Junior Championship – mid-season update
Five juniors took the start of the Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Championship in 2024.
To be eligible, drivers must have been under the age of 25 on January 1, 2024, with a mix of drivers from Category 1, 2 and 5b.
Early favourite at the opening round would be Jack Hawkeswood in his Toyota Yaris AP4, although Zeal Jones stepping into a Skoda Fabia R5 would be hot on his heels. The two-wheel drive Fiestas of Bryn Jones (Rally4) and Jack Stokes (R2), as well as the Corolla of Jared Parker, would likely struggle to match outright pace, but the opportunity to strike if either of their four wheel drive compatriots struck trouble.
The opening round, Rally Otago, saw Hawkeswood immediately on the pace, he’d go on to not only top the junior standings at the end of the day, but also take the outright rally win, his first at the NZRC level. Second would be Zeal Jones, having spent most of the opening day nursing a rear differential problem, then the second day in front wheel drive after disconnecting the diff, but still able to hold off debutant Stokes and Parker. Unfortunately for Bryn Jones, a spin on the opening stage put a hole in the radiator and ended his event.
Round two took teams to Timaru for the South Canterbury Rally. Hawkeswood would set the early pace before a collision with a tree in the forestry based stage three would lead to his retirement. That same stage saw Zeal Jones jump into the lead as well as fourth overall, while Stokes overcame a puncture to sit second ahead of Parker. The torrid start to the season for Bryn Jones continued, a boost actuator issue robbing him of most of his horsepower on the ultra-fast South Canterbury roads. The results would stay that way throughout the day, Stokes also battling a broken gear lever late in the day while Bryn Jones would eventually fix the issues, but the damage was done and fourth was as good as he could secure.
The third round saw the championship return to Invercargill after a 20 year absence for the Southern Lights Rally. As well as the return to region, the rally also saw dark stages return to the championship.
Despite battling illness, Hawkeswood would be top Junior by the time the sun rose after stage two, heading Zeal Jones and Stokes. Bryn Jones and Parker both had frustration with catching non-championship cars in the long stage two, for Parker it represented not only time loss, but a broken windscreen and a hole in the radiator adding to the woes of jamming his finger in a door at the early morning service.
As the day progressed, Hawkeswood would take the win despite a failing engine, but Zeal Jones was getting closer and would secure second. Jack Stokes continued his run of impressive performances to take third amongst the youngsters, holding out Bryn Jones and Parker, who would experience the relief of a finish as he continued to increase his pace despite issues.
After three rounds, Zeal Jones leads the standings on 69 points, ahead of Stokes on 62 and Parker on 57. DNF’s have cost both Hawkeswood and defending champion Bryn Jones dearly, the pair sitting on 50 and 38 respectively.
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