Jack Hawkeswood has stormed home to win Lone Star Rally Canterbury by just .2 of a second from Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Championship points leader Jack Stokes in the equal closest finish in history.
The .2 of a second margin is the same as when Chris West beat Richard Mason at Otago in 2005 and came after Hawkeswood got in front for the first time on the penultimate stage of the day.
The Vertu Equipment Toyota Yaris Rally 2 driver held his nerve in the final blast around Ruapuna Raceway to earn his second career victory and move to within two points of the championship lead.
Stokes (Stokes Motorsport Skoda Fabia Rally 2) maintains his title advantage but will be gutted to have missed winning his home event by such a narrow margin, especially when he led for the majority of the day.
Quentin Palmer celebrated his birthday in style, scooping a second successive podium finish in his Skoda Fabia Rally 2 to remain well in the championship fight.
Earlier, defending Canterbury champion Robbie Stokes crashed out of the event on the second stage of the day after winning the opening stage in his Stokes Motorsport Fabia Rally 2.
For the second straight event Ari Pettigrew barely put a foot wrong in winning the Open 2WD and overall 2WD classes in his Porsche 911. He secured a brilliant fourth overall and mixed it with the leading contenders all day.
Grant Blackberry (Mitsubishi EVO 10) took the Rally Challenge 4WD class lead after a brilliant performance to earn the class win.
He held off Thomas Paul (Subaru Impreza) by just over 40 seconds. Paul was the MRF Drive of the Rally winner for his win in the Group A Challenge class as well as second overall Rally Challenge 4WD.
Josh Keighley (Subaru Impreza) finished second to Paul in Group A Challenge and pipped Caleb Macdonald for the Rally Challenge 4WD’s final podium spot.
Terri Taylor (Subaru Impreza) finished third in the Group A Challenge.
Deane Buist took out the Classic class in his Ford Escort, to build on his championship lead. Ben Harding (Mazda RX7) and Roger McKay (Ford Escot) completed the podium.
Rory Lawn (Toyota Starlet) backed up his Rally Challenge 2WD win at Otago by edging the impressive Josh Silcock (Ford Fiesta) for the class win on Sunday. Just 3.3 seconds separated the pair at the end.
Ian Warren (Suzuki Swift) completed the podium.
Tim Mackersy (Ford Fiesta) held off Dave Strong (Honda Jazz) in the battle for the minor spots in the Open 2WD podium after Pettigrew took a commanding win.
Phil Macquarie (Ford Escort) made it two wins from two in the Historic 2WD class as he held off Pat Norris (Toyota Corolla) and Mike Cameron (Mitsubishi Lancer).
Stokes leads Hawkeswood by two points heading to round three – the Barry Robinson Memorial Rally Southland in late July.
2026 NZRC Dates:
- Apr 10-12 Central Machine Hire Otago Rally
- May 31 Lonestar Rally Canterbury in association with Joe’s Garage
- Jul 18 Barry Robinson Memorial Rally Southland
- Aug 22 Hawke’s Bay Rally
- Sep 25-27 Vertex Oil International Rally of Whangarei
- Oct 31 Battery Town Rally Bay of Plenty
