An impressive number of AP4 and R5 cars will face the starter at this weekend’s Rally South Canterbury, headed by the almost unbeatable Hayden Paddon.
Fourteen of the first 15 cars in the field are from either of those top classes as the New Zealand Rally Championship continues its post-COVID renaissance.
Paddon, the former WRC star, has been in a class of his own again this year at the wheel of his Hyundai i20, but the pack is closing in a little, and there’s hope for the future.
At the first split point on stage one at this event last year, Robbie Stokes was in the lead, and while his car faltered and didn’t finish the stage, it’s given the youngster confidence for this weekend.
“We know the speed is there, but we’ve just had too many mechanical problems,” Stokes said of his Ford Fiesta AP4.
The car has been built in the family workshop and to be even in the same conversation as Paddon’s Hyundai i20 or Ben Hunt’s Skoda Fabia R5 is a credit to the Stokes team.
Still, when you’re not winning and the car’s not reliable, it leaves the driver behind the wheel frustrated. The early speed in 2021 has him looking forward to the weekend, however.
“I just love the South Canterbury roads as they reward good pace notes. You can attack those crusty roads with plenty of confidence.
“If we can manage to win a stage this weekend it will be a great result.”
Other than Paddon, the list of challengers for Stokes is long and illustrious, starting with Ben Hunt and followed by Raana Horan (Skoda), Josh Marston (Holden), Ari Pettigrew (Holden), Matt Summerfield (Mitsubishi), Todd Bawden (Ford), Phil Campbell (Ford) and Jack Hawkeswood.
Marston, in particular, is in top form after winning the recent Canterbury Rally in his Holden Barina AP4.
Paddon currently holds a 22-point lead in the New Zealand Rally Championship ahead of Hunt, with Horan a further 19-points back. Stokes is languishing in sixth place after an indifferent start to the season.
His car has a rebuilt engine for this weekend, with the team keeping their fingers crossed that they’ve overcome the mysterious cutting out problem that affected them in their local Canterbury Rally recently.
“We know we’re faster than Ben (Hunt) and the Skoda when everything is going well,” Stokes added, “but he’s been finishing rallies and we haven’t.
“It’s very pleasing that we have a homemade rally car that we’ve built in our shed and it can compete with a factory Skoda, but we just need to put it all together now.”
In the hotly-contested 2WD championship, there’s a two-way tie for first place after the opening two rallies.
John Silcock (Mazda RX7) and Jackson Clendon (Ford Fiesta Rally4) are locked on 58 points, with the Fiesta ST150 of Dylan Thomson just a point further back.
Shane Murland is also still very much in the running in his Escort RS1800, just 12 points from the lead, as are Anthony Jones (Escort) and Bryn Jones (Fiesta)
The one-day Stadium Finance Rally South Canterbury gets under way in Waimate at 8am on Saturday morning. There are nine special stages across the day, with a total competitive distance of 158.12 kilometres.
The longest stage of the day is the second, Meyers Pass at 28.80km, which will also count as the rally’s Power Stage. Four of the nine stages are over 20km in length, ensuring that the rally will be a real battle of endurance.
The final stage is four laps of the Levels Raceway on gravel tyres, better the podium finish at around 4pm.
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