Hawkeswood on brink of 2026 title after dramatic Saturday
Whitford’s Jack Hawkeswood has put one hand on a maiden Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Championship after a dramatic opening day of the Vertex Lubricants International Rally Whangarei on Saturday.
Hawkeswood claimed seven vital points for winning the Saturday leg and four points for his power stage performance to hold a lead in excess of 30 seconds overnight and moves closer to becoming the first son to follow in his father’s footsteps and claim the national championship.
Father Andrew Hawkeswood won the 2017 title.
But it was the demise of title rival Jack Stokes on the fifth stage of the day that swung the title race strongly in Hawkeswood’s favour.
Stokes ran wide on a high-speed corner and hit a tree stump that ripped a wheel off his Stokes Motorsport Skoda Fabia Rally 2 car. He and co-driver Hayden Graves were taken to hospital to be checked over before being released later in the day, effectively ending his title charge.
Hawkeswood can wrap up the championship with a solid finish on Sunday.
Defending Whangarei champion Robbie Stokes, in an identical car to his brother, holds second place – 32.3 seconds adrift of Hawkeswood.
Quentin Palmer (Skoda Fabia Rally 2) was third after another tidy performance, while reigning national champion Ben Hunt was fifth in the Force Motorsport Mazda 2 AP4 and Vanuatu’s Pierre-Henri Brunet sixth in his Skoda Fabia Rally 2 in easily his best every showing in New Zealand.
Ari Pettigrew (Porsche 911) was the other high-profile casualty on Saturday, after he rolled his car while leading the 2WD battle.
Tim Mackersy (Ford Fiesta) led Dave Strong (Honda Jazz) in the Open 2WD and overall 2WD class by just five seconds.
Andy Martin was the best of the Classics in his Ford Escort, leading Ben Harding (Mazda RX7) by 6.1 seconds, while Roger McKay (Ford Escort) was only another one minute off the pace.
Phil Macquarie holds a commanding lead in the Historic Class in his Ford Escort, but Mike Cameron (Mitsubishi Lancer) was second and in front of Pat Norris’s Toyota Corolla by just over a minute and a half at the day’s end.
Australian Rob Darrington took out the one-day Rally Challenge 4WD class and the Group A Challenge in his Subaru Legacy, while Rory Lawn survived some dramas to take victory in the Rally Challenge 2WD class in his Toyota Starlet.
Eight more special stages away competitors on Sunday.
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