Christchurch’s Dylan Thomson has made the perfect start to the Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Championship, with a class win and stage record at Rally Otago.

Thomson headed to the event looking to defend his Motorsport New Zealand two-wheel drive, Front-wheel drive and Junior championships from 2017. Also for the Otago event, Thomson wanted to beat the Kiwi two-wheel drive record through the infamous Kuri Bush stage, which was held by mentor Ben Hunt and set in the same car Thomson now campaigns.

He and co-driver Amy Hudson were immediately on the ...    more...

Dunedin driver Emma Gilmour experienced the tough hand that rallying can deftly dish out – with a final stage puncture deflating her hopes of a podium finish in the Drivesouth Otago Rally today.

It followed a strong first leg where she and Australian co-driver Anthony McLoughlin finished yesterday’s first nine stages in third position in the Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Championship (NZRC).

Emma came out firing in her Vantage Windows and Doors Suzuki Swift AP4 today, with top five finishes in the first seven stages of the day, which saw ...    more...

Ben Hunt and co-driver Tony Rawstorn had a storming start to their Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Championship campaign, finishing second to WRC driver Hayden Paddon, in the Drivesouth Rally of Otago today.

The pair completed the 17-stage, 281-competitive kilometre event in an unscathed Subaru WRX STi, with 11 runner-up stage finishes and they were never outside the top five teams for the rest of the six tests.

It is Hunt’s third season now in the STi and the development process has clearly reached a sweet spot.

“We have ...    more...

The Hyundai i20 AP4+ rally car piloted by Kiwi rally star Hayden Paddon and his co-driver John Kennard took its third consecutive win at Rally Otago, running 14-15 April, with Paddon winning each and every one of the 17 special stages.

Winning the two-day, 281.29 km rally by a margin of 8 min 27.7 sec from second-placed Ben Hunt, Paddon set also new stage records for all 17 stages.

Paddon’s dominance of a domestic New Zealand Rally Championship event is not unexpected, but the Kiwi WRC driver doesn’t take it all for granted, valuing the competition ...    more...

Josh Marston and co-driver Andrew Graves, from Christchurch and Gore respectively, put together a consistent performance to take a well-deserved fourth place at Rally Otago, the opening round of the 2018 New Zealand Rally Championship, over the weekend.

Penny Homes Holden Rally Team team-mate Greg Murphy, from Havelock North, also ran fairly consistently toward the front of the 65-strong NZRC field until an issue with the fuel feed to the engine of his Holden Barina AP4+ rally car forced him to retire early on Sunday afternoon.

“We had a good battle with Graham Featherston, who ...    more...