By the numbers – Google Grant’s key numbers for Vertex Oil International Rally of Whangarei
Just like last year the Vertex Oil International Rally of Whangarei will again be the final round of the Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Championship and, after a major revamp of the rally route, is sure to be a superb contest over some of the best drivers’ roads the North Island has to offer.
This 19th edition will be just the second time since its inception back in 2006 that Whangarei has not been a round of an FIA championship.
However, this should not be considered a negative, as moving away from the rules that govern the format of an FIA event means that this year’s rally can rest the roads to the north and south used repeatedly in recent years and move further afield.
While retaining the city as the host venue, 2025 will now head west to Dargaville and also south-west to use some of the classic roads that made WRC Rally New Zealand world renowned in the 80’s, 90’s and 2000’s.
Six of Saturday’s 10 stages (3 repeated) were used in last year’s Ventia Rally of Dargaville Tunatahi and drew rapturous praise from crews of all levels.
So, two NZRC front runners, championship leader and almost champion for a fourth time, Ben Hunt and Jack Hawkeswood, should both benefit somewhat from competing at Dargaville last year.
A new layout (in two separate passes) of the spectator-friendly Pohe Island Super Special Stage on Saturday night from 6.15pm wraps up the Day One competition.
Here are the thoughts of Rally Chairman Simon Bell letting the competitors know what to expect on these ‘new’ roads:
STAGE DESCRIPTIONS – DAY ONE SATURDAY:
STAGE ONE
HOUTO ROAD 12.18kms
A fast stage running away from the rising sun. A nice balance of fast and medium flowing corners.
A good blast to ensure the coffee has woken you up. Off to Dargaville now for some fuel… or maybe another coffee.
STAGES TWO & THREE
WAIHUE 25.53kms
Starts out with the some very fast straights to get the heart rate up. Watch the 6L>5L past Nichols Rd, it caught a few last year.
From there on in it’s a fabulous smooth gravel road that is medium to fast with a hard base. Could be some dust in the trees towards the end.
Second pass – can you knock 5-10secs off the first run?
Dargaville 2024 Winning Time for the 25.75kms: BEN HUNT 13:06.9 (117.80kph) which was 9 seconds quicker than Ben did to win the First Pass.
STAGES FOUR & SIX
GREENHILL 23.60kms
The first Pass just after Noon on Saturday is the Primary NZRC Power Stage.
Starts fast to the first RH junction with Access Road, make sure you get some air over the bridge as the livestream will be there.
A fast blast up Access Road and then it’s a LH turn onto the infamous Oparakau Road.
Now it’s time to bring back the mid-2000’s memories as the sweeping cambered corners get the heart rate up all the way to finish just before SH12 –
you are going to be looking forward to the second pass.
Dargaville 2024 Winning Time for the 19.58kms: BEN HUNT 10:45.6 (109.18kph) which was just 2 seconds quicker than Ben did to win the First Pass.
STAGES FIVE & SEVEN
TOKATOKA 19.06kms
The Second Pass on Saturday afternoon is the Reserve NZRC Power Stage.
Enjoy parts of previous WRC stages, medium to fast packed gravel roads. A couple of slumps in the road and narrow bridges.
Fast, undulating roads to finish.
Dargaville 2024 Winning Time for the 18.64kms: BEN HUNT 9:13.1 (121.32kph) which was 10 seconds than Ben did to win the First Pass.
STAGE EIGHT
KIRIKOPUNI 13.21kms
A nice way to leave the Kaipara District and go back to Whangarei. A typically fast and flowing stage,
but don’t be complacent as there are some tighter corners thrown in to make sure you are listening (or watching if you are driving blind).
Off to Pohe Island now.
STAGE NINE & TEN
POHE ISLAND SUPER SPECIAL STAGE 1.32kms
This is not the time to become Colin or Ken – remember a spectator stage can bite and you are nearly home to the end of Day ONE.
Starting from the Service Park you will do a run thru the in-field, out under the bridge and through the sweeping corners in the fields on the southern side
(but watch the anti-cuts, they like to keep wheel collections). Turning left onto Dave Callum Drive, push the accelerator HARD and head to the finish line,
the chicane… one more to go… unless that was your second time. Time to do day two…especially if you were only doing day one and it went so well.
Sunday’s eight stages are a new set of four tests repeated south of Whangarei almost down as far as Paparoa on more of the brilliant WRC roads, before the survivors return to the Pohe Island Service Park for the Rally Finish from 3.30pm.
STAGE DESCRIPTIONS – DAY TWO SUNDAY:
STAGE ELEVEN & FIFTEEN
RUARANGI ROAD 7.30kms
This will really wake you up. Don’t take the short distance to mean its not to be taken seriously,
as this road has claimed some big names over the years in both Rallies and Rallysprints.
This stage has it all, crests, big dips and one wickedly good junction, then it’s a fast run with BIG commitment
to the end of the stage over some amazing cresty corners. Just make sure to watch out for Emma’s corner, keep tucked in.
2025 NIRS Round One Ruarangi Road Rallysprint was run in the opposite direction and the Fastest Time was set by Quentin Palmer (Skoda) 3:48.5 (110kph).
STAGE TWELVE & SIXTEEN
WAIKIEKIE ROAD 20.72kms
Starts on a fast straight but watch the 4L over the crest. As Dave Holder and particularly Rob Scott knows, “it hurts your manhood” when you arrive at pace.
Then it’s a left turn and you are off on a roller-coaster of junctions as you loop back around to the refuel.
This is a great stage to really have a go as there isn’t much to catch you out. Good Luck.
STAGE THIRTEEN & SEVENTEEN
OMANA ROAD 13.72kms
Back to it after the refuel, how’s the concentration going? A fast little stage that’s on a nice hard-packed gravel base,
but skinny in places so watch your car placement. You will love the run through the stage, and the stage finishes on another famous road, Mititai.
Next…. OMG IT’S BULL ROAD!!!
STAGE FOURTEEN & EIGHTEEN
BULL ROAD 20.31kms
This is it… the roller coaster and possibly my favourite road of the event. Bull Road is steeped in WRC history and is a wickedly good road.
Some huge camber in places as it winds its way south. Just watch the entry to the one-lane bridges, as Thierry Neuville found out, they hurt.
Turning tight left onto Arcadia Road (have a thought for Brooklyn & Tyson) as you sweep through the junction,
you will now run up a well-used WRC / IROW road to Central Road which then runs along the ridgeline to the finish.
What a way to finish your 2025 Vertex Oil international Rally of Whangarei adventure.
A BIT OF RALLY HISTORY OF THIS YEAR’S RALLY TERRITORY:
That first Whangarei event in 2006 was unique in NZRC history as, although it was a two-day round – as was the standard back in those days – it is the only one to ever have a Rally on one day and a Rallysprint on the other. 2004 champion Chris West in his Winger Subaru NZ Rally Team Impreza won both days – the rally from Sam Murray and Richard Mason, then beating Mason in the Rallysprint shootout over 5.2kms on Wearmouth Road, just west of Paparoa and not far south of this year’s Bull stage. Westy won in 2 min 59.7 secs at an Average Speed of 104kph.
It had been used the previous year as the Shakedown road for WRC Rally New Zealand and this is where yet another works Ford came unstuck BIG time on our rally roads in the North – remembering Gus Greensmith in the Puma Hybrid on Komokoriki Hill Road in 2022. This time it was the Czech driver Roman Kresta who got it so wrong at the Shakedown he was unable to start the rally.
Here’s the youtube clip: https://www.ewrc-results.com/video/23264-roman-kresta-new-zealand-2005-crash/
Have a look at the body language of M-Sport Team Boss Malcolm Wilson at the end.
And here’s the NZ Herald report by one of NZ rallying’s most supportive journalists of that halcyon era of annual WRC RallyNZ’s, Bob Pearce, who I’m delighted to report is still going strong and full of the fondest memories of chasing rally cars in the middle of nowhere… especially the night stages.! Note the Time of Day/Night his report was published. Those were the days…
So, the roads are absolutely awesome to drive, but get it wrong and they can bite very seriously.
It’s also interesting to note that three drivers competing this year were also in that inaugural Whangarei 2006 event – of course one was Dave Strong (with Bruce McKenzie) and naturally in a Honda Civic Type-R (Regn DIHARD). Unfortunately, they retired.
Todd Bawden had the same Car Number as this year (#6) on Richard Mason’s 2005 championship winning Subaru Impreza Sti N8 (Regn BYACAR). He finished 5th. And Carl Adnitt finished 18th in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII.
Two other names that caught my eye were our specialist LIVE Stream commentator Dylan Turner, who brought his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX home in 9th 39.9 seconds ahead of some young up and comer called Paddon, with Nicole France co-driving in his pre-JK days.
Just so Dylan doesn’t get too carried away, I feel I should mention that HP did incur 50 seconds in lateness penalties in his Evo VIII having started 12th.
Whangarei has now been run for 19 consecutive NZRC championships and 2025 will move it into second place ahead of Southland (1987-2004), but still well behind the Oakley Bros and their fellow OSCC organising team who have put on Rally Otago every year since 1994 – except for COVID in 2020 – now 31 times.
Can’t wait for next year’s 50th Anniversary event which is set to be something very special and not to be missed whether you are a competitor, official or spectator. In fact, I see they already have over 90 crews having lodged Intentions to Enter..
THE STATE OF THE CHAMPIONSHIP GOING INTO WHANGAREI
The GoldStar championship battle has undergone a major change since Rally Bay of Plenty, with Robbie Stokes losing his round win and Power Stage points by being excluded from the event results, following a MotorSport New Zealand Judicial Committee Hearing.
This means what was a 9-point advantage to defending champion Ben Hunt has now turned into a 41-point lead and Robbie’s goal of following Dad Brian and becoming a GoldStar New Zealand Rally Champion looks like having to wait another year.
A Two Day NZRC Round offers a maximum of 44 points, so Robbie does still have a mathematical chance if Ben has a major problem early on and has to retire.
Otherwise, the title could well be decided as early as Stage 4 – the 23.60 kilometres of Greenhill – as this is the Primary NZRC Power Stage.
So, if Ben can post the 1st, 2nd or 3rd fastest NZRC time through there, that would be enough to move him to at least 161 points, which is a total Robbie can only equal if he clean sweeps the rally. If that was to happen the NZRC Portfolio Tie Break rule of Most Round Wins would be applied, and Ben would win that 4-2.
The same scenarios play out for the GoldStar Co-Drivers title and both Cat 1 awards, with Tony Rawstorn in the box seat over Shane Reynolds by the same margin.
So, while it looks like a forgone conclusion at the sharp end, it’s anything but for the final step on the NZRC podium as 3rd placed Josh Marston and Andrew Graves have not entered Whangarei.
This then opens the door significantly for 4th placed Jack Hawkeswood who is now 15 points behind Josh and, with only 5 Cat 1 cars starting, simply finishing 5th – even without any Power Stage or Day points – would be enough for Jack to overhaul Josh.
The dark horse in all of this is of course Jack Stokes, who now has finished on the podium at each of the last three rounds and has got himself right back into contention for the Junior title with Josh Keighley and Bryn Jones. The three of them are just one point apart going into Saturday’s shootout.
So, what better way for the young Cantabrian and his Southland co-driver Hayden Graves to bid farewell to the Fiesta AP4 with at least a fourth consecutive podium, if not an inaugural outright round win for both of them – and the car.
With so few front running 4WDs there is also a distinct possibility that if a few of them were to DNF, our top two 2WD pedlars Deane Buist and Bryn Jones could significantly climb the final points ladder.
And wouldn’t that be something if a driver and car that total close to 100 years of age (and experience) could end up on the overall NZRC series podium.
We should also acknowledge that by finishing 5th overall NZRC at Rally BoP, Deane has become the highest placed Historic category entry since Marcus van Klink and Dave Neill came home 6th in the Mazda RX7 in the 2014 Rally Wairarapa, a feat matched by Miles McElwain, in the bright yellow Toyota Corolla he still uses – affectionately known as Piglet – at the 2012 Rally New Zealand.
At the other end of the age scale, and also as a result of Robbie’s exclusion at Rally BoP, young Bryn Jones has now made his own bit of NZRC history by becoming the first Cat 2 driver to win an overall Power Stage point, and it’s only the second time Cat 1 cars have not taken all those points.
The honour of doing that the first time was back in 2013, when the Power Stage points scoring was extended to the Fastest Five – from Three – and Neil Allport was in Cat 3 in a Ford Escort RS1600 and went 5th fastest around the Pukekohe Circuit in the Possum Bourne Memorial Rally.
CHAMPIONS ALREADY
With the Entry List for Whangarei now finalised several championships have been decided already with Dave Strong winning yet another Cat 3 Drivers title and his veteran – or perhaps that should be ‘vastly experienced’ – co-driver Rob Scott the Cat 3 Co-Driver champion.
Ian Warren from Outram in Otago has clinched the Cat 5B Drivers in his debut season and his co-driver Temuka’s Brody Cattermole is odds on to sneak past the absent Bridget Airey as the deficit is only 6 points. However Ian and Brody must finish Saturday to do that as the Power Stage is worth ‘only’ a maximum of 5 points.
With Pat Norris not at Whangarei, Taranaki’s ‘Lolly Lady’ chauffeur Mike Cameron is also out of reach of Dave Strong and the returning Brian Green and has therefore taken out the Gold Card Driver award.
Regardless of his very public off-road excursion late at Rally Bay of Plenty, Vanuatu’s Julien Lenglet is this year’s champion International Driver.
Fuyuhiko Takahashi is back with us after a similar incident at Canterbury and will no doubt be keen to overhaul Irish/Aussie Glenn Alcorn for 2nd place.
STILL UP FOR GRABS
2WD continued to be dominated by Deane Buist at Bay of Plenty with his fifth round win.
However Bryn Jones is hanging on to his coat tails by finishing 2nd each time and winning 3 of the 5 Power Stages to Deane’s 2, so will start Whangarei 18 points behind.
As mentioned above there’s a maximum 44 points available at a Two Day Round – 5 for the Power Stage, 7 for each Day and 25 for the Round – so there is still plenty of opportunity for a big points swing should anyone have an issue over the 18 stages which cover 288 kilometres.
There are 8 competitors in the 2WD section at Whangarei (Categories 2 – 4), so an example of how close it could get could be if Deane was to have a problem and drop to 4th in all point scoring options (2 + 2 + 2 + 19 = 25) and Bryn was to win everything and take the maximum 44 points, Bryn would take the title by 1 point.
At 42 points adrift of Deane, Tim Mackersy from Dunedin still has a slight mathematical chance, but both the Top 2 would have to retire early on Saturday for that to remain a possibility after the Power Stage – Stage 4 Greenhill.
As also mentioned last time, the 2WD Co-Drivers is a different story as Deane’s regular navigator Karl Celeste chose to drive at Canterbury, so Bryn’s co-driver Sean Lockyear has a 12 point lead over Karl, with Tim’s wife Lauren another 12 points further back and Grant Molloy (Steve Gill) now 13 behind Lauren.
Now we have completed the first five rounds, Categories 2, 3 and 4 crews have dropped their worst result where applicable.
Bay of Plenty made no difference in Cat 2 as Bryn Jones won there and already had the maximum total of 134, and the same for Tim who stayed on 114.
Therefore Bryn goes to Whangarei still with a 20 point lead.
So with just 3 competitors in Cat 2, Bryn has to fail to finish for Tim to become the category champion.
The same scenario applies to the Co-Drivers for Sean and Lauren.
Cat 4 is now the same as Cat 2 with Deane Buist 20 points clear of Steve Gill, and with Pat Norris absent, Mike Cameron has a golden opportunity to finish 3rd.
In the Co-Drivers, as predicted at BoP, Karl Celeste did score the maximum 30 which brought about a change of leader, so an 8 point deficit has turned into a 20 point lead over Grant Molloy.
The Rally Challenge and Cat 5’s Dropped Round(s) Rule is different to Cats 2, 3 and 4 as here the worst 2 round scores of the first 5 rounds are ignored.
So in the Rally Challenge and Cat 5A prior to BoP, Queenstown’s Caleb Macdonald had done so well in the three rounds he’s contested, he could add only 1 point to his 89.
However a monumental incident in Stage 3 virtually destroyed the ex-Deborah Kibble 2001 Group N championship winning car and Caleb and Larisa’s title chances were literally turned upside down – and more than once – in the Matahina Forest.
As has already been publicised there was no chance of repairing/rebuilding the Evo in time for Whangarei, so the Sport showed its true spirit of camaraderie with plenty of offers of help to ensure they could be at the final round – none more so than fellow Rally Challenge competitor Ben Huband, who has provided his Subaru H6 for Caleb and Larisa to use.
Second placed Josh Keighley made up some good ground after Caleb’s retirement and starts Whangarei 10 points behind the man from Queenstown.
Ben Huband had already helped Caleb’s cause by winning at Bay of Plenty and forcing Josh into 2nd, thereby depriving Josh of 3 points.
Ben is 16 points behind Caleb with Gavin Feast a further 5 back. Caleb’s fellow Southlander and Big Belly Rally Team teammate Kevin Laird is all but out of the fight at 29 points in arrears, but no doubt he will be doing his best to be right in the mix to take as many points as possible off his great mate’s opposition and do all he can to help him take away his first NZRC title(s) come Saturday evening.
It’s a similar situation in the Challenge and Cat 5A Co-Drivers where it’s a battle of the Aussies as Larisa Biggar (Caleb) and Neill Woolley (Josh) are still in the box seats, with Aled Jones (Kevin) in the same situation as his driver at 29 points behind with a maximum of ‘only’ 30 points available.
Cat 5C is still extremely close with Josh Keighley just 6 points ahead of Kevin Laird and with Caleb Macdonald also in a Subaru H6 this time, he may be able
to return the favour mentioned above and help Kevin overhaul Josh. So it could be an intriguing battle throughout Saturday to see who finally comes out on top.
For example if Kevin could win the Power Stage and the round he would score 30 points (5 + 25).
If Caleb can get to grips with Ben Huband’s H6 quickly enough and finish 2nd on the Power Stage and 2nd for the round he would score 26 points (4 + 22).
That would force Josh into 3rd place on both, so his points tally would be 23 (3 +20) and Kevin would win the Category by one point.
And of course by beating Josh here, Caleb would take away both the Rally Challenge and the Cat 5A titles.
Once again the same scenario applies to the Cat 5C Co-Drivers with Neill Woolley in front of Aled Jones and Larisa Biggar in the wings for this round.
Now we are back to ‘All Scores Count’ with the other Awards and the Junior Championship is still the closest of any of the Awards.
In fact it couldn’t be any closer with Josh Keighley now tied with Bryn Jones, and Jack Stokes just one point behind them.
The other young Jack (Hawkeswood) is still well in the hunt 13 points adrift and very capable of influencing the final outcome.
The Rookie Driver is now down to a Two Horse Race with Josh Keighley extending out to 12 points clear of Steve Gill.
Once again with 5 entries at Whangarei just finishing would be enough for Josh to ensure himself of the title, but a DNF would put his chances seriously at risk.
The Manufacturers Trophy remains too close to call with Skoda still leading Ford by 7 points after they both scored the same points at Rally BoP, but the two front running Skodas would still be considered favourites to turn the tables on last year’s winner.
The Teams Cup for Categories 1 – 4 has ‘M-Sport Rally4’ (Bryn Jones & Tim Mackersy) again logging the maximum score possible and they are now 33 points ahead of ‘Dougy’s Darlings’ (Josh Marston & Deane Buist).
Their chances being significantly enhanced even before the start with Josh not entering Whangarei.
In Teams Cup Category 5 ‘Big Belly Rally’ (Caleb Macdonald & Kevin Laird) are 29 points clear of ‘B Class Battlers’ (Ian Warren and Thomas Paul),
So Ian has a tough job ahead without Thomas as he has to win Cat 5B and hope Caleb and Kevin retire early.
Should that happen the door would swing wide open for ‘Team Vanuatu & Pure Quality’ (Julien Lenglet and Ben Huband) to charge through as they are 47 points behind Caleb & Kevin and would both have to finish.
All 27 Categories and Awards are available at any time on the ChrisSport website via the Black ‘2025 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 is the link which gets updated immediately after each Round: ChrisSport
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