By the numbers – Google Grant’s key numbers for Barry Robinson Memorial Rally Southland
Two rounds down and the gap at the top is just two points, already with 17 points back to third.
A win and a second each mean the two Jacks – Stokes and Hawkeswood – have become the firm favorites to fight it out for the GoldStar and the overall Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Championship for 2026.
Such has seen the closeness of the titanic battle between these two, they have completed the 413kms – in 25 high-speed special stages at Otago and Canterbury – just 26.2 seconds apart, in Jack Hawkeswood’s favour. 26 of those were at Otago and just 0.2 seconds at Canterbury.
I mentioned last time that, along with Robbie Stokes, these three front runners were almost always within 10 seconds of each other in stage times at Otago.
Well, it was even closer at Canterbury and, after Robbie’s convincing win up Mt Grey Road in Ashley Forest and when the first of his off-road excursions early in Stage 2 took him out of the running, the two Jacks were within six seconds of each other on each of the remaining eight stages.
Jack H has won 14 of the 25 stages run so far, with Jack S fastest on just five. Of the remaining six tests, Robbie has won five and Quentin Palmer showed an amazing turn of tarmac speed to win the Ruapuna Circuit stage.
The Stokes siblings have a power stage win apiece, with Jack H placing 3rd at Otago and 2nd at Canterbury with Jack S beating him on both occasions.
So, as they each won a Leg at Otago, it’s only those two Power Stage results that separate the pair and have given Jack S his current 2-point lead.
Therefore, expect an enormous focus at lunchtime on Saturday on the 26k of Stage 4 Pine Bush, as it is this round’s power stage.
Crews will also have to be fast out of the blocks for Stage 2 Wyndham Valley (17.5k), as it is the reserve power stage should anything happen that compromises the results for Stage 4.
So, Robbie finds himself stuck down in 19th on the championship table on the eight points he earned from 3rd for Otago’s Leg One and winning the Otago power stage through Kuri Bush, which means he is giving brother Jack a 60-point head start that would require a miracle to come back from, particularly given the form and pace of the front pair.
Therefore, the only realistic way for Robbie to salvage anything remotely satisfying this year is to win as many of the four remaining rounds as possible.
However, the priority for Stokes Motorsport must now surely be to ensure Jack S wins the championship, so don’t be surprised if Robbie is asked/told/instructed to take on the role of ‘riding shotgun’ for his younger brother, with the objective of taking as many points as possible off Jack Hawkeswood by getting between the two of them come the end of each round.
All this sounds good in theory, but there are a couple of other very rapid NZRC drivers who are currently waiting in the wings to take advantage of any sort of slip up by the leading duo.
Similarly Skoda-mounted Quentin Palmer has had a near-faultless run through the first two rounds, completing the NZRC podiums on both occasions, to be in third place and, as long as he doesn’t repeat his Chris West impersonation at Canterbury when the gearlever snapped, he can be expected to be on course for a trifecta of podiums come Saturday afternoon.
Ari Pettigrew has had his brand new self-built Porsche absolutely flying through the stages in what can only be described as giant killing performances – finishing comfortably 4th overall at both rounds, with 19 (out of a possible 25) top 5 stage times across the two events.
And now there’s also Four Times GoldStar Champion (including last year) Ben Hunt, who has had one of the shortest retirements on record in any sport, and following his (non-NZRC) 5th Place at Canterbury – in his 2019 title winning Subaru – he and Tony Rawstorn are welcomed back for even more at Southland, this time NZRC registered, in a Toyota GR Yaris Rally Cup Car.
As the defending NZRC champion they will carry # 1 but are expected to start behind Ari Pettigrew on Saturday morning.
So, apart from being at a significant points disadvantage, all 4 of these drivers have a great opportunity to influence the outcome of this round – and the championship – should either, or both, the Jacks falter for any reason.
The rally route repeats last year’s Wyndham Rally for the first six stages with the final one, Dunsdale at 22k long, using sections of roads traversed in the Southern Lights Rally in 2024.
Fast flowing roads are a feature that far south with some of the highest average speeds anywhere in the championship.
With recced stage notes being used this time, the pace is sure to be even greater, however the stage times posted could well be similar to those recorded in the ‘blind’ Wyndham rallies, as half the stages will have virtual chicanes in place electronically to slow the cars down for short distances. The weather forecast is looking at best damp for the leadup and wet on the day, but at least there is a chance of double-digit temperatures rather than frosts, so faster stage times than those set by last year’s winner Caleb Macdonald, Carter Strang, Mark McMillan and James Worker could be hard to come by – for anyone other than Car 20 Hayden Paddon, who will start first car on the road in the freshly rebuilt Hyundai i20N Rally2 after Alex Rullo’s retirement-inducing accident at Otago.
It’s interesting to note that, apart from the suicidal kangaroo incident at Canberra last year, this car has only DNF’d twice in the five seasons HP has had it – and both times it’s been when others have been driving, and both times at Otago. Gaurav Gill was the other one at Otago in 2024.
OTHER NZRC CATEGORIES
It was déjà vu in the 2WD Championship at Canterbury, as Ari Pettigrew repeated his Otago winning margin of over 3 minutes, but this time in less than half the distance and less than half the total elapsed time he beat Deane Buist by at Otago.
Ben Harding completed the podium, just ahead of Tim Mackersy and Dave Strong.
The Rally Challenge result at Canterbury made the trip south very worthwhile for Hawkes Bay’s Grant Blackberry, who also finished an excellent 6th overall. Young Thomas Paul continues to revel in his debut season in 4WD with 7th overall and 2nd in the Challenge after a day-long battle with Josh Keighley. Defending champion Caleb Macdonald did very well to bring his wounded Evo 8 home within 7 seconds of Josh and keep himself right in the title chase – now second to Grant.
With Grant not at Southland and only 11 points separating these 4, we can expect a new leader by the end of the South Island section of this year’s NZRC.
The new Classic Rally Championship (Cat 6C) saw Deane Buist triumphant again at Canterbury with Ben Harding taking second and Roger McKay completing the podium. Deane now leads Ben by 19 points.
Southland has one less entry than Canterbury but, unfortunately, it’s not due to the Drop a Round choice being taken, as poor Derek Ayson, after showing Buist-like pace at Canterbury – like winning the power stage – suffered an engine failure that is likely to see him sidelined for the rest of the series.
And it’s welcome back to Paul Cross & Janey Blair for their home rally after their late withdrawal on the eve of Canterbury.
We assume the much warmer climate of winter in Vanuatu means Pierre-Henri Brunet and Nelson Law have decided to give the Deep South of NZ a miss this year, however Cat 1 still has 6 starters as it did at Canterbury, as a pair of the new Toyota GR Yaris Rally Cup Cars will start. As mentioned above, Chassis #1 will be in the hands of Ben Hunt while Southlander Carter Strang will debut Chassis #2, in preparation for a full-scale assault on the new Rally Cup Car competition launching next year.
Once again there are no Cat 2 entries at this round.
Cat 3 will see the Porsche count increase by 100%, as Andy Martin at last gets an opportunity to run his 991 GT3 version that originally started its life rallying in Belgium. Ari Pettigrew will still be expected to dominate this class, but no doubt Tim Mackersy (hopefully recovered from the hand injury he sustained at Canterbury) and the ever-present Dave Strong will continue to chase the now Porsche(s) as hard as ever.
With Categories 2, 3, 4 and 6 competitors able to drop their worst points scoring round from any one of the first five rounds, a few appear be taking this option at Southland. North Islanders Phil Macquarie and Mike Cameron have chosen to sit this one out, so Cat 4 has just one entry, with Pat Norris travelling the length of the South Island from his base in Nelson. Finishing would see him turn a 15-point deficit into a 15-point lead over Phil.
Cat 5A will definitely be a category to focus in this weekend as Thomas Paul leads out the Magnum of H6s that comprise Josh Keighley, the returning James McIver and another local in Kevin Laird. Terri Taylor is also back in her WRX. The Mitsubishi contingent is Queenstown’s Caleb Macdonald (Evo 8) with Harri Silcock bringing his Evo 6 down from Rangiora. Willy Hawes is also sitting this one out.
Similarly, it’s not just a South Island exclusive in Cat 5B, it’s a Christchurch exclusive field with Rory Lawn and Josh Silcock set to go at it again, just like they did at Canterbury, when it all came down to the final stage and Josh spun at Ruapuna which saw Rory leapfrog into first to win by 3.3 seconds.
As mentioned, Cat 5c will have James McIver back, and the other 4 Canterbury runners are all there with Kevin Laird and Terri Taylor all chasing current leader, and winner of both rounds so far, Thomas Paul and defending champ Josh Keighley.
Once again Five Juniors scored at Canterbury, with an exact repeat of the Otago result. Jack Stokes earned another maximum 25 from Thomas Paul, Josh Keighley, with the Silcock brothers in 4th (Harri) and 5th (Josh).
The Rookie Field for Southland has five contenders back plus James McIver. Harri Silcock has the maximum 50 points, with Rory Lawn now 2nd, 9 points behind. Ben Harding and Josh Silcock are both on 36 with Roger McKay just 4 points further back. Harri beat Rory by just 9 seconds at Canterbury with Josh those precious 3.3 seconds adrift.
Dave Strong repeated his Gold Card round win at Canterbury from Pat Norris and Mike Cameron. Dave now enjoys an 11-point lead.
So, with Mike sitting out his first NZRC round for quite some time, Southland is a two-horse race between Dave and Pat.
The International Driver battle is a Vanuatu Only contest this year, but as mentioned in Cat 1 above, Pierre-Henri Brunet and fellow countryman Nelson Law have stayed in warmer climes this weekend.
Jack Hawkeswood did the job for Toyota at Canterbury – just – giving them their third ever round win – following his first success at Otago in 2024 and Paul Adams/Jim Scott’s 1984 Tokoroa win in a Corolla.
So, the Stokes brothers’ Skodas were unable to extend – just – the Czech Manufacturer’s run of seven consecutive round wins.
With a round win each, it’s now a tie at the top between Skoda and Toyota, but a certain Porsche has put his manufacturer as close behind as possible – by just one point.
The Teams Cup for Categories 1 – 4 and 6 saw the Real Fords of NZ (Tim Mackersy & Deane Buist) won their second round, so they have extended their lead by one point over Jack Hawkeswood/Dave Strong’s Team South Auckland Car Club, to 15 points.
The North Island Cat 6s of Ben Harding and Roger McKay are up into third, 23 points behind and again showing the importance of both cars finishing, Stokes Motorsport is on 76 – now 58 down on the Real Fords.
The Cat 5 Teams Cup is much closer – now 6 points separate the leaders, Team H6 (Josh Keighley & Thomas Paul) from Silcock Motorsport with defending champions Big Belly Rally (Caleb Macdonald & Kevin Laird) now 20 points behind the Silcocks.
A COUPLE OF NON-CHAMPIONSHIP STATS
Hayden Paddon’s PRG are doing their best M-Sport WRC Entry impression this weekend, as they will be servicing 8% of the Field, with 28 staff on duty looking after #20 HP/Jared Hudson in the Hyundai i20 Rally2, #7 James Worker/Mags Marshall (Evo 6),
# 14 Stew Reid/Dave Neill (Mitsubishi Mirage AP4), #29 Andy Martin/Matt Hayward (Porsche 997 GT3) and #52 Chris and Eve Paddon in their Toyota Levin AE111.
For once the Hudsons haven’t got the most family members competing, as Car 52 is Hayden’s Dad Chris and HP’s sister Eve – surprisingly only now making her rally debut – coming out for some welcome skids. Therefore, the score is 3-2 to the Paddons, as it’s only Jared (with HP) and sister Amy – who will arguably be in one of the ‘best seats in the house’ as she calls the notes for Andrew Graves in the all-conquering Evo 3.
Andrew is the King of the South and has the track record to support that. Between 2012 and 2023 he drove in 19 rallies, winning 15 of them, was 2nd on 3 and DNF’d just once. And after 2 years virtually out of the driver’s seat, apart from a very brief appearance at Wyndham last year, he finished just half a second behind Emma Gilmour’s Citroen at last weekend’s Circle Hill Rallysprint.
AND FINALLY, A BIT OF NZ RALLY HISTORY
Right now is the 47th anniversary of the 1979 Motogard Rally New Zealand and this Facebook Post by Chris Porter, who co-drove Blair Robson to 2nd caught my eye:
1979 Motogard Rally of New Zealand
July 14th to July 18th ,1979 Only 47 years ago!!
Starting and finishing in Auckland this was the sixth round of the 1979 World Rally Championship.
The Masport Escort/Ford Team entered four cars, with the following results:
Hannu Mikkola and Arne Hertz in JB780 1st Overall (winning 22 stages)
Blair Robson and Chris Porter in IF780 2nd Overall (1st New Zealanders)
Ari Vatanen and David Richards in the Rothmans Escort IZ8320 3rd Overall
Jim Donald and Kevin Lancaster in JD780 DNF (engine failure) “3 out of 4 ain’t bad”
Having four cars to service, Ford Boreham, UK. sent two mechanics, Mick Jones and Bob Marris along with British Competitions Manager Peter Ashcroft.
After Jim’s retirement, both he and Kevin joined the service crew of 10 people to help out.
This rally sure was a huge team effort with about 28 people in 3 service vans, 2 Utes, a tyre truck (approx. 480 tyres), luggage van, team management cars and a motorhome.
The service crews were definitely kept very busy needing to replace the head gaskets in both Hannu’s and Ari’s cars at New Plymouth. No mean feat in 60 minutes!!
Posted on Facebook in NZ Rallying History by Chris Porter where there is a great group of photos.
This was my second Rally New Zealand and I gathered up a group of fellow MG Car Club members to form the Parc Ferme crew that leapfrogged the event as it travelled from Auckland (Sunday 2pm) to Thames, up Coromandel before stopping in Tauranga (Monday 6am).
Leg 2 restarted at 4pm Monday then ran through the night, Taupo, Taumarunui before another stop in New Plymouth at Noon the next day.
The Final Leg began at 830pm Tuesday and travelled north via Otorohanga, Hamilton and Pukekohe before finishing in Downtown Auckland by the Tepid Baths at 430pm on the Wednesday.
A total of 658 kms in 40 Special Stages (Tarmac, Mixed & Gravel) in a total route of 1,993kms. Hannu Mikkola’s winning time was 5 minutes over 8 hours and his initial winning margin was 15 minutes, until the works Datsuns were excluded when they refused to allow the scrutineers to inspect their engines.
Greenie finished 7th in a Ford Escort RS and the driver in Car 31 this weekend, one Ray Wilson, finished 13th and won the 0-1300cc class in his Leyland Mini GT..
Now THAT’S what we knew as Rallying….
Apart from that, a couple of my other lasting memories are of Pentti Airikkala in the works Vauxhall Chevette 2300HS, co-driven by our own Dr Rodger Freeth, going up the (then) Banking at Western Springs, in the rain, and go round the outside of Hannu Mikkola to win the stage and take the rally lead.
Had the crowd on their feet.
And the other one is for BB.
We had just set up the first Parc Ferme area in the centre of Thames and were awaiting the arrival of the cars.
Well before we could see any of them, we were treated to the sound of BDA Escorts almost at competition volume, blasting through the town streets.
It was BB Heaven !! Just a shame you were still years away from being able to take it all in BB.
Next thing we knew the glorious colours of the first Masport Escort powered into view and we booked them in.
Not much was initially said, but once the locals started arriving, we found out that the traffic lights on the one lane Kopu Bridge were not working properly and cars were being held up there, hence the somewhat elevated touring speeds (and glorious increased engine revs) they deemed necessary to book in on time.
Just another example of why this awesome sport becomes so addictive…Enjoy your weekend..
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