A change is likely at the top of the 2024 Mainland Rally Championship (MRC) leaderboard with the fourth round taking place in Southland this Saturday (10 August 2024). The MLT Barry Robinson Memorial Wyndham Rally will see 20 MRC competitors in a field of 54 cars tackle five Special Stages centred around the township of Wyndham.
While current series leader Robbie Stokes is entered, he will not start as the top seed. Rather, it will be his nearest entered rival, Caleb MacDonald/Kerran Graeve (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6), that will be first car flagged away at 9:15am outside the MLT Three Rivers Hotel in Redan Street, Wyndham.
Stokes starts seventh on the road along with co-driver Janey Blair, this time driving a Subaru H6 and not his usual Ford Fiesta AP4. While Stokes’ focus may ultimately be on the NZ Rally Championship, time in the drivers’ seat will always pay dividends and this Saturday could pay twice, also giving him valuable points for the MRC.
MacDonald is currently third overall, sitting behind Marcus van Klink who hasn’t entered this round. MacDonald has been quick all season finishing fourth MRC competitor in Otago and second to Stokes at South Canterbury. Unfortunately, he had to retire out of the last round, the Lonestar Canterbury Rally, with suspension damage, as did Stokes.
With the ability for MRC competitors to drop their worst round of the season, meaning the best five count, a number of competitors have elected to miss the journey south while several have elected to use the event as a pre–Silver Fern Rally shake down. The seven-day event also host the final two rounds of the MRC, the Rally of North Canterbury (23 November 2024) and the Westland Rally (24 November 2024).
Also likely to move up the leaderboard are Ally Mackay (Ford Escort Mk1) and Deane Buist (Toyota Trueno), either breaking into the top three.
The MLT Barry Robinson Memorial Wyndham Rally will see five Special Stages run over 128km of gravel roads with 126km of touring between them. The longest stage will be the fourth (Quarry Hills) comprising 44.08 km, nearly a third of the rally. The rally then ends back at the MLT Three Rivers Hotel in Wyndham with the first car due at 3.32pm
The 2024 Mainland Rally Championship has the support of RDL Performance, Brita Safety Ltd, Palmside NZ Ltd, Christchurch Building and Decorating Ltd, Thomson Rust and Repair Services Ltd, Rally Drive NZ.
Overall Points after 3/6 Rounds (Top 10)
1/ Robbie Stokes 62
2/ Marcus Van Klink 53
3/ Caleb MacDonald 48
4/ Jack Stokes 43
5/ Ally Mackay 41
6= Deane Buist 40
6= Dylan Thomson 40
8/ Amy Keighley 35
9/ James Macdonald 32
10/ Andrew Graves 28
Entry List (including non-MRC competitors)
(No, Driver 1/Driver 2, Car, Class, MRC competitor)
1/ Caleb MacDonald/Kerran Graeve, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6, D – MRC
2/ Carter Strang/Catriona Flynn, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 10, D
3/ Mark McMillan/Murray Wright, Subaru Impreza WRX Sti, D
4/ Derek Ayson/Gavin McDermott, Ford Fiesta Proto D
5/ James Worker/Harry Worker, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo D – MRC
6/ David Clearwater/Allister Gibson, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 4 D
7/ Robbie Stokes/Janey Blair, Subaru Impreza H6, H – MRC
8/ Deane Buist/Karl Celeste, Toyota Trueno C – MRC
9/ Phil Terry/Graham McRae, Subaru Impreza WRX D
10/ Jeremy McIlwrick/Dwayne McIlwrick, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 4 D
11/ Graham Ferguson/Ross Moody, Ford Escort Mk2 G
12/ Stephen Gill/Grant Molloy, Ford Escort FJ20 G – MRC
13/ Richie Chadwick/Rachel Chadwick, Toyota Corolla F
14/ Ian Warren/Alison Glover, Nissan Pulsar VZR B
15/ Gareth O’Hara/Skyla Tohill, Toyota Corolla C – MRC
16/ Ally Mackay/Mikko Johnston, Ford Escort Mk1 G – MRC
17/ Shane McKenzie/Sean Sands, Mitsubishi Galant E – MRC
18/ Andrew Sim/Brayden Sim, Ford Escort Mk2 C – MRC
19/ David Owen/Mitzi Machida, Ford Escort Mk2 G – MRC
20/ Taylor Judd/Kyle Thomson, Toyota Corolla C
21/ Dave Ollis/Gemma Thomas, Subaru Impreza WRX D – MRC
22/ Jake Thomas/Matt Webber, Toyota Corolla AE86 F
23/ Jeff Judd/Alex Parkin, Toyota Corolla AE86 B
24/ Nigel King/Yolande Clearwater, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 3 E
25/ Paul Preston/Dayle Kirby, Mitsubishi Lancer RS E
26/ Damian Vincent/Briana Vincent, Mitsubishi Lancer GSR E
27/ Tim Mackersy/Lauren Mackersy, Ford Fiesta C – MRC
28/ Roger McKay/Dean McCrostie, Ford Escort Mk2 FJ G
29/ Gregg Cooper/Olivia Cooper, Ford Escort Mk2 G
30/ Richard Galley/Claire Buccini, BMW E30 C
31/ Tom Milliken/Chris Cunningham, Subaru Impreza H6 H – MRC
32/ Craig Cormack/Mike Wilson, Toyota Levin AE86 F – MRC
33/ Harri Silcock/Mark Greenwood, Toyota Starlet B – MRC
34/ Murray Garrick/Tim Ecroyd, Ford Escort Mk2 G
35/ Josh Keighley/Ben Trevelyan, Subaru Impreza H6 H
36/ Brian Green/Brianna Little, Ford Escort Mk2 G – MRC
37/ Scott O’Donnell/Craig Gerkin, Mazda RX3 G
38/ Neville Mennell/Matthew Scheele, Ford Falcon C
39/ Mike Matheson/Gordon Legge, Toyota Vitz A – MRC
40/ Tony Aimers/Jeremy Aimers, Fiat 131 G
41/ Carl Rabbidge/Andrew Rabbidge, Subaru Impreza H6, H
42/ Dave Jenkins/Blair Jenkins, Subaru Legacy RS E
43/ Bradley Ruddenklau/Andy Ruddenklau, Toyota Corolla AE92 B
44/ Greg Milne/Tim McDonald, Toyota Corolla B
45/ Adrian Jones/Andy Whyte, Toyota Corolla FXGT B
46/ Richard Ford/Liam Carey, Toyota Starlet A
47/ George Simons/Jamie Donaghy, Toyota Corolla FXGT B
48/ Pat Norris/Alex Gidney, Toyota Yaris A – MRC
49/ Adrian Leitch/Matt Dellit, Toyota Starlet A
50/ Steve King/Jeremy Skeggs, Ford Escort Mk2 SR20 C
51/ Richard Clark/Cameron Hudson, Subaru Legacy RS E
52/ Nigel Ede/Mark Grimmer, Subaru Legacy RS E – MRC
53/ Adam Smith/Anthony Ralston, Mitsubishi Starion G
54/ Kevin Brockie/Darryl McManus, Toyota Vitz A – MRC
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