Sky Sport will provide exclusive live coverage of the Battle of Jacks Ridge rally sprint on Sunday November 15 as the sport evolves with a new-generation urban event.

 Featuring the best rally drivers in the country and some of the biggest names in New Zealand motorsport, the Battle of Jacks Ridge promises to be the biggest domestic event in New Zealand rally history and it will take place just minutes from downtown Auckland. 

The event will see competitors blast around 2km of purpose-built gravel road, featuring high speed jumps, technical corners and close proximity to spectators on former New Zealand champion Andrew Hawkeswood’s Whitford property. 

With the Hauraki Gulf, Rangitoto Island and the Auckland City skyline as a backdrop, Jacks Ridge is a spectacular location to watch rally cars compete on a World Rally Championship-calibre power stage, located just 20 minutes from the Auckland CBD. 

Sky Sport will broadcast the final runs live during four hours of live coverage that will be unlike anything ever seen on New Zealand soil before.  ...more...

The Subaru brand in New Zealand are preparing to say a fond farewell to the legendary Legacy, which will no longer be part of the Subaru line-up from 2021.

Steeped in history, the Subaru Legacy has been one of Subaru New Zealand’s top performers since it arrived in 1989. The model had big shoes to fill, stepping in to replace the old but much-loved Leone.

New Zealanders were quick to embrace the Legacy however, and its popularity soared, especially as a used import in the 1990s.

Subaru of New Zealand’s Managing Director Wallis Dumper recalled Legacy’s glory days, when it was the country’s best-seller.

“Whilst the Toyota Corolla was top of the new car sales overall, Legacy was New Zealand’s number one selling used vehicle thanks to the massive imports ratio.”...more...

Shapley was taking a year off from the rally scene to be a Dad as a new arrival of a beautiful baby boy named Matthew , but due to covid 19 it seemed the whole rally scene would grind to halt.  

When Shapley caught wind of a rally based out of Whakatane (Home town) he knew it was time to dust the race suit off and prep the car, he also ended up on the rally committee to help organize the event. This event should be a awesome he said. With Sam Byrne moving from co driver to driver of his own lancer rally car it would see Jono Shapley looking for a new person to sit shotgun and call notes for the remaining 2020 and the full New Zealand Championship in 2021  

After consideration of Jonos self goals and a coffee date Shapley had found the perfect companion to keep him on track. And is proud to announce one of the elite co drivers Crunch Bennett, his experience will be of great help to Jono on and off the rally stages.  ...more...

Planning is well already underway for the running of the 2021 Otago Rally, scheduled to be held from April 18 to 21 next year. 

This year’s rally was cancelled because of COVID-19, however, organisers from the Otago Sports Car Club are already well down the track as they prepare for 2021.

“The route will be pretty much as planned for the cancelled 2020 event, with a few minor changes,” event spokesman Roger Oakley said.

“Even now, COVID-19 is the major uncertainty for organisers, but we are confident that the 2021 event will be able to occur with no restriction for those within New Zealand.”

The situation for international competitors, spectators and media will, however, remain uncertain for some time to come.

“We wish to reassure international competitors that they can complete the 'Intention to Enter' and subsequently lodge an entry with the assurance that it will be fully refunded, no matter how late they may need to withdraw, if circumstances demand,” Oakley added.

As in previous years, the Otago Rally will offer a range of assistance packages to international competitors for 2021....more...

The on-again/off-again nature of restrictions – particularly in the greater Auckland region - put in place by the Government to try and stem the ‘second wave’ of the COVID-19 Coronavirus tide have claimed their first major scalp of the 2020/21 summer motor racing season – what was to be the 26th annual Targa NZ tarmac motor rally.      

Event owner and director Peter Martin of the Wiri, Auckland-based Ultimate Rally Group, had already trimmed this year’s multi-day event from 5 to 4 days, brought the date back by 10 days – to Oct 14-18 – and pencilled in a route closer to his Auckland base, in an effort to make it as easy on intending competitors as possible to enter in these difficult times.

However late last week the restrictions on travel by Aucklanders in and out of the region under Alert Level 3 forced him to put plans for the 2020 meeting on hold.      ...more...

Matt Summerfield of Christchurch drove superbly to win the twentieth edition of the Catlins Coast Rally in his Mitsubishi Mirage AP4 on Saturday.  

Summerfield won four of the six Special Stages, taking the lead after the third, and building a gap of 52 seconds before Gore driver Andrew Graves won the final stage, cutting the margin to 38.8 seconds at the finish. “We had a really good day, you have to drive pretty hard to beat Duggie (Graves)”, said Summerfield. “We had a spin in the first stage and I had to change what I was doing but the day went pretty smoothly. It was a good battle and it is a great event. Duggie really kept the pressure on. This makes up for the last two years. In 2018 we were going well and had a problem and last year we went off the road. I have to thank everyone behind the effort, even my sister Nicole who vacated the co-driver seat to let my sponsor and friend Jared Christofferson sit with me. Jared and I had driven together for those last two years and I got him on board again because we were going to get this bloody thing.”  ...more...