What we learned from Rally South Canterbury
Ben Hunt is clearly the man to beat this year
If we didn’t already think so, Ben Hunt’s performance at South Canterbury clearly put him as the standout favourite to win a fourth national championship in 2025.
Hunt dominated the field in a majestic display in challenging forestry conditions early before asserting his speed and consistency to win every stage of the rally and claim a comfortable victory.
With a small points advantage now (11 points), the uber-consistent Hunt will take some serious catching if the trailing bunch have aspirations of beating him.
Marston underlines his title credentials
One man that could factor as a challenger of Hunt is Josh Marston, who claimed an impressive second place at South Canterbury.
Marston has been a consistent performer in previous seasons, finishing runner-up in 2019 in his RDL Holden Barina AP4, which you need to do to put a title campaign together.
But his impressive speed at South Canterbury, coupled with the knowledge that the next round will be on his local Canterbury roads, and Marston could play himself into title consideration.
The H6 battle is fierce
How good were the performances of some of the Subaru H6 drivers at South Canterbury? Josh Keighley impressed for the second event running and banked another podium finish in the Rally Challenge 4WD class to go with victory in the Group A Challenge.
Kevin Laird was another to impress, finishing on the podium in both classes as well in a great performance.
The H6 class has quickly become one of the most hotly-contested in the championship and will only get more competitive if rumours are to be believed.
Brian Green is one popular driver
We all knew that veteran driver Brian Green is one of the most popular people in the sport thanks largely to his huge contribution over a long time and his title sponsosrship of the championship.
But Greenie was a popular guest of honour at the post rally prizegiving and had the room in awe with some of his stories.
The standing ovation he received at the end brought a tear to his eyes in a really special moment of the weekend.
Those who can’t, talk
The performance of BB and Budgie at the House of Sport Simulation in Timaru on Thursday night highlighted this better than anything.
BB talked a big game but was beaten hands-down by Rally New Zealand timing front man George Bird, while Budgie couldn’t get the car out of the start control before going off the road.
It’s fair to say they are better off sticking to talking about the sport.
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