behind Pajari.  

Paddon said, “Two pretty clean days so far to be in second place still. Happy that we’ve been able to hold our own and maintain those gaps to other competitors. Today, obviously conditions that we weren’t expecting. That affected our tyre plan a bit as we’d set up the car for the forecast weather conditions. Learned a few things about the car today and still a few things I could do a bit better. There’s a lot of things that could happen in this rally still. Tonight we’re going to knuckle down, do our homework and prepare as best we can. We’ll try to bring home a podium result tomorrow but there’s still a long way to go.”  

Sunday’s focus was again on delivering enough pace to hold second place without unnecessary risk and that’s exactly what Paddon and Kennard delivered.  

Paddon concludes, “Massive thanks to Hyundai for this opportunity this year, we've just absolutely loved it. For our Kiwi supporters and our own PRG team back at home for allowing me to still do this. And of course John, 22 years in the car together. We don't know what's next, but this has been one hell of a journey. He's an absolute legend.”  

Paddon returns to New Zealand for his next event, the Ashley Forest Rallysprint on 19 and 20 September where he’s going all out to set a new hillclimb record in his Hyundai i20 AP4.  

PRG appreciates the support of their partners including Hyundai New Zealand, Caltex Havoline Oil, Mitre 10 Trade, Winmax Brake Pads, Bar’s Bugs, EROAD, Ben Nevis Station, Wipertech, Design Windows, MITO, Repco, Machinery House, King Gee, KiwiFibre, TrialLite, Hankook, Z Energy, Blaster and Signbiz.  

Follow Hayden Paddon and his Hyundai Motorsport news and results via the Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/haydenpaddonwrc.

Kiwi rally driver Hayden Paddon took full advantage of the opportunity to contest Rally Hawke’s Bay on 22 August as part of his preparation for his last outing in the 2026 FIA World Rally Championship.  

Competing with Jared Hudson as his co-driver in the PRG-run Hyundai i20 N Rally 2, Paddon won the weather-affected, shortened Hawke’s Bay rally. According to New Zealand rally statisticians, this was his 31st consecutive rally win in New Zealand driving a Hyundai.  

“It was a good weekend in Hawke’s Bay,” says Paddon. “The car and team; everything ran faultlessly. The main purpose of the rally was about seat time before we head to Paraguay. With our limited testing time and time on gravel with the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 car, the more seat time the better at this point, despite being different cars. Hawke’s Bay went well and I felt like my driving was more refined when comparing the Southland Rally a few weeks earlier. So in that respect, mission accomplished, and now full focus on Paraguay.”  

John Kennard returns to the co-driver’s seat for WRC Rally del Paraguay which gets underway on Thursday, 27 August.  

“We’re very excited for everything about rallying in Paraguay with Hyundai, but also cautiously mindful how big the challenge is that lays ahead,” says Paddon, who has contested three WRC events – Monte Carlo, Croatia and Japan – for Hyundai this year and is the only driver to have taken Hyundai’s third i20 N to the podium, following a run to third in Croatia.  

“We are incredibly thankful for the opportunity, which was never on the cards at the start of the year when the first three tarmac rallies were planned. To be back on gravel is where we are most comfortable, and even with just 100km of testing in the Rally 1 car on gravel in Europe recently, it immediately felt good and an environment where we can thrive.  

“Of course John and I want to be competitive in Paraguay, and as our last event in our Rally1, we want to give it our absolute best. But we don’t ever forget that we’re up against the world’s best drivers in cars they get to drive week in and week out. Plus most of them contested this event last year and the route is 60 per cent the same as last year, so it’s a tall ask. We will have to take more risks for this event and step out of our comfort zone to give ourselves the best chance of being competitive.”  

Based in the city of Encarnación, near the Argentina border, WRC Rally del Paraguay promises a mix of smooth red-earth stages and trickier technical sections through dense vegetation. While the surface is mostly soft and fast, deep ruts and sudden surface changes are expected to keep drivers guessing across the weekend.  

“The conditions are unique. For our preparation, we’ve used what’s available to us such as onboard videos from last year. While it’s a fast rally, there are a lot of grip changes on a hard-packed, clay base road. If wet, it can be incredibly slippery. These roads also don’t demonstrate quite the same road cleaning effects as a normal gravel rally, so while our road position – eighth among the Priority 1 drivers – will be a small advantage, it won’t be massive.”  

Paddon concludes, “We’re looking forward to the challenge to put our best foot forward, and to enjoy it. It’s also going to be special to have more than 30 Kiwis with us there in our tour group, so we’re looking forward to a good week all round.”  

WRC Rally del Paraguay runs 27-30 August and comprises 22 special stages and 358.99 competitive kilometres. The Service Park is in Encarnación, a city on the north bank of the Paraná River, in southern Paraguay. Competitors complete reconnaissance of the stages on Tuesday and Wednesday, before media activities on Thursday and the rally gets underway with SS1 on Friday morning.  

PRG appreciates the support of their partners including Hyundai New Zealand, Caltex Havoline Oil, Mitre 10 Trade, Winmax Brake Pads, Bar’s Bugs, EROAD, Ben Nevis Station, Wipertech, Design Windows, MITO, Repco, Machinery House, King Gee, KiwiFibre, TrialLite, Hankook, Z Energy, Blaster and Signbiz.  

Follow Hayden Paddon and his Hyundai Motorsport news and results via the Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/haydenpaddonwrc.

Hyundai Works Driver Hayden Paddon and his local co-driver Jared Hudson convincingly won Rally Hawkes Bay to record Hayden's 31st consecutive rally win in New Zealand drving Hyundais, a record that now stretches back almost a decade.

They won all stages in their Paddon Rally Group prepared Hyundai i20 Rally2 car on their way to a 1 minute 47.0 second win over Jack Hawkeswood/Jason Farmer.

In the NZRC competition, Hawkeswood has slashed Jack Stokes’ lead in the Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Championship to a solitary point after winning a dramatic contest that went right down to the final Time Control.

Hawkeswood, who has now split round victories two apiece with Stokes, led from start to finish in a superb drive in his Vertu Equipment Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 car.

He laid down the challenge on the opening stage, taking almost 30 seconds off his title rival in the process.

Stokes had to settle for third place behind his Stokes Motorsport teammate and brother Robbie, who finished second.

The older Stokes brother looked back to his near best with an impressive drive.

Quentin Palmer (Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo) found himself more in the podium battle with good outright speed and showed he will be a force on the North Island roads he’s more familiar with.

Hawke’s Bay local Grant Blackberry completed the top five – dominating the Rally Challenge 4WD class in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 10. Blackberry turned heads with a brilliant second fastest time on the opening stage in his older model car.

The Toyota GR Yaris Rally Cup cars of Aussie star Toby Price and local driver Will Menzies finished sixth and seventh respectively in a performance that highlights the quality of the Force Motorsport product.

Young Jackson Clendon reminded everyone about his undeniable talent with a strong showing in his Ford Fiesta Rally4 car to win the NZRC 2WD class.

Dave Strong claimed honours in the Open 2WD class in his Honda Jazz RS to help close the championship gap to the absent Ari Pettigrew.

Phil Macquarie (Ford Escort RS1800) made up for missing the most recent round to win the Historic 2WD class ahead of Pat Norris (Toyota Corolla AE86) and Mike Cameron (Mitsubishi EX Lancer). The latter two enjoyed a terrific back and forth battle that Norris ended on top of.

Hawke’s Bay locals Ben and Charlotte Harding (Mazda RX7 Group B) enjoyed a brilliant day on home roads to win the Classics class ahead of Ross McKay (Ford Escort RS1800).

The impressive Josh Silcock (Ford Fiesta R2) turned heads again with a terrific showing in the Rally Challenge 2WD class to claim class honours and finish top 10 overall.

Josh Keighley (Subaru Impreza H6) backed up second place in the Rally Challenge 4WD class with a win in the Group A Challenge.

The championship heads north for the penultimate round of the NZRC to the two-day Vertex Lubricants International Rally of Whangarei late next month on September 25-27.

Three Rounds down, three to go, and now the fast South Island stuff is done, it’s on to the technical roads of the North Island.  

By winning his second round of the season, North Canterbury’s Jack Stokes eked out another 5 points over Auckland’s Jack Hawkeswood to head across Cook Strait with a 7-point lead.  

Jack S beat Jack H at Southland by 24.7 seconds, so my running total of the special stage overall time difference between the two of them, after 572kms – in 32 High-Speed Special Stages – is now down to just 1.5 seconds.

That is like driving from Picton to Oamaru which NZTA says is an 8 hour journey. The Jacks have covered the same distance on somewhat more challenging (gravel) roads in under 5 hours - at an Average Speed of 120kph.  

This titanic battle of these two Young Guns is now even more of a Two-Horse Race with news this week that Christchurch’s Ari Pettigrew has had to withdraw from Hawkes Bay due to budget constraints but has indicated he will be back with his flying Porsche for the final two rounds.  

Therefore, Taumarunui’s Quentin Palmer is odds on to at least consolidate his current 3rd Place. However, as he goes to Hawkes Bay 26 points behind Jack S, it would take both the Jack’s to DNF and then Quentin to win the rally, and place at worst 4th on the Power Stage, for QP to overhaul them both and head to the 2-Day Vertex Lubricants International Rally of Whangarei as the series leader.  

Robbie Stokes is realistically the only other driver capable of outperforming the Jack’s for the round win and, after the season he’s had in the South Island, he will be desperate to leave the Bay with at least a repeat of his 2021 result when he recorded his first NZRC podium by finishing 2nd to one H Paddon. That was a breakthrough NZRC result for him in the Fiesta AP4 as Robbie and sister Amy were 2nd fastest on all 6 stages (5 of which are being used this year) and beat Raana Horan (Skoda) and Ben Hunt (Subaru) by just under and over 2 minutes respectively over the 156 kms total distance.

However, the siblings’ last visit there back in 2022 (the SVG year), this time on roads south of Napier, was anything but a good one as they were neck and neck with SVG until within sight of the flying finish of stage 2 when they got stuck off the road for 15 minutes. They made it to the next stage, won three of the next 4, but then went off again on the last one – this time terminally. Ironically, it was a repeat of stage 2.  

Jack Stokes has never done Hawkes Bay, while Jack Hawkeswood’s only time competing on the stages north of Napier was in 2021 in one of Force Motorsport’s Mazda 2 AP4s, where he finished 14th after suffering brake issues in the second pass of Cricklewood.  

Quentin is the most experienced of these three at Hawkes Bay having finished 9th in 2021 and a trifecta of finishes in 2012, 2013 and 2014 when they were rounds of the Central Region Series. On all four occasions he was driving the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 5 used to promote this month’s BP Rally Taumarunui.  

While on the theme of a Blast from the Past, this year sees our two most successful NZRC drivers make welcome returns to Rally Hawkes Bay, albeit running as Allcomers this time. Between them Hayden Paddon and Richard Mason have won 12 NZRC titles and 69 NZRC rounds – HP 7 & 41, while Richard has 5 & 28. They have won Hawkes Bay 7 times – 5 to Richard (2002, 2003, 2005, 2009 and 2011) and HP twice in 2008 and 13 years later in 2021.  

In fact, this year Richard and his wife Sara – then Randall - are driving the same car they used to win that 2005 round, now with the registration number EVOETA, which was the third of four consecutive round wins for Richard that resulted in his first NZRC title, over our only ever official manufacturer works team – Subaru Rally Team New Zealand – with driver Chris West.  

Hayden’s 2008 win was the first for him and JK (John Kennard) in their (then new) Team Green Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 and ultimately led that year to the first of HP’s 7 NZRC GoldStars. This edition was unique in NZRC history as it was set to be a Two Leg Rally, but the weather closed in so badly during the Saturday that the arterial roads north of Napier were closed by the Police to anything other than the Emergency Services and all the Sunday competition was cancelled.  

Sara has 4 Co-Driver GoldStars in her trophy cabinet which places her 5th on the NZRC Co-Drivers Roll of Honour, behind a 3-way Tie for the Lead on 6 between JK (all with HP), Bob Haldane (3 with Neil Allport (1988, 89 & 90) & 3 with Joe McAndrew (93, 94 & 96)) and Rob Ryan (5 with Bruce Herbert (1999 to 2003) & 1 with Sam Murray in 2007). Tony Rawstorn moved into sole 4th with his fifth title last year, all of course with Ben Hunt (2015, 18, 19, 24 & 25).  

As far as NZRC Round wins go JK has won 32 of HP’s 41, Sara is 2nd on 25, Bob Haldane next on 24, then Rob Ryan 17 and Tony Rawstorn 15. There are five other Round winning Co-Drivers in the field this weekend – Jared Hudson (6), Jason Farmer (5), Hayden Graves (2), Ben Searcy (1) and Fleur Pedersen (1).  

With the Masons competing on their first rally together since a DNF at Waitomo in 2020 while leading, after earlier that COVID year winning the Rally of the Bay in the same Subaru, the last time they were in the same class as Hayden in a rally was their winner-takes-all showdown for the 2013 NZRC at Rally Wairarapa, which HP won by 13 seconds to secure his 3rd title.  

Based on the disparity of the equipment these Legends will each be using this weekend, the Allcomers Class F result will be no contest, however, it’s great to have them all back in action on home roads and, regardless of the eventual outcome, they are sure to put on an awesome show for the spectators.  

The roads being used are some of the classics of North Island rallying and as mentioned above, are much more technical than the cresty, wide and flat-out stages down south. The stage winning Average Speeds set by Hayden in his Hyundai i20 AP4 back in 2021 were barely over 100kph, with the 17km of Mohaka Coach under 90kph, so it will be interesting to see what the Rally2 Hyundai, Skodas and Toyota can do this time.  

Hayden’s overall win at Southland last month means his amazing winning run driving Hyundais in NZ has now reached 30 and extends back almost a decade to when he got beached in the i20 AP4+ car in the Coroglen stage at Rally Coromandel in 2017.  

As at Southland, HP and Jared Hudson will carry Door Banner 20 – synonymous with his WRC Argentina Win in 2016 - but start as the first car on the road from Wairoa at 730 on Saturday morning.  

Apart from the four front running Cat 1 contenders, the category for this round also includes the return of Nelson Law from Vanuatu in the older Force Motorsport Toyota Yaris AP4 and two of the new GR Yaris Rally Cup cars making their North Island debut. Dakar Rally Legend Toby Price returns, this time with Ben Searcy, following Toby’s first experience of this car at Otago, and fresh from a fine 5th Place Outright at last weekend’s ARC Rally Tasmania driving a Subaru WRX Challenge AWD class car. The second Yaris Rally Cup car will be in the hands of local William Menzies who will get his first taste of this latest weapon from Andrew Hawkeswood’s Force Motorsport stable.

OTHER NZRC CATEGORIES  

Once again, the 2WD Championship at Southland was dominated by Ari Pettigrew, this time by over 5 minutes, with Deane Buist and Ben Harding completing the podium for the second round in a row. Dave Strong had one of his best performances in 4th, with Tim Mackersy 5th. With Ari now missing this round, the door is wide open for Deane to take the lead, particularly with the Mackersy’s not coming north for this one either. However, Deane might not have it quite all his own way as young Masterton driver Jackson Clendon is making a return to the championship and no doubt will be pushing hard in his Ford Fiesta Rally4.  

The Rally Challenge at Southland saw a first round win for Cromwell’s Thomas Paul who has taken the lead, but with both he and Harri Silcock sitting this round out, previous leader Grant Blackberry will be odds on to take the lead back as there are only two other Cat 5 starters in attendance – the 2 x Josh’s – Silcock and Keighley.  

In the new Classic Rally Championship (Cat 6C) Deane Buist secured his third round again over Ben Harding from Paul Cross and Roger McKay. Deane is just one point off the maximum points total and has extended his lead over Ben to 23 points. Hawkes Bay will be a three-way contest with Deane, Hawkes Bay local Ben and Taupo’s Roger in action.  

Cat 2 makes a reappearance with Masterton’s Jackson Clendon back. Finishing will get him on the board and 11 points away from current leader Fuyuhiko Takahashi and 7 behind Edgar Vigo Lopez, both of whom scored their points at Otago.

As mentioned last time, Categories 2, 3, 4 and 6 competitors are able to drop their worst points scoring round from any one of the first five rounds, so it looks like some South Islanders have decided Hawkes Bay is their choice to drop..  

Unfortunately, Cat 3 wont now have the glorious sound of any Porsches resonating through the hills and with the Dunedin-based Mackersy’s also staying home, Dave Strong and Rob Scott have the perfect opportunity to take the lead in Open 2WD.  

However, it’s a full house in Cat 4 with all three Historic contenders attending. Pat Norris made the most of being the sole entry at Southland, even through he almost blew it with a Stuck Off Road in the first stage, and has a handy 15-point lead over Tauranga’s Phil Macquarie who won the first two rounds. Mike Cameron and daughter Kelly rejoin the series here, but as L1LEVO is still ‘poorly’ they will be running the EX model Lancer Mike drove as the 00 Car at Taranaki, so he will have an extra 150 horsepower to get to grips with.  

Cat 5A is just a two-horse race with local expert Grant Blackberry (Evo 10) having to contend with only Josh Keighley in his H6 Impreza who will be looking to bank some good points to get right back up into contention.       

Similarly, Cat 5B will ‘only’ have Josh Silcock starting, so he’s odds on to take away 30 points. Rory Lawn has stayed down south, but will still lead this category regardless of what Josh does this weekend. Both already have three scores each, and in the Cat 5s you drop your two lowest scores in the first five rounds. Rory currently leads Josh by 7 points, and as Josh’s lowest score is 24 at Otago, he can only add 6 points to his total, so would still be 1 point behind.  

Likewise in Cat 5c Josh Keighley has it all to himself, but even taking away 30 points will still only see him close the gap to 6 points to leader Thomas Paul. So finishing this Saturday is vital to Josh having any chance of defending his title.  

It’s the Jack, Josh and Josh show in the Juniors this weekend with Jack Stokes on the maximum of 75 points, but any sort of significant slip up on his part could open the door for either (or both) a Silcock and a Keighley.  

The Rookie Field for Hawkes Bay has four contenders in action. The non-attending Harri Silcock still leads on the maximum 75 points, with Rory Lawn still 2nd, now 12 points behind. So a round win for either Josh Silcock or Ben Harding would see them take the lead, while Roger McKay could move to one point behind Josh. Toby Price is the other entry here.  

Like Josh S and Jack S, Dave Strong has maximum points in the Gold Card Driver section, and just by finishing will maintain the top spot going to Whangarei, regardless of whether Pat Norris or Mike Cameron win the round.  

The International Driver battle is reactivated at Hawkes Bay with Vanuatu’s Nelson Law starting and up against Toby Price. Nelson can hit the front with either a first or second leapfrogging Pierre-Henri Brunet, while Toby can close up on P-H with a 25-point winning haul.  

Two Jack Stokes wins to Jack Hawkeswood’s one means Skoda holds a 3-point advantage over Toyota in the Manufacturers series. Porsche are currently tied with Toyota, but can’t advance their total, so it’s up to Jackson Clendon (Ford) and Dave Strong (Honda) to increase their Manufacturers’ scores.  

The Teams Cup for Categories 1 – 4 and 6 has Real Fords of NZ (Tim Mackersy & Deane Buist) still in front, but Deane is the only participant for them this time, while both Jack Hawkeswood and Dave Strong will be working hard for Team South Auckland Car Club to turn the current 17-point deficit into a lead before the long trek north. The North Island Cat 6s of Ben Harding and Roger McKay remain in third, 44 points behind Real Fords of NZ.  

The margin in the Cat 5 Teams Cup has increased significantly to 18 points in favour of Silcock Motorsport, where again it will be the battle of the Josh’s, as Josh Keighley is the only member of Team H6 running this weekend.               

The 2027 calendar for the Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Championship has been confirmed with a similar look to this year.

The same six events have been locked in, with the same North Island/South Island split.

The only shift sees International Rally of Whangarei move later in the year, back to being the final round of the championship.

The season will kick off with the Otago Rally on April 9-11 before a sizeable break ahead of Rally Canterbury on Sunday June 6 - Kings Birthday weekend as usual.

The Barry Robinson Memorial Rally Southland will take place on Saturday July 17 before a second successive year in the Hawke’s Bay with that event set to run on Saturday August 28.

Rally Hawke’s Bay is pending organiser's commitment to run after evaluating this year’s event.

The championship continues with round five in the Bay of Plenty on Saturday October 2 before the season concludes at the two-day Whangarei event on October 29-31.

“I’m delighted to be able to keep a familiar schedule in place next year and to confirm the calendar this early in the year,” championship coordinator Blair Bartels said.

“The sport is fortunate to have such strong events, led by great organising teams, and it was a pretty straight-forward decision to assemble this calendar.”

MotorSport New Zealand has approved the 2027 calendar.

"It's pleasing to see stability and continuity for the 2027 New Zealand Rally Championship," said MotorSport New Zealand President, Deborah Day.

"Securing the same events as this current season give organisers certainty to plan ahead and build on the success of their 2026 events and aim for growth in 2027."  

2027 Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Championship

Friday 9-11 April Rally Otago

Sunday 6 June Rally Canterbury

Saturday 17 July Rally Southland

Saturday 28 August Rally Hawkes Bay (TBC)

Saturday 2 October Rally Bay of Plenty

Friday 29-31 October Rally Whangarei

Quentin Palmer and co-driver Noel Moloney (Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo) have continued their consistent winning form across the 2026 Hawkeswood Mining North Island Rally Series (NIRS) season, taking victory in the BP Rally Taumarunui on Saturday 8 August.  

The pairing won all eight Special Stages held on gravel roads around the King Country region to build a comfortable margin of over 4 minutes.  

Second overall (but non-NIRS registered) was a welcome back to Zeal Jones and novice co-driver Finn Fenning (Subaru Impreza WRX) with Zeal returning to NZ rallying after an eight month sojourn in Japan and Finland driving for the Toyota Gazoo Rally Team.  

Third overall and second NIRS competitors home were Vanuatu’s Julien Lenglet/Fleur Pedersen (Subaru Impreza WRX) who were also awarded the Winmax Drive of the Day trophy ahead of Carlin Leong/Nathan Roa (Subaru Impreza WRX) in fourth overall (and third NIRS) after a thrilling three-way shootout over the final two stages including Jackson Clendon/Katrina Renshaw (Ford Fiesta Rally4) only two seconds behind in fifth placing overall.  

“It went like clockwork,” commented Palmer.  “It’s been a good day and a privilege to win on the return of this event to the NIRS calendar.  

“The first couple of stages were a challenge with slippery conditions but after that the grip improved over the day.”  

Based in Taumarunui and promoted by South Taranaki, Taihape District and Dannevirke Car Clubs, the one-day National event consisted of eight Special Stages run over 135km’s of classic King Country public gravel roads last used in 1999 as a NZ Rally Championship round. A smaller four stage 64km Clubmans rally was also run over the afternoon loops of stages.    

The fourth round of the NIRS proved to shake up a number of the different Class title fights, particularly with those trying to topple the previous leaders.  

Darryl McManus (Toyota Vitz) has extended his lead in Class A (2WD:0-1300cc) to 35-points with rival Blair Richardson having not entered due to cambelt and engine issues.  

Andrew Lowe/Ian Barr (Toyota AE101) has also extended their lead in Class B (2WD 1301-1600cc) with rivals Sam Broadbent/Matthew Broadbent (Toyota Corolla FXGT) retiring out of the event in SS2 getting stuck in mud at the side of the road.  

It’s still a close contest in Class C (1601-2000cc 2WD) despite previous leaders Khalid and Sara Mason (Ford Fiesta ST150) suffering their second mechanical retirement this season with driveline issues. Stephen Dill/Adrian Sutton (Nissan Pulsar Gti) were the only class finishers and have now jumped 10-points ahead. Adam & Jilly Fisher (Toyota Altezza RS200) retired with a damaged front shock absorber with Dale James/Kim Raggett (Ford Fiesta ST) also retiring with hydraulic troubles.  

Tony Differ/Jayson Stringer (Mitsubishi Lancer EX Turbo) have increased their lead from seven to 15-points in the hotly contested Class D (2WD 2000cc and over) and now lie second equal overall in the NIRS with Leong/Roa on 84 points.   Unfortunately, second placed in Class D, Phillip Broadbent/Paul Ayres (Toyota Starlet), retired in the seventh stage stuck off the road, allowing third place Dave Strong/Brianna Little (Honda Jazz RS) to move into second overall.  

In Class E (Classic 2WD), Chris Alexander/Jackson Foster (Ford Cortina) have seen their lead shrink to just two-points after retiring in SS7 with electrical problems.  This was to the advantage of Andrew Keighley/Jonathan Kane (Ford Escort Mk2) who have closed the gap with first in class on Saturday.  Brent Taylor/Dave Neill (Ford Escort Mk2), sit second equal with Keighley.  

Mason Grimmer/Leighton Spurdle (Mazda Familia 4WD) return lasted until SS4 before their throttle cable broke giving Quentin Palmer and Noel Moloney (Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo) the opportunity to extend their lead in Class F (4WD: 1601-1999cc) to 45-points.  

In the very competitive Class G (4WD 2001 and over) leader Carlin Leong/Nathan Roa (Subaru Impreza WRX) have just a five-point gap back to Gavin & Hamish Feast (Subaru Impreza) who finished sixth overall. With Julien Lenglet/Fleur Pedersen (Subaru Impreza WRX) finishing second overall (NIRS) this also saw them first home in class ahead of Leong and Feast.  

Chris Burke/Stephen Taylor (Toyota Celica GT) now have a 15-point buffer in Class I (4WD: Pre 1996) back to Shaun Wade/Haylee Wade (Mitsubishi Mirage 4WD) who also retired out of the touring to the seventh stage with an oil line issue.  

The blind category (no safety notes) of the National Rally section was won by Mike Goldsbury/Mathew Harris (Toyota Corolla DX) from Mitch Pilcher/Alex Parkin (Subaru Impreza WRX) and Mark Bradly/Matt Arthur (Datsun 1200sss) third.

The Clubman’s Rally was won by Cam McKay/Jonny Kay (Toyota Starlet).  

“The simple and efficient four stages-repeated style format combined with a central service park in the Taumarunui township was well received by the 46 strong competitors and the hundreds of spectators” commented NIRS coordinator Marty Roestenburg.  

“The rally organising committee did a fabulous job and the marketing and promotion team really lifted the bar for regional rallies in Te ika a Maui. We are grateful for the support from Ruapehu District Council, Ngati Haua Iwi, local business, community groups, residents and the Taumarunui Cosmopolitan Club which was incredible. After a 26-year hiatus, we hope rallying will return to the mighty King Country again in the not too distant future.”  

The fifth and penultimate Round of the NIRS moves to Whakatane as part of the Battery Town Rally Bay of Plenty (NZRC) on Saturday 31 October 2026.  

The 2026 North Island Rally Series acknowledges and thanks these partners for their support: Hawkeswood Mining, Semog, Pure Quality Construction, Paddon Racing Group, iSignit, Ngatea Panelbeaters and Online Contractors.

Kiwi rally stars Hayden Paddon and John Kennard have been offered the exciting opportunity to contest WRC Rally Paraguay with Hyundai Motorsport.  

When WRC ueno Rally del Paraguay gets underway on 27 August, it will be 2839 days since Paddon’s last appearance on gravel in the top WRC class. That event was 2018 Rally Australia where he finished second for Hyundai with co-driver Seb Marshall.  

Making this event even more special is the opportunity to return to top level rallying in the continent where Paddon and Kennard made history, with their victory in the 2016 WRC Argentina Rally, as the only New Zealanders to ever win a round of the FIA World Rally Championship.  

Paddon is understandably excited to finally get a chance in the Hyundai i20 Rally1 car on gravel, just a week after he contests Rally Hawke’s Bay at home with Jared Hudson as his co-driver.  

“It was never in the initial plan this year; the original contract was for the three tarmac rallies,” he explains. “Obviously we’ve been pushing to have that opportunity on gravel. It’s where we feel comfortable and where I think things are going to happen and click a little bit easier.  

“It’s a privilege to have this opportunity and to return to South America where there’s some pretty fond memories of ten years ago. Obviously it’s a different country, different stages, but similar kind of vibe. We’re going into the rally in the supporting role, as before, but with nothing to lose and under no illusion how tough a rally it will be because there’s no substitute for seat time at this level. Ten years ago we were driving these cars most weeks, now it’s four times a year with some short test days.”  

Before the 27-30 August event, the Kiwis get one day testing in the Hyundai i20 Rally 1 on gravel.  

A large group of Kiwi rally fans will be travelling to Paraguay to support Paddon and Kennard.  

Based in the city of Encarnación, near the Argentina border, the event promises a mix of smooth red-earth stages and trickier technical sections through dense vegetation. While the surface is mostly soft and fast, deep ruts and sudden surface changes are expected to keep drivers guessing across the weekend.  

PRG appreciates the support of their partners including Hyundai New Zealand, Caltex Havoline Oil, Mitre 10 Trade, Winmax Brake Pads, Bar’s Bugs, EROAD, Ben Nevis Station, Wipertech, Design Windows, MITO, Repco, Machinery House, King Gee, KiwiFibre, TrialLite, Hankook, Z Energy, Blaster and Signbiz.