McMillan wins Wyndham Rally while Stokes continues to hold lead in Mainland Rally Championship

| Photographer Credit: Geoff Ridder

Invercargill driver Mark McMillan, with Murray Wright sitting in the co-driver’s seat, took his maiden rally victory after a closely fought competition in the MLT Barry Robinson Memorial Wyndham Rally on Saturday.  The event also doubled as the fourth round of the 2024 Mainland Rally Championship (MRC) which saw McMillan (Subaru Impreza WRX Sti) home in first followed by James Worker/Harry Worker (Mitsubishi Evo), Deane Buist/Tim McIvor (Toyota Tueno), Gareth O’Hara/Skyla Tohill (Toyota Corolla) and current MRC leader Robbie Stokes/Janey Blair (Subaru H6) in fifth.

Deane Deane Buist/Tim McIvor (Toyota Tueno) finished third

Stokes has been able to hold his overall MRC lead with rival and top seed Caleb Macdonald’s (Mitsubishi EVO 6) challenge coming to a halt after as he lost a lot of time when a tyre came off the bead in the stage, eventually finishing in 15th position.

Buist now moves into second overall ahead of MacDonald with Marcus van Klink, who didn’t enter the event, fourth ahead of McMillan.

The battles within the seven different MRC Classes continued. In Class A (0-1300cc), Pat Norris (Toyota Yaris) and rival Mike Matheson (Toyota Vitz) are still head to head after four rounds. While Norris took Class honours, Matheson holds an eleven point lead with two rounds remaining.

#5 James Worker

Harri Silcock (Toyota Starlet) had an opportunity to edge ahead of Jack Stokes, who didn’t enter the event, in Class B ( 1301-1600cc). However his retirement in Special Stage 3 with a mechanical put an end to that. First home was Craig Cormack (Toyota Levin AE86).

Robbie Stokes successfully drove a Subaru H6 to fifth overall

Deane Buist’s second overall and first in Class C (1601cc and over) gives him a commanding lead over van Klink by 14-points.  In Class D (4WD), Caleb MacDonald has nudged ahead of Stokes by five-points, with the latter competing in Class H for this event.

Nigel Edie (Subaru Legacy RS) and Shane McKenzie (Mitsubishi Galant) continued their rivalry in Class E (Pre 2000 4WD). While McKenziewas was first in Class, Ede holds a nine-point lead.

Stephen Gill (Ford Escort FJ20) took honours in Class F (Classic 2WD)

Stephen Gill (Ford Escort FJ20) took honours in Class F (Classic 2WD) and has moved two-points ahead of Ally Mackay (Ford Escort Mk1).  Tom Millikan’s (Subaru H6) second to Robbie Stokes in Class H has drawn him three-points shy of Amy Keighley who sat out the rally.

The MRC takes a break until late November when both the penultimate and final rounds will be run in conjunction with the first two days of the 2024 Silver Fern Rally which has attracted a big field of overseas entries.  As MRC drivers are able to drop their worst round result, overall and Class titles will be decided from the best five of the six round series.

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 4/6 Rounds (Top 5)

1/ Robbie Stokes 80

2/ Deane Buist 63

3/ Caleb MacDonald 56

4/ Marcus Van Klink 53

5/ Mark McMillan 49

Benjamin Carrell is a freelance motorsport writer and currently edits talkmotorsport.co.nz. He writes for a number of Kiwi drivers and motorsport clubs. That's when he's not working in his horticultural day-job or training for the next road or mtb cycle race!

https://talkmotorsport.co.nz

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