From the Service Park – Rally Whangarei
It wasn’t a great weekend for hotels in Whangarei as the NZRC didn’t quite live up to their high standards when visiting.
Not such a good driver after all
Which leading pedaller proved to be not such a good driver off the road as he was on it across the weekend.
My spies tell me the person in question attempted to hit a golf ball out of their hotel room only to shank it and leave their service crew to potentially do more work on the hotel room than the rally car.
The culprit enjoyed a strong weekend behind the wheel however.
Not such a good drive part II
Lukas Ramsay has showcased plenty of talent in his short time competing in the sport but he wasn’t at his best in Whangarei over the weekend.
Not competing but crewing, Ramsay misjudged the height of his truck as he drove under a motel canopy and proceeded to remove the gutter from the motel room in the process.
International invasion coming
The Indonesian crew of H Rihans Variza and Mochamad Fahrezi Fadh proved to be competitive as they gained more experience on the Northland gravel after an early mechanical failure.
The Indonesian champions have indicated they are very interested in a full campaign in the NZRC in 2025 and I’m hearing there might be at least another two international entries considering a full tilt in Aotearoa as well – and that’s not including those that competed here this year.
Rolling into Whangarei
How good was it to see Dildo Baggins (Dylan Turner) in Whangarei over the weekend? Turner popped up to run a BBQ for the volunteers in a nice touch on Saturday night and jumped in with the livestream commentary over the weekend as well.
He was a real hit in the commentary with his unique insights into competition while he was right at home rolling the sausages on the BBQ – who else has spent more time rolling in the north than Mr Turner after all?
Cat 1 could be intense in 2025
While Hayden Paddon didn’t put a foot wrong (yet again) all weekend there are many glad to see a different winner in 2024 in Ben Hunt (even if Paddon had to miss a round for it to happen).
We are blessed living in an era of New Zealand’s greatest ever driver and sometimes forget how lucky we are to watch a maestro in action so often.
But thinking ahead to 2025 and, if rumours of Paddon prioritising offshore titles are true, imagine how open the championship could be.
Hunt, Stokes, Gilmour, Hawkeswood, Zeal Jones, Marston, Turner, Bawden, Mackenzie, Kinglsey Jones, Campbell, Reid could all be genuine contenders.
Will he, or won’t he?
You’ll notice we never mentioned Dylan Thomson in the above piece, but his future remains very much up in the air.
Thomson reminded everyone of just how much talent he possesses when he piloted an older generation Subaru Impreza to a podium finish in Whangarei.
He has publicly stated that he is likely to focus on other aspects of life next year but rumours of him being in a cat 1 car at Otago were doing the rounds again.
He was non-committal when asked by this column of his plans.
Mad man on the stages
I had several reports of a naked man, wearing only a cowboy hat being spotted at various vantage points over the weekend.
I’m reliably informed that the culprit was seen getting in and out of a red and white helicopter.
It sure will make Emma’s in-car video interesting to say the least.
Hawes all mixed up
Willy Hawes completed a terrific campaign in 2024 to win the Open 2WD class thanks to finishing at Whangarei over the weekend.
He didn’t make life easy for himself, however. Hawes went the wrong way around the jump at the Pohe Island Super Special and then had to quickly jump to the rule book to learn his fate – an exclusion would have cost him the championship.
Thankfully commonsense prevailed and he kept his spot.
Bryn in an Only Fans first
Bryn Jones enjoyed undoubtedly his best career performance as he won the NZRC 2WD class in his Ford Fiesta.
But what on earth was he doing with a series of partially nude photos showing the proud red head the upper half of his torso?
The best we can come up with is that he is working on a world first where he joins Only Fans and is paid to put clothes back on by subscribers.
Happy summer
Finally, and on a serious note, I want to thank all of the NZRC competitors and wider community for accepting this column for what it is – a bit of fun designed to get people talking and having a laugh about our sport.
We never mean any piss-takes as a slur of anyone and have the utmost respect for everyone involved in the sport – drivers, co-drivers, team members, rally organisers, MotorSport NZ, sponsors, supporters and fans.
Enjoy your summer and look forward to an even bigger 2025.
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