Five NZRC Rounds down, just one to go, and the titanic ’Battle of the Jacks’ is all over – for this year anyway…  


The Vertex Lubricants International Rally of Whangarei, run so successfully on the fabulously cambered ex WRC roads in the Kaipara District, provided a GoldStar championship outcome not one pundit was predicting and no enthusiast was expecting.  




We all knew we would have a 25-year-old called Jack as this year’s Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Champion, and due to the closeness of the competition, it would have come as no surprise if it had gone right down to the Power Stage late in the final round – The Battery Town Rally Bay of Plenty.  


As was expected, the Battle Royale resumed unabated right from the outset with Jack Hawkeswood winning the first two stages and then dead heating with Jack Stokes on the second pass of Stage 3 - the 25km Waihue test. The 24kms of Greenhill was the NZRC Power Stage and Jack S hit back to take the 5 points by 3.8 seconds over Jack H and thereby doubled his championship points’ lead to a whopping 2 points.  


At that point Jack H had the rally lead by 8.7 over Jack S, but by the 10km Split Point into Stage 5, that lead had been almost halved as Jack S was 3.4 seconds up on Jack H.  


However, as it continued to rain, the championship-deciding moment occurred just 400 metres from the end of this 19km Tokatoka stage – the WRC stage that claimed multiple APRC and Aussie champ Cody Crocker’s Group N Subaru BIG TIME in 2001 – when first car on the road Jack S slid wide on a short greasy patch on a right hander and collided with a tree stump with the left rear of his Skoda. The force of the impact spun the car round so violently that both Jack and his co-driver Hayden Graves were rendered unconscious and therefore retired from the rally on medical grounds. The stage was cancelled as medical support was despatched to provide assistance as quickly as possible.  


The repeat pass of Greenhill saw competition resume with Jack Hawkeswood narrowly beating Robbie Stokes by 0.8 seconds to build up a 43 second lead that he then managed to perfection for the next 12 stages to take his first Whangarei win by almost 57 seconds.  


So Jack H, Jason Farmer and the Force Motorsport Team can now go to Whakatane in a far more relaxed frame of mind than I’m sure they ever thought they would, but no less determined to finish their brilliant season of 3 x Round Wins and 2 x Seconds in the best way possible.  


As has been well publicised already, Jack is the first 2nd generation GoldStar Rally Champion, after Dad Andrew won the title in 2017. So the Son has repeated the efforts of the Father, however, apart from both driving their cars very fast, they have done so in completely different ways.  


As mentioned, Jack has won 3 x rounds with 2 x Seconds (so far), whereas Andrew and Jeff Cress didn’t win a round – they were 2nd at Otago, DNF’d Whangarei, 2nd at both Canterbury and Coromandel and 3rd at the 2-Leg Tauranga based Rally New Zealand, to finish 10 points ahead of Matt & Nicole Summerfield.  


In fact, this year’s stellar season has also seen Jack leapfrog his Dad on the NZRC Round Winners Leaderboard – Jack now has 4 to Andrew’s 2. Andrew’s 2 were both in 2004 with Jeff Hill co-driving in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6.5 at Southland and then Nelson.  


At 25 Jack becomes the second youngest GoldStar Champion behind one H Paddon who was 21 when he won the first of his 7 titles in 2008.  


Sara Mason – then Randall - is the youngest ever GoldStar Rally Champion, having won her first Co-driver title (of her 4) in 2006 at the age of 20.  


A couple of quirky stats that come to mind are that Jack has broken a sequence of 7 consecutive NZRC seasons where the name on the trophy has been either Paddon (4) or Hunt (3) - and the driver before that was A Hawkeswood..


And if Jack can win at BoP, all 6 NZRC rounds this year will have been won by a driver called Jack.  


With Stokes Motorsport now focusing their attention on Robbie’s pursuit of going one better than 2024 by winning next month’s Silver Fern Marathon Rally and Jack and Hayden taking plenty of time to recover, both Kielder Skodas won’t be at Bay of Plenty.  


Therefore, the GoldStar Category has just five entries with Toyota outnumbering Skoda 3 – 2. Jack H will be joined by William Menzies and Carter Strang, each in their Yaris Rally Cup cars, while Skoda will be represented by the super consistent Quentin Palmer and our International Driver of the Year, Vanuatu’s Pierre-Henri Brunet.  


Quentin is on track to have arguably his best ever season, not only by successfully defending his NIRS title, but he needs just 6 points to nab the runner-up spot in the NZRC from Jack Stokes. He does however still have to finish the rally, as winning the Power Stage which is Stage 8 – the WRC-revered 25km long Manawahe/Rendall/Matahi/McIvor Roads – provides only 5 points, and a Tie would go Jack Stokes’ way on countback of higher Round Placings.  


The Co-Drivers Championship has obviously gone to Jason Farmer for the second time, after his success with David Holder ten years ago. Jason is now the top ranked navigator currently competing in the NZRC with 7 round wins and sits 10th equal on the list with Kevin Lancaster and Garry Cowan. Hayden Graves is secure in 2nd this year as 3rd placed Michael Goudie did not do Otago with Quentin. However, what will be of interest will be whether which of the trio of Charlotte Harding (72),  Rob Scott (70), and/or Sean Lockyear (67) can finish 4th ahead of Ally Mackay who will remain on 80 points.    


THE 7 x OTHER NZRC CATEGORIES THAT HAVE ALREADY BEEN DECIDED:  


The Cat 2 (FIA 2WD) Co-Driver Champion is KEN TAKAHASHI  


The Cat 4 (Historic) Driver Champion is PHIL MACQUARIE  


The Cat 4 (Historic) Co-Driver Champion is ANDREW BROOKS  


The Cat 5B (2WD Rally Challenge) Co-Driver Champion is MATTY SAYERS  


The Junior Champion is JACK STOKES  


The Gold Card Driver is DAVE STRONG  


The International Driver is PIERRE-HENRI BRUNET    


 


AND WHICH ONES ARE GOING DOWN TO THE WIRE:  


In the 2WD Championship Ari Pettigrew’s roll at Whangarei ruined his chances and as expected, he will miss BoP. Likewise, currently 3rd placed Tim Mackersy has not travelled north, so it’s now a Two Horse Race between the Classic Mazda RX7 Group B of Ben Harding and the ‘Home Built Special’ Honda Jazz RS of Dave Strong. Ben has a 2-point lead, so it will be All On over the 162kms of high-speed public and forestry roads across the Eastern Bay of Plenty.  


The 2WD Co-Drivers series mirrors the Drivers with Charlotte Harding now in the lead, 2 points ahead of Rob Scott. 


The Rally Challenge is a 5-way contest with the sole North Islander Grant Blackberry (Mitsubishi) up against four Mainlanders in Thomas Paul (H6), Josh Keighley (H6) , Rory Lawn (Starlet), and Josh Silcock (Fiesta R2). Just 7 points separate leader Grant, who is vying to become the first repeat winner of the Rally Challenge – 2018 when he beat Geof Argyle – and arguably the Find of the Year, Thomas who has stepped up to 4WD superbly, and comes to BoP as the new Subaru H6 Cup Champion. These two are the prime contenders for the title as Josh K at 17 behind Grant, Rory at minus 18 and Josh S at minus 22 all need those ahead of them to falter to gain enough points to snatch the series.  


Four Co-drivers are in contention for their Rally Challenge award with Ric Chalmers in front of Bridget Airey by 7 points, Aussie Neill Woolley 10 further behind Bridget and Matty Sayers just one further back.  


In Cat 2 Fuyuhiko Takahashi is almost there as, with only two starters this round, he just needs to cover whatever the returning Jackson Clendon does to become an NZRC Champion. However, he must finish if Jackson repeats his performance at Hawkes Bay, as the young Masterton pilot starts 13 points behind.  


With the non-appearance of Ari Pettigrew and the Mackersys, Cat 3 will be a One-Horse Canter for both Dave Strong and Rob Scott as a Finish will be enough for them each to pass the respective Mackersy, successfully defend and win their umpteenth titles. However, a DNF for the Auckland crew and the trophies will be heading to Dunedin.  


I’ve already mentioned that the Cat 4 titles have been won by Phil Macquarie and Andrew Brooks however, I can’t let the opportunity pass without acknowledging the stalwarts of this Category – Mike & Helen Cameron and L1LEVO – who are calling time on their NZRC competition careers at Rally Bay of Plenty. Mike was the 2009 Historic Challenge Champion and last year’s Gold Card Driver. Helen was the Historic Challenge Co-driver Champion twice – in 2009 and 2024. This will be Helen’s 50th NZRC Round and it is very fitting that their final outing at this level will be on what started out as Mike’s home roads when he began his rallying while based in Edgecumbe in the mid-1970’s – and you guessed it, it was in a Mitsubishi Lancer.. And although they might not be competing, you can expect to see their smiles – and no doubt lollies - in official capacities for a while yet, such as, yet again, combining with their long-time friends Jilly and Adam Fisher as a Timing Crew for the week-long Silver Fern as it progresses around the lower part of the North Island at the end of November.  


In the new Classic Rally Championship (Cat 6C) Ben and Charlotte Harding (Mazda RX7 Group B) are in an even stronger position than Takahashi-san is in Cat 2, as they are each just 3 points shy of winning their categories. So theoretically, they could just rejoin for the Power Stage and tour through to score the 3rd fastest time behind Andy Martin and series contender Roger McKay and still be champions, on countback.  


The 4WD Rally Challenge, Cat 5A, has the three title contenders competing, Grant Blackberry (85), Thomas Paul (78), Josh Keighley (70). So, a great showdown is in prospect, and the same scenario applies to the Co-drivers for Ric Chalmers, Bridget Airey and Neill Woolley.  


Cat 5B has been just as close as the GoldStar battle, with Rory Lawn always just finishing ahead of fellow Cantabrian Josh Silcock on the three South Island rounds where they went head-to-head. Josh won Hawkes Bay and Rory took maximum points at Whangarei, rounds the other opted to miss. So when the Best Three Rounds rule is applied Rory holds a 6-point advantage over Josh, which normally in a head-to-head contest would be difficult to make up with 30 points for the win and 26 for Second. However, we have two interlopers from across the Tasman who are coming to play who could well mix things up a bit. Aussie/Irishman Richie Dalton returns in his ‘state-of-the-art’ Ford Escort Mk2 we last saw at Otago where it unfortunately suffered from New Car Syndrome and failed to live up to expectations. However, the technical wizards at Hayden Paddon’s PRG Team have worked their magic and Richie has let it loose down South, reporting that it is now ready and raring to go.


The other entry of considerable interest is WRC2 driver Taylor Gill who is this event’s invited driver to pilot the Suzuki Swift Cup car Edgar Vigo Lopez drove at Otago and Ian Warren ran at Southland. Taylor will spend his 23rd Birthday doing the Recce for BoP and comes here with a 100% finishing record in his 5 x WRC2 outings this year, the best of which are 10th Overall in Paraguay and 11th in Chile, driving the same model Skoda as Pierre-Henri Brunet is using.  


The top of the Cat 5C Tables remained unchanged after Whangarei, so BoP will be a straight fight 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 will retain his title regardless of whether Josh Silcock wins this round as Jack has won the first four. However, Thomas and Josh K could both overhaul Josh Silcock if the latter fails to finish and Jackson Clendon could be in the mix to influence the allocation of points after beating both Josh’s at his only outing at Hawkes Bay.  


Ben Harding (100) and Roger McKay (90) are the top two Rookie contenders, with Rory Lawn (83) and Josh Silcock (78) both still mathematical chances.  


Jack Hawkeswood’s three round wins to Jack Stokes’ two means Toyota and Skoda are just 3 points apart in the Manufacturers series. Tim Mackersy (Ford) and Dave Strong (Honda) again did well for their Makes at Whangarei, so both are still in the contest. Jackson Clendon is back for Ford, Jack Hawkeswood and William Menzies are the Toyota Pair this time and with neither Stokes competing, Skoda’s points scorer at BoP will be the best finisher out of Quentin Palmer and Pierre-Henri Brunet.  


In the Teams Cup for Categories 1 – 4 and 6 Jack Hawkeswood and Dave Strong continue to score heavily for Team South Auckland Car Club, but can not shake off the North Island Cat 6s of Ben Harding and Roger McKay who also did well at Whangarei and go into this final round 36 points behind.  


The margin in the Cat 5 Teams Cup remains at 22 points in favour of Silcock Motorsport over Team H6 (Josh Keighley/ Thomas Paul), however, Josh Silcock is on his own at Rally Bay of Plenty so Team H6 have a great opportunity to grab the title come Saturday evening.  


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.


 


THIS ROUND:  


This edition of the Battery Town Rally Bay of Plenty is the 4th consecutive year it has been an NZRC round, and this year is the second time it has been the final round. Back in 2023 Hayden Paddon and John Kennard won the rally and their most recent NZRC titles – in fact this is the last time JK competed in New Zealand. HP has returned each year since and, with Jared Hudson co-driving, and remains undefeated in the Bay. In 2023 he beat Shane van Gisbergen (Audi) by 29.6 seconds, in 2024 he beat Opotiki local Mike Young (Toyota) and Jared’s sister Amy by 2:27.2 – 147 seconds over 136 kms of special stages and last year Ben Hunt (Skoda) by 2:09.3 -129 secs over 131kms. Mike Young is back again this year as a non-championship entry, so will be looking to complete a trifecta of consecutive podium finishes after recording a close 3rd last year – just 4.3 seconds down on Ben Hunt.  


The route facing the 56 entries is a mixture of fantastic Public and Forestry roads in the Eastern Bay and includes several iconic ex-WRC roads from the 80’s, such as the full 25km length of Manawahe that this year uses Helicopter Corner ‘the right way’.  


The Rally starts and finishes in Whakatane running over 9 special stages totaling 162kms throughout Saturday and has attracted a very good field of 56 entries, particularly for this late in the season.  


With quality entries filling the NZRC and NIRS series and a WRC driver leading them away from 625am, spare a thought, and lots of encouragement, for the co-driver in Car 52 - Chris Burke’s pristine Toyota Celica GT4 in the TTE WRC Castrol livery – as 13-year-old Mere Smith makes her rally debut.


Which must make the now very experienced 22-year-old Jared Hudson think ‘Yep, Been There, Done That’ and we all wish Mere All the Best for a Fun, Safe Day.


Certainly reminds you that this really is a sport for all ages.    


 


AND FINALLY:  


I have now been involved in this great sport for almost 50 years, and I still find myself doing new things even after all this time.  


I have just returned from a great holiday trip to Japan and when the Bay of Plenty list of entries came through to Blair Bartels and I for our thoughts on the seeding, I worked out my version sitting on a Bullet Train travelling at 300 kph between Tokyo and Kyoto – completely oblivious of the speed we were travelling.  


And most of the research for this edition of these Stats was done at 39,000 feet over the Pacific as we flew Home last week – at a speed Reg Cook and his team in Bolivia would have been very proud of – 969kph..  


Speaking of flights, a certain H Paddon has just completed his 7th return trip to Europe this year – and apparently has another one to do before the end of the year. Add to that his WRC Drives in Japan and Paraguay and he has had one of his busiest and most varied seasons so far.


I also have to say what an awesome year it has been for him – both on and off the stages – as he and JK recorded a 50% podium strike rate and 100% WRC Finishes – far better than Hyundai’s other part-time crews.


Being actively involved in testing for the Hyundai WRC Team, who appear to have finally recognised the wealth of development knowledge HP has built up down here with his PRG Team that means he still has a perfect finishing and victory record in NZ rallies now lasting over a decade. 


And although he has just taken a rather long way to get from Cromwell to Whakatane - via Australia and Finland, you can enjoy seeing our WRC Driver, with Jared again calling the notes, carrying his iconic WRC number 20 on his Hyundai i20N Rally2, back in full flight as they look to remain unbeaten and make it four in a row in the Bay.      

Taumarunui Rally Champion Quentin Palmer (Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo) has this season proven difficult to beat in the 2026 Hawkeswood Mining North Island Rally Series (NIRS). Provided he finishes strongly Palmer is highly likely to take out the Overall and Drivers’ Championship for the second time but there is still the Co-Drivers’ Championship, podium placings and Class titles to be decided as the series heads to the final round at the Battery Town Rally Bay of Plenty on Saturday, 31 October 2026.  




The event doubles as the final round of both the Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Championship and the North Island Rally Series. Based in Whakatāne, competitors can look forward to approximately 160 kilometres of nine competitive Special Stages, tackling the roads of the Eastern Bay of Plenty before returning to Whakatāne for Saturday night's finish celebrations and prizegiving.  


Thirty-four points behind Palmer and second equal are Carlin Leong/Nathan Roa (Subaru Impreza WRX) and Tony Differ/Jayson Stringer (Mitsubishi Lance EX Turbo) with Gavin Feast/Noel Moloney (Subaru Impreza) only eight points further back in fourth followed by Dave Strong/Rob Scott (Honda Jazz RS) and Julien Lenglet/Fleur Pedersen (Subaru Impreza WRX). Moloney leads the codrivers title but, like Palmer, he still needs to finish strongly to secure the title.  


Lenglet was impressive at the previous BP Rally Taumarunui held in August, finishing third overall and second NIRS competitors’ home.  


Class titles are still up for contention for both drivers and co-drivers.  


Darryl McManus (Toyota Vitz) has a 35-point lead in Class A (2WD:0-1300cc) to rival Blair Richardson who didn’t compete in the last round due to cambelt and engine issues.  


Andrew Lowe/Ian Barr (Toyota AE101) should win the Class B (2WD 1301-1600cc) title with rivals Sam Broadbent/Matthew Broadbent (Toyota Corolla FXGT) retiring out of Rally Taumarunui and not entered in the finale.  


It’s still a close contest in Class C (1601-2000cc 2WD) with Stephen Dill/Adrian Sutton (Nissan Pulsar Gti) 10-points ahead of previous leaders Khalid and Sara Mason (Ford Fiesta ST150). Having won their class in both the first two rounds the Mason’s have unfortunately suffered two mechanical retirements meaning Dill just needs to finish to win the Class.  


Tony Differ/Jayson Stringer (Mitsubishi Lancer EX Turbo) have a fair chance to win the hotly contested Class D (2WD 2000cc and over) with a 15-point lead over Dave Strong/Rob Scott. Third placed Phillip Broadbent has not entered with ongoing engine issues in his potent Millington powered Toyota Starlet.  


In Class E (Classic 2WD), Chris Alexander/Jackson Foster (Ford Cortina) saw their lead shrink to just two-points after retiring out of the last round with electrical problems.  


A good battle with rivals Andrew Keighley/Jonathan Kane (Ford Escort Mk2) will take place whilst Brent Taylor/Dave Neill (Ford Escort Mk2) who sit second equal have not entered as the team are currently preparing for the Silver Fern Rally starting in late November.  


Quentin Palmer (Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo) has already won the Class F (4WD: 1601-1999cc) title for the season from Mason Grimmer (Mazda 323).  


Class G (4WD 2001 and over) leader Carlin Leong/Nathan Roa (Subaru Impreza WRX) only need to finish ahead of their rivals with a five-point lead back to Gavin Feast (Subaru Impreza). Should either falter, Julien Lenglet/Fleur Pedersen (Subaru Impreza WRX) are in the box seat to move up in the Class.  


Chris Burke (Toyota Celica GT) has an unbeatable 25-point lead in Class I (4WD: Pre 1996) back to Shaun Wade/Haylee Wade (Mitsubishi Mirage 4WD). Hamilton 13-year-old Mere Smith will codrive for Burke in her first ever rally.  


The Ceremonial Start on Friday evening will give spectators the opportunity to meet competitors, get up close to the rally cars and soak up the atmosphere before the competition begins on Saturday. The end of season prizegiving will take place from 6.30 Saturday evening at the Whakatane Sport Fishing Club with 50 trophies and 20 medals to present to the deserved recipients.  


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.

Counties Manukau’s Jack Hawkeswood realised a childhood dream and became the first ever second-generation driver to win the Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Championship on Sunday.




He claimed a dominant victory at the Vertex Lubricants International Rally Whangarei, winning almost half the 17 high speed special stages, to take an unassailable lead with one round remaining.


25 year old Hawkeswood, in his Hawkeswood Mining Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 car, finished 56.8 seconds ahead of Canterbury's Robbie Stokes (Stokes Motorsport Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo).


“It is very special alright,” an emotional Hawkeswood said at the end of the final stage where his team and father Andrew were waiting.


“It is hard to think that I thought my rallying career was nearly over at this rally five years ago, so to come back and dominate – I am just rapt.”


Mike Young from Opotiki brought his Toyota Yaris AP4 home in a well deserved third place overall, winning two stages along the way, coincidentally the last stage of each day.


Taumarunui's Quentin Palmer (Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo) completed the NZRC podium after another steady drive.


Four-time national champion Ben Hunt was fourth in the car Andrew Hawkeswood piloted to the 2017 title, while Pierre-Henri Brunet from Vanuatu impressed to finish fifth.


The titanic race for the GoldStar reached its decisive moment on Saturday, when Hawkeswood’s title rival Jack Stokes crashed heavily and ended his hopes of a maiden championship and thereby follow in the footsteps of his father - former double national champion in 1985 and 1988, Brian Stokes.


Tim Mackersy from Dunedin (Ford Fiesta Rally4) dominated the time sheets on Sunday to overhaul Dave Strong (Honda Jazz RS) and claim the class win in both Open 2WD and Overall 2WD.


Phil Macquarie (Ford Escort RS1800) cruised to victory in the Historic class while Mike Cameron (Mitsubishi Lancer EX Turbo) produced his best performance of the year to beat Pat Norris (Toyota Corolla AE86) for the second step of the podium.


Macquarie’s win is enough to guarantee him the title – he is 30 points clear with a maximum 30 on offer at the final round, but he would win the Rounds Won tie break regardless.


Ben Harding (Mazda RX7 Group B) claimed the iconic Motogard Trophy as the first Classic car home and won the Classics class battle of the Rotary versus the BDA's, to put one hand on that class title. He finished well over three minutes clear of Andy Martin (Ford Escort RS1800), while Roger McKay was a further minute behind in his Ford Escort RS1800.


The championship wraps up at the Whakatane-based Battery Town Rally Bay of Plenty at the end of next month.

Whitford’s Jack Hawkeswood has put one hand on a maiden Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Championship after a dramatic opening day of the Vertex Lubricants International Rally Whangarei on Saturday.




Hawkeswood claimed seven vital points for winning the Saturday leg and four points for his power stage performance to hold a lead in excess of 30 seconds overnight and moves closer to becoming the first son to follow in his father’s footsteps and claim the national championship.


His Dad Andrew Hawkeswood won the 2017 title.


But it was the demise of title rival Jack Stokes on the fifth stage of the day that swung the title race strongly in the younger Hawkeswood’s favour.


Stokes ran wide on a high-speed corner within sight of the flying finish and hit a tree stump that ripped a wheel off his Stokes Motorsport Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo car.


He and co-driver Hayden Graves were taken to hospital to be checked over before being released later in the day, effectively ending their title charge.


Hawkeswood (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) and co-driver Jason Farmer can wrap up the championship with a Top Two finish on Sunday.


Defending Whangarei champion Robbie Stokes, in an identical car to his brother, holds second place – 32.3 seconds adrift of Hawkeswood.


Opottiki's Mike Young, in his non-championship Toyota Yaris AP4, holds 3rd overall and provided bragging rights for his co-driver Amy Hudson over her brother Jared, who is calling the notes for Ben Hunt this weekend.


Quentin Palmer (Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo) was third in the NZRC field after another tidy performance, while reigning national champion Ben Hunt was fifth in the Force Motorsport Mazda 2 AP4 and Vanuatu’s Pierre-Henri Brunet sixth in his Skoda Fabia Rally2 RS in easily his best every showing in New Zealand.


Ari Pettigrew (Porsche 911 WRC) was the other high-profile casualty on Saturday, after he rolled his car while leading the 2WD battle.


Tim Mackersy (Ford Fiesta Rally4) leads Dave Strong (Honda Jazz RS) in the Open 2WD and overall 2WD class by just five seconds.


Andy Martin was the best of the Classics in his Ford Escort RS1800, leading Ben Harding (Mazda RX7) by 6.1 seconds, while Roger McKay (Ford Escort RS1800) was only another one minute off the pace.


Phil Macquarie holds a commanding lead in the Historic Class in his Ford Escort RS1800, but Mike Cameron (Mitsubishi Lancer EX Turbo) was second and in front of Pat Norris’s Toyota Corolla AE86 by just over a minute and a half at the day’s end.


Australian Rob Darrington took out the one-day Rally Challenge 4WD class and the Group A Challenge in his Subaru Legacy RS, while Rory Lawn survived some dramas to take victory in the Rally Challenge 2WD class in his Toyota Starlet.


Eight more special stages await competitors on Sunday.  

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.