Latest news with #RallySouthCanterbury
Otago Daily Times
23-05-2025
- Automotive
- Otago Daily Times
Paddon after max points in WA
Hayden Paddon. PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES New Zealand rally stars Hayden Paddon and John Kennard head into new challenges in the second Australian Rally Championship, round which starts in Western Australia today. The Forest Rally runs around the towns of Busselton and Nannup, south of Perth near Margaret River. The two-day rally features a stacked entry list of 39 crews, including international stars such as 2020 FIA junior world rally champion Tom Kristensson and co-driver Andreas Johansson, of Sweden, and regular local top runners such as the Bates brothers. With the roads described as "unique, ball-bearing gravel", Paddon and Kennard are expecting plenty of fast, sideways-sliding action on the stages in their refreshed Hyundai i20 Rally 2 car. The New Zealand pair again have the support of their Cromwell-based PRG crew in Australia. Paddon is fresh from an outright win in Rally South Canterbury, in which Jared Hudson co-drove in the team's Hyundai i20 AP4. While the pair's first Australian outing this year did not go to plan in March — thanks to some local wildlife — they are looking for maximum points this coming weekend, and have been working through their pre-event preparation with their usual thoroughness. "This is our first time competing in Western Australia," Paddon who will be starting No4 four on the road, said. "We've heard a lot about the loose marbles here that make it slippery, but from what we have seen from our homework, the stages look generally smooth and flowing. "We've been working on a couple of small upgrades on the car, so we are looking forward to trying to get our championship bid back on track. ''That means we really need to target maximum points here, but we are also expecting a lot of fast teams here like the first ARC round in Canberra. ''Our goal is to focus on doing the best job we can from when recce starts on Thursday until the end of the rally on Sunday night." The Forest Rally gets under way today with a rally show in the evening (WA time) near the Busselton foreshore. Tomorrow's six special stages take competitors into the Nannup forest and comprise two repeated loops of three stages with a total competitive distance of 103.28 km. Sunday's six stages are also three tests repeated morning and afternoon, over a total 81.02km, before the rally finish and podium celebrations in Nannup later in the day. — APL
Otago Daily Times
13-05-2025
- Automotive
- Otago Daily Times
Hunt continues winning ways
Ben Hunt wins Rally South Canterbury on Saturday. PHOTO: GEOFF RIDDER Ben Hunt has extended his lead in the New Zealand Rally Championship after claiming victory at 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.
Otago Daily Times
11-05-2025
- Automotive
- Otago Daily Times
Hunt increases national championship lead
Ben Hunt on his way to winning Rally South Canterbury on Saturday. PHOTO: GEOFF RIDDER Nelson driver Hunt extended his lead in the New Zealand Rally Championship after claiming victory at 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 1min 56sec. The Skoda Fabia Rally 2 driver led home Josh Marston (Holden Barina AP4) and Robbie Stokes (Skoda Rally 2). The battle between Marston and Jack Hawkeswood (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 was fourth in his older model Subaru Impreza. Hawkeswood, Dunedin driver Emma Gilmour (Citroen C3), Jack Stokes (Ford Fiesta AP4) and Haydn Mackenzie (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 Dunedin driver Tim Mackersy (Ford Fiesta Rally 4) by 40sec. 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 Rally Canterbury over King's Birthday Weekend. — APL
Otago Daily Times
09-05-2025
- Automotive
- Otago Daily Times
Gilmour itching to get back in the seat
Emma Gilmour It has not been too long between rallies, but Emma Gilmour is eager to get back behind the wheel this weekend. The Dunedin driver will take her Citroen C3 rally car to Rally South Canterbury tomorrow. The one-day Timaru-based event is the New Zealand Rally Championship's second round and not too far from home for Gilmour, who is fresh from a successful testing day last weekend with the Paddon Rallysport team. "The Otago Rally was only a month ago, but seat time is something all of us drivers crave," Gilmour said. "It was great to be back in the C3 on Sunday for our short test near Alexandra. "I'm keen to keep up the momentum from the season-opener and build on that with [Australian co-driver] Ben [Searcy] to push our fifth place finish at Otago up on to the podium in Timaru. "I felt like I really got to grips with the C3 again at my home event in April and I'm keen to see what Ben and I can do on the South Canterbury roads." The rally will be run over eight special stages, totalling about 148km of competitive action and 224km of touring. Rally fans can catch the teams at the ceremonial start from 5.30pm in the Mitre 10 Timaru carpark. The first car starts from Timaru's Levels Raceway at 7.30am tomorrow, with the service parks based in Cave and Temuka. The rally's completion back at Levels about 3.30pm will be an ideal place to see Gilmour and the other drivers in action. The race circuit will double as the final stage of the event and the cars will complete four laps of the full track on rally tyres. Following Rally South Canterbury, the competition moves further up the South Island to the Canterbury Rally in Christchurch on June 1. After a mid-season break, teams will head to the North Island for another returning event, Rally Coromandel, to be held on August 23 from Whitianga. The series then moves to the Tauranga-based Rally Bay of Plenty on October 11, before the second two-day round of the season, the International Rally of Whangarei, to finish the championship on November 7-9. — APL
