EX Lancer Motorsport owner/driver Tony Differ has set his sights on the ultimate challenge to see out the 2026 rally season. Differ and co-driver Jayson Stringer are set to take on the New Zealand Silver Fern Rally, one of the most prestigious international marathon rallies in the world, in their iconic 1981 Mitsubishi Lancer.
Based out of Rotorua in the Bay of Plenty, the Silver Fern Rally offers a challenge like no other gravel event in New Zealand: a seven-day marathon test of more than 1000km of gravel special stages, plus an additional 1600km of touring.
“This is a genuine tick-box event for me and it just feels like this is the right time to do it” explains Differ.
“The whole challenge and logistics of it as an event are enormous. We are teaming up with Chris Ramsay Rallysport for this one as it’s simply too big to do on our own with just our service crew,” he added.
The route sees teams head from Rotorua to the East Coast, then down to Gisborne for two full days of competition before heading further South to Napier in the Hawkes Bay. Day 5 sees crews head further down the North Island to Palmerston North for an overnight stopover, then inland to Ohakune, before a final run that brings the event back to where it all began, in Rotorua.
The Silver Fern Rally is recognised globally and attracts competitors and crews from around the world, keen to take on arguably the best gravel-rallying roads on the planet. Not only does it attract competitors from around the world, but it also draws a large international media contingent.
“It’s hard to get my head around just how big this is going to be; it’s essentially a full rally every day for a week”, explains Stringer.
“We’re 100% going to have a strategy going into this (event) to give ourselves the best shot at making the finish. It’s definitely going to be a challenge”.
The EX Lancer Motorsport team are currently midway through the 2026 North Island Rally Series, competing in Class D for 2WD cars with 2001 cc and over. Tony and Jayson are currently leading the Driver and Co-Driver points, respectively, in their class, and are second overall in points among all registered competitors, including the 4WD classes.
The New Zealand Silver Fern Rally runs from Friday, November 27, and finishes on Friday, December 04.
Header Image: A Little Bit Sideways
