The name Bourne returns to rally competition in New Zealand when Possum Bourne’s middle child, Spencer (age 28) lines up for the Ashley Forest Rallysprint on Saturday 19 September, thanks to Kiwi rally star Hayden Paddon and Paddon Racing Group (PRG).  

This is the first time a Bourne has competed at Ashley Forest for 26 years, after Possum won the famed North Canterbury rallysprint in 2000.  

Spencer Bourne will be driving a replica Prodrive Subaru Impreza WRX in Group N spec, clad in Possum’s livery and sporting the numberplate, 555POS. Bourne shares the car with PRG technician Josh Cooper at the event, both working together as they take on a new challenge in their driving careers. Josh is the current MotorSport NZ Clubsport Champion.   

Paddon says, “We were lucky enough to have a couple of Possum replica WRXs added to our collection in the past year or so. Possum’s always been a massive inspiration to me, and he did a lot of things for our sport. I thought this was a way to get Possum’s son Spencer involved in the sport and to pay tribute to the Bourne family, keeping Possum’s legacy alive and give Spencer an opportunity to get more involved in rallying.”  

Auckland-based Bourne has competed in a few earlier events as a driver and codriver. The plan proposed by Paddon isn’t simply about following in his father’s footsteps; it’s about developing his own skills, gaining experience and see where rallying can take him. A major target is for Bourne to compete at the Otago Rally in 2027, completing various test days and development work with the team as part of developing his skills and experience.  

Paddon continues, “This isn’t a one-off event. We’re going to work with Spencer over coming months with the goal of him competing at Rally Otago next year. We’ll be coaching Spencer so he’s at the point where he can compete at Otago and properly enjoy it, feel comfortable in the car and the surroundings.”  

Bourne is understandably delighted about the chance to drive at an event formerly won by his father and see what opportunities are ahead in rallying.  

“The opportunity came out of nowhere when Hayden called me, after I’d asked him for some advice about the Possum Bourne Memorial Rally. Mum always told me to say yes to every opportunity, so I did. I’ve watched my dad competing in earlier Ashley Forest events and the road hasn’t changed. My goals for Ashley Forest are simple: to have fun and don’t crash the car.  

“I’ve stayed in touch with Hayden a bit over the years, and I’m a big supporter of his. He’s helped me in various ways like co-driving notes for an event and advice like not putting pressure on myself this weekend, to have a go at rallying and see what I can make of it.”  

Paddon says, “It’s going to be great to see Spencer out competing, in an iconic car in iconic Possum colours. My team and I are very proud to be part of this and keep this legacy alive for someone who was such a big inspiration for me and others in our sport.”  

Bourne was very impressive at the team’s pre-event test day in Central Otago, showing surprising speed given his limited rally experience.   

“I’m sharing the car with Josh Cooper this weekend,” says Bourne. “During our test day, I sat beside Josh driving for my first run in the car and that helped me see how the car behaves. Josh has been really helpful too; the whole team has. The car’s easy to drive, super responsive. It feels quite natural which is pretty special, to be honest. I think my father would be saying if I’m having fun, then I’m winning.”  

At the two-day Ashley Forest event, which sees competitors tackle the short, intense hillclimb course of only 1.7 kilometres. The current course record of 52.00 seconds was set by Paddon in 2023 in his Hyundai i20 AP4++. He’s chasing a new course record this year in the Hyundai and will also be competing a Group A Subaru. The PRG team is also running two cars for Emma Gilmour, one for Steward Reid and the Subaru for Bourne and Cooper.  

PRG appreciates the support of their partners including Hyundai New Zealand, Caltex Havoline Oil, Mitre 10 Trade, Winmax Brake Pads, Bar’s Bugs, EROAD, Ben Nevis Station, Design Windows, MITO, Repco, Machinery House, King Gee, KiwiFibre, Hankook, Z Energy, and Blaster.

Hayden Paddon and John Kennard, New Zealand’s most successful rally pairing, have added a second place podium position in WRC Rally del Paraguay to their long list of achievements with Hyundai on the world’s sporting stage.  

Running 28 to 31 August, the Paraguayan round of the 2026 FIA World Rally Championship was based in the city of Encarnación and became notable for the tyre problems and incidents among top-running competitors on Friday. While Paddon and Kennard had their own tyre issues later in the day, they demonstrated stage-winning pace to lead the rally outright by Friday lunchtime – the first time Paddon had led a WRC rally since Rally de Portugal 2018.  

The New Zealanders then gave it their all to hold on to second place from Friday afternoon through to Sunday’s finish, ending up 25.8 seconds behind the winners, Finns Sami Pajari and co-driver Marko Salminen, and 14.2 seconds ahead of third-placed Hyundai Motorsport teammates Adrian Fourmaux and co-driver Alexandre Coria.  

Paraguay’s second place adds to their third place at WRC Croatia in April this year, a remarkable achievement for the Kiwis who have been one of three driver/co-driver pairings driving Hyundai Motorsport’s third i20 N Rally 1 car at selected WRC events this year.  

Paddon said, “I’m not sure this podium is better than Croatia because of what happened in the second to last stage [red-flagged and not restarted following an accident involving Takamoto Katsuta and co-driver Aaron Johnston] but I feel like we can celebrate it. This feels proper, amazing. Everyone had their issues as we did too and since Friday we’ve been managing that gap to others behind me.  

“There’s certainly more speed there, but it felt unnecessary to deliver that this weekend. We did our job, second is almost as good as a win, particularly with the journey we’ve been on.  

“The car’s still a little bit foreign to me. There are things technically that could be better for me. The car’s very good on gravel. You’ve only got to look at Thierry and Adrian’s speed on gravel; it’s fast. There’s a little bit of finetuning for my driving style, which is a bit different. I learned a lot about the car this weekend that I didn’t learn in our pre-event test.  

“That’s all part of the process. We always knew it would be tough, jumping straight in the car, but probably surprised myself how well we did adjust.  

“I wondered if people thought we’d been a bit of a guilt signing this year, especially after Monte Carlo. Then I was happy with the progress we made on tarmac and knew we’d been given a tough opportunity with the rallies we had. Off the back of that success, we obviously got the reward of this rally. We knew this was such an important rally, and I did a lot of preparation to do the best I could.”  

Friday’s opening four stages, during which others suffered tyre and engine issues, Paddon and Kennard kept their cool to lead the rally by 23.9s by Friday lunchtime. On the afternoon’s repeat run through the same four stages, Paddon had his own tyre problems, but maintained sufficient pace to hold second place on the standings at the end of Friday, 11.9 seconds behind Finn Sami Pajari and 44.4 seconds ahead of championship leader Elfyn Evans in third.  

Of Friday, Paddon said, “I think everyone’s had problems, so if we can drive out of two stages on punctures and still be within touching distance, we’ve been unlucky but lucky at the same time.”  

Saturday brough nine competitive stages but not the forecast wet weather. Paddon and Kennard maintained a steady but competitive pace, with regular top four and five stage times to hold their second place overall by day’s end, now 24.1 seconds behind Pajari.  

Paddon said, “Two pretty clean days so far to be in second place still. Happy that we’ve been able to hold our own and maintain those gaps to other competitors. Today, obviously conditions that we weren’t expecting. That affected our tyre plan a bit as we’d set up the car for the forecast weather conditions. Learned a few things about the car today and still a few things I could do a bit better. There’s a lot of things that could happen in this rally still. Tonight we’re going to knuckle down, do our homework and prepare as best we can. We’ll try to bring home a podium result tomorrow but there’s still a long way to go.”  

Sunday’s focus was again on delivering enough pace to hold second place without unnecessary risk and that’s exactly what Paddon and Kennard delivered.  

Paddon concludes, “Massive thanks to Hyundai for this opportunity this year, we've just absolutely loved it. For our Kiwi supporters and our own PRG team back at home for allowing me to still do this. And of course John, 22 years in the car together. We don't know what's next, but this has been one hell of a journey. He's an absolute legend.”  

Paddon returns to New Zealand for his next event, the Ashley Forest Rallysprint on 19 and 20 September where he’s going all out to set a new hillclimb record in his Hyundai i20 AP4.  

PRG appreciates the support of their partners including Hyundai New Zealand, Caltex Havoline Oil, Mitre 10 Trade, Winmax Brake Pads, Bar’s Bugs, EROAD, Ben Nevis Station, Wipertech, Design Windows, MITO, Repco, Machinery House, King Gee, KiwiFibre, TrialLite, Hankook, Z Energy, Blaster and Signbiz.  

Follow Hayden Paddon and his Hyundai Motorsport news and results via the Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/haydenpaddonwrc.

Kiwi rally driver Hayden Paddon took full advantage of the opportunity to contest Rally Hawke’s Bay on 22 August as part of his preparation for his last outing in the 2026 FIA World Rally Championship.  

Competing with Jared Hudson as his co-driver in the PRG-run Hyundai i20 N Rally 2, Paddon won the weather-affected, shortened Hawke’s Bay rally. According to New Zealand rally statisticians, this was his 31st consecutive rally win in New Zealand driving a Hyundai.  

“It was a good weekend in Hawke’s Bay,” says Paddon. “The car and team; everything ran faultlessly. The main purpose of the rally was about seat time before we head to Paraguay. With our limited testing time and time on gravel with the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 car, the more seat time the better at this point, despite being different cars. Hawke’s Bay went well and I felt like my driving was more refined when comparing the Southland Rally a few weeks earlier. So in that respect, mission accomplished, and now full focus on Paraguay.”  

John Kennard returns to the co-driver’s seat for WRC Rally del Paraguay which gets underway on Thursday, 27 August.  

“We’re very excited for everything about rallying in Paraguay with Hyundai, but also cautiously mindful how big the challenge is that lays ahead,” says Paddon, who has contested three WRC events – Monte Carlo, Croatia and Japan – for Hyundai this year and is the only driver to have taken Hyundai’s third i20 N to the podium, following a run to third in Croatia.  

“We are incredibly thankful for the opportunity, which was never on the cards at the start of the year when the first three tarmac rallies were planned. To be back on gravel is where we are most comfortable, and even with just 100km of testing in the Rally 1 car on gravel in Europe recently, it immediately felt good and an environment where we can thrive.  

“Of course John and I want to be competitive in Paraguay, and as our last event in our Rally1, we want to give it our absolute best. But we don’t ever forget that we’re up against the world’s best drivers in cars they get to drive week in and week out. Plus most of them contested this event last year and the route is 60 per cent the same as last year, so it’s a tall ask. We will have to take more risks for this event and step out of our comfort zone to give ourselves the best chance of being competitive.”  

Based in the city of Encarnación, near the Argentina border, WRC Rally del Paraguay promises a mix of smooth red-earth stages and trickier technical sections through dense vegetation. While the surface is mostly soft and fast, deep ruts and sudden surface changes are expected to keep drivers guessing across the weekend.  

“The conditions are unique. For our preparation, we’ve used what’s available to us such as onboard videos from last year. While it’s a fast rally, there are a lot of grip changes on a hard-packed, clay base road. If wet, it can be incredibly slippery. These roads also don’t demonstrate quite the same road cleaning effects as a normal gravel rally, so while our road position – eighth among the Priority 1 drivers – will be a small advantage, it won’t be massive.”  

Paddon concludes, “We’re looking forward to the challenge to put our best foot forward, and to enjoy it. It’s also going to be special to have more than 30 Kiwis with us there in our tour group, so we’re looking forward to a good week all round.”  

WRC Rally del Paraguay runs 27-30 August and comprises 22 special stages and 358.99 competitive kilometres. The Service Park is in Encarnación, a city on the north bank of the Paraná River, in southern Paraguay. Competitors complete reconnaissance of the stages on Tuesday and Wednesday, before media activities on Thursday and the rally gets underway with SS1 on Friday morning.  

PRG appreciates the support of their partners including Hyundai New Zealand, Caltex Havoline Oil, Mitre 10 Trade, Winmax Brake Pads, Bar’s Bugs, EROAD, Ben Nevis Station, Wipertech, Design Windows, MITO, Repco, Machinery House, King Gee, KiwiFibre, TrialLite, Hankook, Z Energy, Blaster and Signbiz.  

Follow Hayden Paddon and his Hyundai Motorsport news and results via the Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/haydenpaddonwrc.

Hyundai Works Driver Hayden Paddon and his local co-driver Jared Hudson convincingly won Rally Hawkes Bay to record Hayden's 31st consecutive rally win in New Zealand drving Hyundais, a record that now stretches back almost a decade.

They won all stages in their Paddon Rally Group prepared Hyundai i20 Rally2 car on their way to a 1 minute 47.0 second win over Jack Hawkeswood/Jason Farmer.

In the NZRC competition, Hawkeswood has slashed Jack Stokes’ lead in the Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Championship to a solitary point after winning a dramatic contest that went right down to the final Time Control.

Hawkeswood, who has now split round victories two apiece with Stokes, led from start to finish in a superb drive in his Vertu Equipment Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 car.

He laid down the challenge on the opening stage, taking almost 30 seconds off his title rival in the process.

Stokes had to settle for third place behind his Stokes Motorsport teammate and brother Robbie, who finished second.

The older Stokes brother looked back to his near best with an impressive drive.

Quentin Palmer (Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo) found himself more in the podium battle with good outright speed and showed he will be a force on the North Island roads he’s more familiar with.

Hawke’s Bay local Grant Blackberry completed the top five – dominating the Rally Challenge 4WD class in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 10. Blackberry turned heads with a brilliant second fastest time on the opening stage in his older model car.

The Toyota GR Yaris Rally Cup cars of Aussie star Toby Price and local driver Will Menzies finished sixth and seventh respectively in a performance that highlights the quality of the Force Motorsport product.

Young Jackson Clendon reminded everyone about his undeniable talent with a strong showing in his Ford Fiesta Rally4 car to win the NZRC 2WD class.

Dave Strong claimed honours in the Open 2WD class in his Honda Jazz RS to help close the championship gap to the absent Ari Pettigrew.

Phil Macquarie (Ford Escort RS1800) made up for missing the most recent round to win the Historic 2WD class ahead of Pat Norris (Toyota Corolla AE86) and Mike Cameron (Mitsubishi EX Lancer). The latter two enjoyed a terrific back and forth battle that Norris ended on top of.

Hawke’s Bay locals Ben and Charlotte Harding (Mazda RX7 Group B) enjoyed a brilliant day on home roads to win the Classics class ahead of Ross McKay (Ford Escort RS1800).

The impressive Josh Silcock (Ford Fiesta R2) turned heads again with a terrific showing in the Rally Challenge 2WD class to claim class honours and finish top 10 overall.

Josh Keighley (Subaru Impreza H6) backed up second place in the Rally Challenge 4WD class with a win in the Group A Challenge.

The championship heads north for the penultimate round of the NZRC to the two-day Vertex Lubricants International Rally of Whangarei late next month on September 25-27.

Three Rounds down, three to go, and now the fast South Island stuff is done, it’s on to the technical roads of the North Island.  

By winning his second round of the season, North Canterbury’s Jack Stokes eked out another 5 points over Auckland’s Jack Hawkeswood to head across Cook Strait with a 7-point lead.  

Jack S beat Jack H at Southland by 24.7 seconds, so my running total of the special stage overall time difference between the two of them, after 572kms – in 32 High-Speed Special Stages – is now down to just 1.5 seconds.

That is like driving from Picton to Oamaru which NZTA says is an 8 hour journey. The Jacks have covered the same distance on somewhat more challenging (gravel) roads in under 5 hours - at an Average Speed of 120kph.  

This titanic battle of these two Young Guns is now even more of a Two-Horse Race with news this week that Christchurch’s Ari Pettigrew has had to withdraw from Hawkes Bay due to budget constraints but has indicated he will be back with his flying Porsche for the final two rounds.  

Therefore, Taumarunui’s Quentin Palmer is odds on to at least consolidate his current 3rd Place. However, as he goes to Hawkes Bay 26 points behind Jack S, it would take both the Jack’s to DNF and then Quentin to win the rally, and place at worst 4th on the Power Stage, for QP to overhaul them both and head to the 2-Day Vertex Lubricants International Rally of Whangarei as the series leader.  

Robbie Stokes is realistically the only other driver capable of outperforming the Jack’s for the round win and, after the season he’s had in the South Island, he will be desperate to leave the Bay with at least a repeat of his 2021 result when he recorded his first NZRC podium by finishing 2nd to one H Paddon. That was a breakthrough NZRC result for him in the Fiesta AP4 as Robbie and sister Amy were 2nd fastest on all 6 stages (5 of which are being used this year) and beat Raana Horan (Skoda) and Ben Hunt (Subaru) by just under and over 2 minutes respectively over the 156 kms total distance.

However, the siblings’ last visit there back in 2022 (the SVG year), this time on roads south of Napier, was anything but a good one as they were neck and neck with SVG until within sight of the flying finish of stage 2 when they got stuck off the road for 15 minutes. They made it to the next stage, won three of the next 4, but then went off again on the last one – this time terminally. Ironically, it was a repeat of stage 2.  

Jack Stokes has never done Hawkes Bay, while Jack Hawkeswood’s only time competing on the stages north of Napier was in 2021 in one of Force Motorsport’s Mazda 2 AP4s, where he finished 14th after suffering brake issues in the second pass of Cricklewood.  

Quentin is the most experienced of these three at Hawkes Bay having finished 9th in 2021 and a trifecta of finishes in 2012, 2013 and 2014 when they were rounds of the Central Region Series. On all four occasions he was driving the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 5 used to promote this month’s BP Rally Taumarunui.  

While on the theme of a Blast from the Past, this year sees our two most successful NZRC drivers make welcome returns to Rally Hawkes Bay, albeit running as Allcomers this time. Between them Hayden Paddon and Richard Mason have won 12 NZRC titles and 69 NZRC rounds – HP 7 & 41, while Richard has 5 & 28. They have won Hawkes Bay 7 times – 5 to Richard (2002, 2003, 2005, 2009 and 2011) and HP twice in 2008 and 13 years later in 2021.  

In fact, this year Richard and his wife Sara – then Randall - are driving the same car they used to win that 2005 round, now with the registration number EVOETA, which was the third of four consecutive round wins for Richard that resulted in his first NZRC title, over our only ever official manufacturer works team – Subaru Rally Team New Zealand – with driver Chris West.  

Hayden’s 2008 win was the first for him and JK (John Kennard) in their (then new) Team Green Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 and ultimately led that year to the first of HP’s 7 NZRC GoldStars. This edition was unique in NZRC history as it was set to be a Two Leg Rally, but the weather closed in so badly during the Saturday that the arterial roads north of Napier were closed by the Police to anything other than the Emergency Services and all the Sunday competition was cancelled.  

Sara has 4 Co-Driver GoldStars in her trophy cabinet which places her 5th on the NZRC Co-Drivers Roll of Honour, behind a 3-way Tie for the Lead on 6 between JK (all with HP), Bob Haldane (3 with Neil Allport (1988, 89 & 90) & 3 with Joe McAndrew (93, 94 & 96)) and Rob Ryan (5 with Bruce Herbert (1999 to 2003) & 1 with Sam Murray in 2007). Tony Rawstorn moved into sole 4th with his fifth title last year, all of course with Ben Hunt (2015, 18, 19, 24 & 25).  

As far as NZRC Round wins go JK has won 32 of HP’s 41, Sara is 2nd on 25, Bob Haldane next on 24, then Rob Ryan 17 and Tony Rawstorn 15. There are five other Round winning Co-Drivers in the field this weekend – Jared Hudson (6), Jason Farmer (5), Hayden Graves (2), Ben Searcy (1) and Fleur Pedersen (1).  

With the Masons competing on their first rally together since a DNF at Waitomo in 2020 while leading, after earlier that COVID year winning the Rally of the Bay in the same Subaru, the last time they were in the same class as Hayden in a rally was their winner-takes-all showdown for the 2013 NZRC at Rally Wairarapa, which HP won by 13 seconds to secure his 3rd title.  

Based on the disparity of the equipment these Legends will each be using this weekend, the Allcomers Class F result will be no contest, however, it’s great to have them all back in action on home roads and, regardless of the eventual outcome, they are sure to put on an awesome show for the spectators.  

The roads being used are some of the classics of North Island rallying and as mentioned above, are much more technical than the cresty, wide and flat-out stages down south. The stage winning Average Speeds set by Hayden in his Hyundai i20 AP4 back in 2021 were barely over 100kph, with the 17km of Mohaka Coach under 90kph, so it will be interesting to see what the Rally2 Hyundai, Skodas and Toyota can do this time.  

Hayden’s overall win at Southland last month means his amazing winning run driving Hyundais in NZ has now reached 30 and extends back almost a decade to when he got beached in the i20 AP4+ car in the Coroglen stage at Rally Coromandel in 2017.  

As at Southland, HP and Jared Hudson will carry Door Banner 20 – synonymous with his WRC Argentina Win in 2016 - but start as the first car on the road from Wairoa at 730 on Saturday morning.  

Apart from the four front running Cat 1 contenders, the category for this round also includes the return of Nelson Law from Vanuatu in the older Force Motorsport Toyota Yaris AP4 and two of the new GR Yaris Rally Cup cars making their North Island debut. Dakar Rally Legend Toby Price returns, this time with Ben Searcy, following Toby’s first experience of this car at Otago, and fresh from a fine 5th Place Outright at last weekend’s ARC Rally Tasmania driving a Subaru WRX Challenge AWD class car. The second Yaris Rally Cup car will be in the hands of local William Menzies who will get his first taste of this latest weapon from Andrew Hawkeswood’s Force Motorsport stable.

OTHER NZRC CATEGORIES  

Once again, the 2WD Championship at Southland was dominated by Ari Pettigrew, this time by over 5 minutes, with Deane Buist and Ben Harding completing the podium for the second round in a row. Dave Strong had one of his best performances in 4th, with Tim Mackersy 5th. With Ari now missing this round, the door is wide open for Deane to take the lead, particularly with the Mackersy’s not coming north for this one either. However, Deane might not have it quite all his own way as young Masterton driver Jackson Clendon is making a return to the championship and no doubt will be pushing hard in his Ford Fiesta Rally4.  

The Rally Challenge at Southland saw a first round win for Cromwell’s Thomas Paul who has taken the lead, but with both he and Harri Silcock sitting this round out, previous leader Grant Blackberry will be odds on to take the lead back as there are only two other Cat 5 starters in attendance – the 2 x Josh’s – Silcock and Keighley.  

In the new Classic Rally Championship (Cat 6C) Deane Buist secured his third round again over Ben Harding from Paul Cross and Roger McKay. Deane is just one point off the maximum points total and has extended his lead over Ben to 23 points. Hawkes Bay will be a three-way contest with Deane, Hawkes Bay local Ben and Taupo’s Roger in action.  

Cat 2 makes a reappearance with Masterton’s Jackson Clendon back. Finishing will get him on the board and 11 points away from current leader Fuyuhiko Takahashi and 7 behind Edgar Vigo Lopez, both of whom scored their points at Otago.

As mentioned last time, Categories 2, 3, 4 and 6 competitors are able to drop their worst points scoring round from any one of the first five rounds, so it looks like some South Islanders have decided Hawkes Bay is their choice to drop..  

Unfortunately, Cat 3 wont now have the glorious sound of any Porsches resonating through the hills and with the Dunedin-based Mackersy’s also staying home, Dave Strong and Rob Scott have the perfect opportunity to take the lead in Open 2WD.  

However, it’s a full house in Cat 4 with all three Historic contenders attending. Pat Norris made the most of being the sole entry at Southland, even through he almost blew it with a Stuck Off Road in the first stage, and has a handy 15-point lead over Tauranga’s Phil Macquarie who won the first two rounds. Mike Cameron and daughter Kelly rejoin the series here, but as L1LEVO is still ‘poorly’ they will be running the EX model Lancer Mike drove as the 00 Car at Taranaki, so he will have an extra 150 horsepower to get to grips with.  

Cat 5A is just a two-horse race with local expert Grant Blackberry (Evo 10) having to contend with only Josh Keighley in his H6 Impreza who will be looking to bank some good points to get right back up into contention.       

Similarly, Cat 5B will ‘only’ have Josh Silcock starting, so he’s odds on to take away 30 points. Rory Lawn has stayed down south, but will still lead this category regardless of what Josh does this weekend. Both already have three scores each, and in the Cat 5s you drop your two lowest scores in the first five rounds. Rory currently leads Josh by 7 points, and as Josh’s lowest score is 24 at Otago, he can only add 6 points to his total, so would still be 1 point behind.  

Likewise in Cat 5c Josh Keighley has it all to himself, but even taking away 30 points will still only see him close the gap to 6 points to leader Thomas Paul. So finishing this Saturday is vital to Josh having any chance of defending his title.  

It’s the Jack, Josh and Josh show in the Juniors this weekend with Jack Stokes on the maximum of 75 points, but any sort of significant slip up on his part could open the door for either (or both) a Silcock and a Keighley.  

The Rookie Field for Hawkes Bay has four contenders in action. The non-attending Harri Silcock still leads on the maximum 75 points, with Rory Lawn still 2nd, now 12 points behind. So a round win for either Josh Silcock or Ben Harding would see them take the lead, while Roger McKay could move to one point behind Josh. Toby Price is the other entry here.  

Like Josh S and Jack S, Dave Strong has maximum points in the Gold Card Driver section, and just by finishing will maintain the top spot going to Whangarei, regardless of whether Pat Norris or Mike Cameron win the round.  

The International Driver battle is reactivated at Hawkes Bay with Vanuatu’s Nelson Law starting and up against Toby Price. Nelson can hit the front with either a first or second leapfrogging Pierre-Henri Brunet, while Toby can close up on P-H with a 25-point winning haul.  

Two Jack Stokes wins to Jack Hawkeswood’s one means Skoda holds a 3-point advantage over Toyota in the Manufacturers series. Porsche are currently tied with Toyota, but can’t advance their total, so it’s up to Jackson Clendon (Ford) and Dave Strong (Honda) to increase their Manufacturers’ scores.  

The Teams Cup for Categories 1 – 4 and 6 has Real Fords of NZ (Tim Mackersy & Deane Buist) still in front, but Deane is the only participant for them this time, while both Jack Hawkeswood and Dave Strong will be working hard for Team South Auckland Car Club to turn the current 17-point deficit into a lead before the long trek north. The North Island Cat 6s of Ben Harding and Roger McKay remain in third, 44 points behind Real Fords of NZ.  

The margin in the Cat 5 Teams Cup has increased significantly to 18 points in favour of Silcock Motorsport, where again it will be the battle of the Josh’s, as Josh Keighley is the only member of Team H6 running this weekend.               

The 2027 calendar for the Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Championship has been confirmed with a similar look to this year.

The same six events have been locked in, with the same North Island/South Island split.

The only shift sees International Rally of Whangarei move later in the year, back to being the final round of the championship.

The season will kick off with the Otago Rally on April 9-11 before a sizeable break ahead of Rally Canterbury on Sunday June 6 - Kings Birthday weekend as usual.

The Barry Robinson Memorial Rally Southland will take place on Saturday July 17 before a second successive year in the Hawke’s Bay with that event set to run on Saturday August 28.

Rally Hawke’s Bay is pending organiser's commitment to run after evaluating this year’s event.

The championship continues with round five in the Bay of Plenty on Saturday October 2 before the season concludes at the two-day Whangarei event on October 29-31.

“I’m delighted to be able to keep a familiar schedule in place next year and to confirm the calendar this early in the year,” championship coordinator Blair Bartels said.

“The sport is fortunate to have such strong events, led by great organising teams, and it was a pretty straight-forward decision to assemble this calendar.”

MotorSport New Zealand has approved the 2027 calendar.

"It's pleasing to see stability and continuity for the 2027 New Zealand Rally Championship," said MotorSport New Zealand President, Deborah Day.

"Securing the same events as this current season give organisers certainty to plan ahead and build on the success of their 2026 events and aim for growth in 2027."  

2027 Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Championship

Friday 9-11 April Rally Otago

Sunday 6 June Rally Canterbury

Saturday 17 July Rally Southland

Saturday 28 August Rally Hawkes Bay (TBC)

Saturday 2 October Rally Bay of Plenty

Friday 29-31 October Rally Whangarei

Quentin Palmer and co-driver Noel Moloney (Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo) have continued their consistent winning form across the 2026 Hawkeswood Mining North Island Rally Series (NIRS) season, taking victory in the BP Rally Taumarunui on Saturday 8 August.  

The pairing won all eight Special Stages held on gravel roads around the King Country region to build a comfortable margin of over 4 minutes.  

Second overall (but non-NIRS registered) was a welcome back to Zeal Jones and novice co-driver Finn Fenning (Subaru Impreza WRX) with Zeal returning to NZ rallying after an eight month sojourn in Japan and Finland driving for the Toyota Gazoo Rally Team.  

Third overall and second NIRS competitors home were Vanuatu’s Julien Lenglet/Fleur Pedersen (Subaru Impreza WRX) who were also awarded the Winmax Drive of the Day trophy ahead of Carlin Leong/Nathan Roa (Subaru Impreza WRX) in fourth overall (and third NIRS) after a thrilling three-way shootout over the final two stages including Jackson Clendon/Katrina Renshaw (Ford Fiesta Rally4) only two seconds behind in fifth placing overall.  

“It went like clockwork,” commented Palmer.  “It’s been a good day and a privilege to win on the return of this event to the NIRS calendar.  

“The first couple of stages were a challenge with slippery conditions but after that the grip improved over the day.”  

Based in Taumarunui and promoted by South Taranaki, Taihape District and Dannevirke Car Clubs, the one-day National event consisted of eight Special Stages run over 135km’s of classic King Country public gravel roads last used in 1999 as a NZ Rally Championship round. A smaller four stage 64km Clubmans rally was also run over the afternoon loops of stages.    

The fourth round of the NIRS proved to shake up a number of the different Class title fights, particularly with those trying to topple the previous leaders.  

Darryl McManus (Toyota Vitz) has extended his lead in Class A (2WD:0-1300cc) to 35-points with rival Blair Richardson having not entered due to cambelt and engine issues.  

Andrew Lowe/Ian Barr (Toyota AE101) has also extended their lead in Class B (2WD 1301-1600cc) with rivals Sam Broadbent/Matthew Broadbent (Toyota Corolla FXGT) retiring out of the event in SS2 getting stuck in mud at the side of the road.  

It’s still a close contest in Class C (1601-2000cc 2WD) despite previous leaders Khalid and Sara Mason (Ford Fiesta ST150) suffering their second mechanical retirement this season with driveline issues. Stephen Dill/Adrian Sutton (Nissan Pulsar Gti) were the only class finishers and have now jumped 10-points ahead. Adam & Jilly Fisher (Toyota Altezza RS200) retired with a damaged front shock absorber with Dale James/Kim Raggett (Ford Fiesta ST) also retiring with hydraulic troubles.  

Tony Differ/Jayson Stringer (Mitsubishi Lancer EX Turbo) have increased their lead from seven to 15-points in the hotly contested Class D (2WD 2000cc and over) and now lie second equal overall in the NIRS with Leong/Roa on 84 points.   Unfortunately, second placed in Class D, Phillip Broadbent/Paul Ayres (Toyota Starlet), retired in the seventh stage stuck off the road, allowing third place Dave Strong/Brianna Little (Honda Jazz RS) to move into second overall.  

In Class E (Classic 2WD), Chris Alexander/Jackson Foster (Ford Cortina) have seen their lead shrink to just two-points after retiring in SS7 with electrical problems.  This was to the advantage of Andrew Keighley/Jonathan Kane (Ford Escort Mk2) who have closed the gap with first in class on Saturday.  Brent Taylor/Dave Neill (Ford Escort Mk2), sit second equal with Keighley.  

Mason Grimmer/Leighton Spurdle (Mazda Familia 4WD) return lasted until SS4 before their throttle cable broke giving Quentin Palmer and Noel Moloney (Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo) the opportunity to extend their lead in Class F (4WD: 1601-1999cc) to 45-points.  

In the very competitive Class G (4WD 2001 and over) leader Carlin Leong/Nathan Roa (Subaru Impreza WRX) have just a five-point gap back to Gavin & Hamish Feast (Subaru Impreza) who finished sixth overall. With Julien Lenglet/Fleur Pedersen (Subaru Impreza WRX) finishing second overall (NIRS) this also saw them first home in class ahead of Leong and Feast.  

Chris Burke/Stephen Taylor (Toyota Celica GT) now have a 15-point buffer in Class I (4WD: Pre 1996) back to Shaun Wade/Haylee Wade (Mitsubishi Mirage 4WD) who also retired out of the touring to the seventh stage with an oil line issue.  

The blind category (no safety notes) of the National Rally section was won by Mike Goldsbury/Mathew Harris (Toyota Corolla DX) from Mitch Pilcher/Alex Parkin (Subaru Impreza WRX) and Mark Bradly/Matt Arthur (Datsun 1200sss) third.

The Clubman’s Rally was won by Cam McKay/Jonny Kay (Toyota Starlet).  

“The simple and efficient four stages-repeated style format combined with a central service park in the Taumarunui township was well received by the 46 strong competitors and the hundreds of spectators” commented NIRS coordinator Marty Roestenburg.  

“The rally organising committee did a fabulous job and the marketing and promotion team really lifted the bar for regional rallies in Te ika a Maui. We are grateful for the support from Ruapehu District Council, Ngati Haua Iwi, local business, community groups, residents and the Taumarunui Cosmopolitan Club which was incredible. After a 26-year hiatus, we hope rallying will return to the mighty King Country again in the not too distant future.”  

The fifth and penultimate Round of the NIRS moves to Whakatane as part of the Battery Town Rally Bay of Plenty (NZRC) on Saturday 31 October 2026.  

The 2026 North Island Rally Series acknowledges and thanks these partners for their support: Hawkeswood Mining, Semog, Pure Quality Construction, Paddon Racing Group, iSignit, Ngatea Panelbeaters and Online Contractors.

Kiwi rally stars Hayden Paddon and John Kennard have been offered the exciting opportunity to contest WRC Rally Paraguay with Hyundai Motorsport.  

When WRC ueno Rally del Paraguay gets underway on 27 August, it will be 2839 days since Paddon’s last appearance on gravel in the top WRC class. That event was 2018 Rally Australia where he finished second for Hyundai with co-driver Seb Marshall.  

Making this event even more special is the opportunity to return to top level rallying in the continent where Paddon and Kennard made history, with their victory in the 2016 WRC Argentina Rally, as the only New Zealanders to ever win a round of the FIA World Rally Championship.  

Paddon is understandably excited to finally get a chance in the Hyundai i20 Rally1 car on gravel, just a week after he contests Rally Hawke’s Bay at home with Jared Hudson as his co-driver.  

“It was never in the initial plan this year; the original contract was for the three tarmac rallies,” he explains. “Obviously we’ve been pushing to have that opportunity on gravel. It’s where we feel comfortable and where I think things are going to happen and click a little bit easier.  

“It’s a privilege to have this opportunity and to return to South America where there’s some pretty fond memories of ten years ago. Obviously it’s a different country, different stages, but similar kind of vibe. We’re going into the rally in the supporting role, as before, but with nothing to lose and under no illusion how tough a rally it will be because there’s no substitute for seat time at this level. Ten years ago we were driving these cars most weeks, now it’s four times a year with some short test days.”  

Before the 27-30 August event, the Kiwis get one day testing in the Hyundai i20 Rally 1 on gravel.  

A large group of Kiwi rally fans will be travelling to Paraguay to support Paddon and Kennard.  

Based in the city of Encarnación, near the Argentina border, the event promises a mix of smooth red-earth stages and trickier technical sections through dense vegetation. While the surface is mostly soft and fast, deep ruts and sudden surface changes are expected to keep drivers guessing across the weekend.  

PRG appreciates the support of their partners including Hyundai New Zealand, Caltex Havoline Oil, Mitre 10 Trade, Winmax Brake Pads, Bar’s Bugs, EROAD, Ben Nevis Station, Wipertech, Design Windows, MITO, Repco, Machinery House, King Gee, KiwiFibre, TrialLite, Hankook, Z Energy, Blaster and Signbiz.

The 2026 Hawkeswood Mining North Island Rally Series (NIRS) returns to Ruapehu after 26 years as the BP Rally Taumarunui takes place next Saturday 8 August 2026.  

The one-day event will see the return of overall points leader Quentin Palmer/Noel Moloney (Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo) as competitors, volunteers, sponsors and spectators will come together to celebrate the return of rallying to the roads and communities that make this region so special.  

“It’s a local event for us so I know most of the roads,” commented Palmer.  “I’m hoping to win being a local, but first we have got to finish.”   This has been a key to the success they have been enjoying also competing in the national rally championship.   “We’re learnt heaps this season,” said Palmer.  “It’s a first for us competing in the South Island and adjusting to their fast roads, certainly a great learning curve.”  

Based in Taumarunui, the one-day event consists of 140km of classic King Country public gravel roads last used in 1999 as a NZ Rally Championship round.  Promoted by South Taranaki, Taihape District and Dannevirke Car Clubs, the event will have a National permit for its eight Special Stages while the four afternoon stages will also run with a Clubman's permit.  

Palmer and co-driver Noel Moloney (Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo) have been the pair to beat this season having won the first two rounds.  

Even with missing the Taranaki Tarmac Rally third round of the NIRS due to NZ Rally Championship commitments, they have an 18-point gap back to Tony Differ/Jayson Stringer (Mitsubishi Lancer EX Turbo) with Carlin Leong/Nathan Roa (Subaru Impreza WRX) eight-points behind and just five ahead of Gavin & Hamish Feast (Subaru Impreza).  

All current Class leaders will be part of the 46-car field.    

Darryl McManus (Toyota Vitz) is likely to extend his lead in Class A (0-1300cc 2WD) with rival Blair Richardson having not entered due to engine issues.  

Andrew Lowe/Ian Barr (Toyota AE101) took over the lead in Class B (2WD 1301-1600cc) at the last round after previous Class leaders Sam Broadbent/Matthew Broadbent (Toyota Corolla FXGT) decided not to enter.  For this event the Broadbents will be back on the start line.  

It’s still a close contest in Class C (1601-2000cc 2WD).  Khalid Mason/Sara Mason (Ford Fiesta ST150) were set to extend their lead at the last round, but a late retirement means they are just ten-points ahead of Stephen Dill/Adrian Sutton (Nissan Pulsar Gti) with Dale James/Kim Raggett (Ford Fiesta ST) also in striking distance 16-points behind the leaders.  

Tony Differ/Jayson Stringer (Mitsubishi Lancer EX Turbo) have just a seven-point lead in the hotly contested Class D (2000cc and over 2WD).  Second placed Phillip Broadbent (Toyota Starlet) will have Paul Ayres back in the co-driver’s seat for the round with third place Dave Strong/Brianna Little (Honda Jazz RS) just three-points adrift.  

In Class E (Classic 2WD), Chris Alexander/Jackson Foster (Ford Cortina) have a commanding 17-point advantage over Andrew Keighley/Jonathan Kane (Ford Escort Mk2) who has Brent Taylor/Dave Neill (Ford Escort Mk2) just five-points behind in third.    

Mason Grimmer/Leighton Spurdle (Mazda Familia 4WD) are back and will give Quentin Palmer and Noel Moloney (Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo) a run for their money in both Class F (4WD: 1601-1999cc) standings and the overall result.  

“Mason will be the one for us to watch in his pocket-rocket,” commented Palmer.  

Just two-points separate Class G (2001 and over 4WD) leader Carlin Leong/Nathan Roa (Subaru Impreza WRX) and Gavin & Hamish Feast (Subaru Impreza).  Throw in the mix Mitch Pilcher/Alex Parkin (Subaru Impreza) who was the first NIRS competitor home in the recently held SBT Group Taranaki Tarmac Rally.  

Despite finishing behind Shaun Wade/Haylee Wade (Mitsubishi Mirage 4WD) in the Taranaki Tarmac Rally, Chris Burke/Stephen Taylor (Toyota Celica GT) have a five-point buffer in Class I (Pre 1996 4WD).  

The first car starts from the Taumarunui Cosmopolitan Club carpark, Katarina St, Service Park at 08:15, and is expected to finish at (approx.) 16:15 at the final control located back at the Start.  

The 2026 North Island Rally Series acknowledges and thanks these partners for their support: Hawkeswood Mining, Semog, Pure Quality Construction, Paddon Racing Group, iSignit, Ngatea Panelbeaters and Online Contractors.

Jack Stokes has won the Barry Robinson Memorial Rally Southland to extend his lead in the Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Championship to seven points at the midway point of the year.

Stokes (Stokes Motorsport Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo) got better throughout the day and pulled clear of title rival Jack Hawkeswood in the afternoon stages to claim his second career win by 24.7 seconds.

Hawkeswood led early in his Vertu Equipment Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 before a couple of scary moments when the rain came down around lunchtime. He took a more conservative approach in the afternoon but lost time to Stokes.

Robbie Stokes (Stokes Motorsport Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo) struggled for confidence early in the day after a couple of off road excursions at the last event, before getting into his work and securing a podium finish.

Quentin Palmer (Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo) was fourth to again take a solid haul of points and maintain third in the standings at the three South Island events that make up the six round series.

Ari Pettigrew (Porsche 911 WRC) was once again first 2WD car and fifth overall in another impressive showing.

He led home Dave Strong (Honda Jazz RS) and Tim Mackersy (Ford Fiesta Rally4) in the Open 2WD class.

Deane Buist (Ford Escort RS1800) took a third straight win in the Classics class ahead of Ben Harding (Mazda RX7 Group B) and Southland local Paul Cross (Toyota Corolla AE86).

Pat Norris safely brought home his Toyota Corolla to win the Historic class, surviving an getting stuck off the road in the first stage.

Thomas Paul (Subaru Impreza H6) held off Harri Silcock (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo6) in a thrilling battle that decided Rally Challenge 4WD by just 2.1 seconds.

James McIver (Subaru Impreza H6) completed the podium.

Rory Lawn (Toyota Starlet) pipped Josh Silcock (Ford Fiesta R2) on the final stage of the rally for the second consecutive event to win Rally Challenge 2WD by 2.3 seconds.

Paul, McIver and Kevin Laird completed the Group A Challenge podium.

The series moves to the North Island next month with a return of the Hawke’s Bay Rally on Saturday August 22.

Hayden Paddon/Jared Hudson won the overall rally in the recently re-built PRG Hyundai i20N Rally2 with a clean sweep of all seven high-speed stages, in what was Paddon's first rally this year both in New Zealand and on gravel.