Kiwi motorsport enthusiasts the Grey Roots Group have again announced their annual rankings of New Zealand’s fastest rally drivers.
The lists, now in their 18th year of publication, are eagerly awaited by the rally fraternity as they are determined by their peers – and are often a source of good-natured one-upmanship amongst crews.
Roots spokesman Kayne Barrie describes how the lists are created.
“We exhaustively analyse stage times throughout the season, which sets up a rough framework based solely on outright pace. We then thrash it out over a very sociable evening to create the finished article. It’s often hard comparing drivers at opposite ends of the country, but we give it an honest crack.”
Barrie is keen to point out two highlights from the 2023 season.
“Shane Van Gisbergen’s return to the national championship has generated a flood of extra attention for the NZRC. He’s a major drawcard to the wider general public so really lifts the visibility of our sport. And to see him trading times with Hayden Paddon (the current European champion), in comparable machinery, has been fascinating.”
“The other significant development has been the creation of the inaugural North Island Rally Series. Marty Roestenburg has been instrumental in not only getting it off the ground but ensuring its success. It means there is once again a pathway for our club competitors AND organisers to lift their games with a view to moving to higher honours.”
The 2023 rankings are as follows (with the 2022 rankings in brackets):
Top 10 tarmac drivers
1/ Rory Callaway (3)
2/ Jason Gill (4)
3/ Marcus van Klink (7)
4/ David Rogers (8)
5/ Mike Tubbs (6)
6/ Andrew Oakley (9)
7/ Tony Quinn
8/ Martin Dippie (5)
9/ Tim McIver
10= Robert Darrington (10) and Craig Haysman
with Bruce Herbert and Troy Twomey just missing out.
Top 10 2wd gravel drivers
1/ Dylan Thomson (6=)
2/ Marcus van Klink (2)
3/ Mikko Hirvonen
4/ Jonty Brenssell (5)
5/ Deane Buist (3)
6/ Jackson Clendon (1)
7/ Glenn Alcorn
8/ Jordan Grant (1)
9/ Jeff Judd (11)
10/ Bruce Herbert
with the RX7s of John Silcock (9) and Stewart Reid on the cusp.
Top 25 outright gravel drivers
1/ Hayden Paddon (1)
2/ Shane Van Gisbergen (2)
3/ Ben Hunt (3)
4/ Ari Pettigrew (6)
5/ Raana Horan (5)
6/ Emma Gilmour (8)
7/ Josh Marston (10=)
8/ Todd Bawden (9)
9/ Jack Hawkeswood (10)
10/ Robbie Stokes (4)
11/ Phil Campbell (13)
12/ Mike Young
13/ Haydn MacKenzie (16)
14= Mike Tall and Dylan Turner (10=)
16/ Clint Cunningham (24)
17/ Quentin Palmer
18/ Jeff Ward (19=) and David Sievers (21)
20/ Andrew Graves
21/ Zeal Jones
22/ Dylan Thomson
23/ Mason Grimmer (22=)
24/ Andy Martin (19=)
25/ Marcus Van Klink
The Roots Group also announced the recipients of two ongoing titles – Crash of the Year was awarded to Jordan Grant & Glenn Goldring after their Swift plummeted down a Daybreaker hillside. And veteran navigator John Kennard has retained his iron grip on the Ballast Trophy (for the 10th time) as the sport’s Most Valuable Passenger.
Barrie continues, “2024 is shaping to be an intriguing season with the introduction of the MRF control tyres and the return of some much-loved events from the past. Crews will have to get to grips early with unfamiliar roads and rubber but the best drivers inevitably come to the fore.”
“It’d be great to see some new names on the 2024 lists – but as one former national champion likes to say: If you don’t like your seeding – drive faster!”
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