Ayson’s season likely over after engine fail
Derek Ayson experienced the highs and lows of rallying in an eventful Lone Star Rally Canterbury last week and has been left wondering what might have been.
Ayson was on a charge in his Open Manta and was in front of the almost untouchable Classic class leader Deane Buist when his engine let go, curtailing his rally and in all likelihood, ending his 2026 campaign.
“The engine looks quite bad,” Ayson explained. “We don’t have the head off yet as my engine builder wants to do that, but we took the sump off and no.3 conrod is broken, which punched a hole in the block and sump and had damaged the crank.
“Basically, everything below the head will need to be replaced. Fingers crossed the head is OK but will know more this week.
“I’m gutted for the team and also Cate [co-driver Cate Kelly], as she had committed to flying from Australia to do the full championship.”
The major engine fail will be a costly re-build and will take some time to fix as well, meaning Ayson is not likely to compete again this season.
I hadn’t planned a full rebuild this early in the season so unfortunately the budget will now go towards a rebuild instead of continuing with the championship,” he said.
“We wouldn’t have been able to get it fixed in time for Southland anyway and getting two points from two rounds sort of stuffs our championship chances.”
The frustration is that both car and driver were dialled in before the engine let go and they were on for a class win.
“The car felt really good, Cate was doing an awesome job on the notes and we really gelled in the car, plus my service crew were outstanding,” Ayson said.
“We were stoked to be beating Deane on his home event and proves that it doesn’t have to be an Escort to be competitive.”
Ayson is committed to returning to the championship in 2027.
“We will look to compete in the NZRC again next year as Cat 6 is the best class.”
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