Hunt goes back to back with South Canterbury win
Ben Hunt has extended his lead in the Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Championship after claiming victory at the South Canterbury Hydraulics Rally South Canterbury on Saturday.
Hunt, the reigning national champion, backed up his opening round win at Otago last month with a dominant win by one minute and 56 seconds.
The Skoda New Zealand Fabia Rally 2 driver led home Josh Marston (RDL Holden Barina AP4) and Robbie Stokes (Stokes Motorsport Skoda Rally 2).
The battle between Marston and Jack Hawkeswood (Force Motorsport Toyota GR Yaris) ran throughout the day until Hawkeswood stopped on the penultimate stage, while Stokes overcame a mechanical issue on the opening stage to salvage a podium finish.
Dylan Thomson (Kiwi Carpet Cleaning Subaru Impreza) scored fourth in his older model Subaru Impreza.
Hawkeswood, Emma Gilmour (Vantage New Zealand Citroen C3), Jack Stokes (Stokes Motorsport Ford Fiesta AP4 and Haydn Mackenzie (Albany Toyota Yaris AP4) all failed to finish.
Bryn Jones (Ford Fiesta Rally 4) backed up his opening round win with victory in the NZRC 2WD class – leading home Tim Mackersy (Ford Fiesta Rally 4) by 40 seconds.
Dave Strong also went back-to-back in consecutive rallies in the Open 2WD class in his high-powered Honda Jazz, beating Paul Cross (Toyota Corolla).
Deane Buist triumphed in the Historic 2WD class, with a win in his Ford Escort. Stephen Gill (Ford Escort) and Andy Martin (Ford Escort) completed the podium.
Caleb Macdonald extended his lead in the Rally Challenge 4WD class in his Mitsubishi EVO 6, though Josh Keighley (Subaru H6) and Kevin Laird (Subaru H6) kept him honest.
Keighley led home Laird and Ben Huband (Subaru H6) in the Group A Challenge.
Local driver Darren Galbraith won the Rally Challenge 2WD class in his Ford Fiesta with Ian Warren (Nissan Pulsar) second and first round winner Thomas Paul (Honda Civic) third.
The championship continues with round three at Lonestar Rally Canterbury over King’s Birthday weekend.
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