A total of 29 entries have been received for the second round of the New Zealand Rally Championship in Canterbury at the end of the month.
Rally Canterbury will feature 72 cars in total, making for a great field.
The battle at the front between Otago Rally winner Jack Stokes (Skoda Fabia Rally 2), brother and defending Canterbury champion Robbie Stokes (Skoda Fabia Rally 2) and NZRC round winner Jack Hawkeswood (Toyota Yaris Rally 2) looms as the main focal point.
Quentin Palmer (Skoda Fabia Rally 2), who had a podium at Otago, Pierre-Henri Brunet (Skoda Fabia RS Rally 2), and Nelson Law (Toyota Yaris AP4) complete the NZRC 4WD class.
Ari Pettigrew (Porsche 911) leads the 2WD contenders and headlines the Open 2WD class along with Tim Mackersey (Ford Fiesta) and Dave Strong (Honda Jazz).
Phil Macquarie (Ford Escort), Pat Norris (Toyota Corolla) and Mike Cameron (Mitsubishi Lancer) battle it out in the Historic 2WD class.
Deane Buist, who dominated at Otago, leads the Classics class in his Ford Escort. He will be kept honest by the likes of Derek Ayson (Opel Manta), Ben Harding (Mazda RX7), Paul Cross (Toyota Corolla) and Roger McKay (Ford Escort).
Caleb Macdonald (Mitsubishi EVO 8) and Grant Blackberry (Mitsubishi EVO 10) will continue their rivalry in the Rally Challenge 4WD class.
Joining them in the battle will be Harri Silcock (Mitsubishi EVO 6), Thomas Paul (Subaru Impreza), Josh Keighley (Subaru Impreza), Kevin Laird (Subaru Impreza), Wily Hawes (Toyota Celica) and Terri Taylor (Subaru Impreza. Paul, Keighley, Laird and Taylor will also fight it out for the Group A Challenge class.
A four-way battle in Rally Challenge 2WD looks set to take place between Rory Lawn (Toyota Starlet), Darren Galbraith (Ford Fiesta), Josh Silcock (Ford Fiesta) and Ian Warren (Suzuki Swift).
Header Image: Geoff Ridder
Great effort by the Quentin Palmer Rally team to make this event hard on the heals of a very successful Otago event not to forget the Waitomo success. Sorry cant be there guys due to Aussie trip but we’ll be watching on live streaming. Keep it straight & tight Q but go fast at the same time..
Rosscoe.