Teams Cup – mid-season update
Seven teams registered for the Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Championship Teams Cup prior to the opening round of the championship, with partnerships formed for all sorts of reasons including business, family, brand loyalty and common car clubs.
Back to defend their title were Paddon Racing Group, although Emma Gilmour would step up to partner Hayden Paddon for the title defence. Taking them on would be Stokes Motorsport, represented by brothers Robbie and Jack Stokes, a pair of Rally4 Fiestas for the Rally4Play team of Dylan Thomson and Bryn Jones, a pair of R5 Skoda Fabias for the Skoda NZ Rally Team of Ben Hunt and Zeal Jones, different vintage Mitsubishis for the Mitsi Gold team of Stewart Reid and Mike Cameron, Team South Auckland Car Club represented by Jack Hawkeswood and Dave Strong, while Southerners were represented by Tim Mackersy and James Worker in their pair of Ford Fiesta’s.
As in the past, the total points score for each team is the total in their respective NZRC Championship class, so the approach of Stokes Motorsport, Team South Auckland Car Club and Mitsi Gold of splitting their entries across two classes left them with the only opportunities to collect maximum points from each round.
Paddon Racing Group would start on the back foot with Paddon himself missing the opening round, Rally Otago, as he contested the European Rally Championship, however they’d be joined early in being represented by just one car by Rally4Play, a high speed spin for Bryn Jones damaging his radiator on the opening stage. Next to limit their scoring capability were Team South Auckland Car Club when Strong suffered a terminal engine failure in SS6, while the following day Reid would suffer a fire, leaving Mitsi Gold also down to one representative.
At the front of the field, after an epic battle for the top spot, Stokes Motorsport with a pair of seconds in class topped the table with 68 points, well clear of Skoda NZ Rally Team, Zeal Jones battling through the second day in two-wheel drive. Bryn Jones would rejoin and score some bonus points that helpfully put Rally4Play third on 53, just ahead of Southerners on 51. The rally win meant Team South Auckland Car Club could claim 38 points, one ahead of Mitsi Gold, while a rough start to the championship left Paddon Racing Group on 23.
Teams then headed to Timaru for the South Canterbury Rally. The single day rally saw plenty of challenges, but with each of the teams bar one getting two cars to the finish, created hugely tight margins amongst the teams.
Topping the points score with 49 was Rally4Play despite Bryn Jones suffering a turbo boost issue for the majority of the day, supported by Thomson taking a solid class win. They would edge out a tie for second place between Stokes Motorsport, with Jack Stokes suffering a puncture and later in the day a broken gear lever, supporting brother Robbie with his second consecutive runner up finish. They couldn’t be split from Paddon Racing Group, Paddon taking the rally win with Gilmour coming home fifth. In fourth but only two points off the round win, Southerners well supported with a second in class for Mackersy and fourth for Worker to score 47 points. Mitsi Gold (43 Points) and Skoda NZ Rally Team (42 Points), while an off road excursion for Hawkeswood meant Team South Auckland Car Club scored just 34 points.
The third round of the season saw the Championship return to the Southland region after a 20 year hiatus for the Southern Lights Rally. The event also saw the re-introduction of night rallying, tackling the infamous Pebbly Hills forestry stage on Friday night before tackling the 46-kilometre Benmore stage before sunrise on Saturday.
Rally4Play would take their second consecutive round win, with Thomson and Bryn Jones taking first and third in their class respectively and the 54 points that go with it. Bouncing back with their first double finish of the season, Team South Auckland Car Club would take 51 points, Strong winning his class and Hawkeswood fourth. Third equal would go to Stokes Motorsport (3rd & 2nd) and Paddon Racing Group (1st & 5th), each claiming 48 points, then Skoda NZ Rally Team (2nd & 6th, 44 points), Mitsi Gold (2nd & 7th, 42 points) while Tim Mackersy was the sole surviving Southerner, banking 21 points.
At the Mid season break, Stokes Motorsport lead the chase on 164 Points ahead of Rally4Play on 156. Skoda NZ Rally Team are third with 143 points on the board, 20 ahead of Team South Auckland Car Club. Mitsi Gold are just one point further back on 122, three ahead of the joint scores of 119 for Paddon Racing Group and Southerners.
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