The two leading drivers from last month’s Rally Hawke’s Bay have united in their praise for rally organisers after a trying event for all involved.
Hawke’s Bay Car Club was delighted to bring the Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Championship back to the region for the first time since 2022, after the horrific flooding damage left by Cyclone Gabriel prevented a return in the seasons since.
But that excitement quickly turned to panic with weather once again creating problems in rally week.
Organisers were informed that the iconic Cricklewood stage was unable to be used on the day most competitors arrived in the Hawke’s Bay forcing some last-minute changes to the itinerary.
That led to some new territory for the technology that provides all the timing for the event and resulted in another stage being removed on the day of the event.
With an abbreviated event now the result, drivers and teams could have been forgiven for displaying some frustration but both rally winner Jack Hawkeswood and runner-up Robbie Stokes had nothing but praise for the car club.
“It is a bit of a bugger we got to miss out on some more cool roads but that sometimes that is the way that it goes,” Hawkeswood said.
“I think the organisers have done their very best to string together a rally for us.”
Stokes agreed with that summation.
“It was a tough day – a lot of stop-start, almost like a rallysprint but just different roads,” the Cantabrian explained.
“The Hawke’s Bay Car Club did their best and that is all you can ask for.”
Everyone involved in the sport is hoping the weather Gods smile upon the event next year – the organisers definitely deserve a little luck.
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