One of the country’s top rally drivers comes south to the Barry Robinson Memorial Rally Southland, Round 3 of the NZ Rally Championship (NZRC) on Saturday, looking for a reset after a torrid start to the NZRC.
Robbie Stokes of Canterbury was the runner-up in last year’s NZRC as well as becoming the Mainland Series Champion, but he has had a really tough start to the 2026 season.
He travelled south for the Eastern Southland Car Club‘s Popotunoa Rallysprint back in March and damaged his Skoda Rally2 Evo in an off-road excursion. That event was just two weeks before the opening round of the NZRC, Rally Otago.
“It was a big battle getting the car ready for Otago. There were a lot of people involved, and they did an amazing job, but we probably didn’t dot the i’s and cross the t’s. It has snowballed from there. We have had the wrong end of the stick, and we have been chasing our tails ever since,” says Stokes
At Otago, Stokes made a great start, but a suspension failure meant he did not finish the event. While in the second round at Canterbury, after winning the first stage, he went off the road and eventually retired from the event.
Rally Southland will, therefore, be a massive reset.
“I want to get to the finish. I won’t be pushing too hard. I want to get a score on the board. I have Ally Mackay on board as my co-driver, and he is someone with whom I have done a fair bit of rallying. I am looking forward to it.”
Stokes admits speed hasn’t been the issue this year, “it has been everything else.”
One thing that is in his favour is the fact that he has seen some of the roads in the early part of the rally after travelling south to contest the Eastern Southland Car Club’s Wyndham Rally in both 2024 and 2025. In 2024, he finished a fine fifth in a Subaru H6, and last year, he was at the wheel of Gore driver David Kirk’s Ford Fiesta.
“That was a great experience, and I gained a bit of knowledge of the roads. I had heard a whisper that the event might become a National Championship round, so it is good that it came to fruition. They are cool roads, and it is a great rally!”
All the cars and drivers in the Barry Robinson Memorial Rally Southland will be at Invercargill Central from 4pm on Friday, 17 July, where there will be an opportunity to get autographs and see the cars up close before the Ceremonial Start at 6pm. Rally maps will also be available.
The following day, the cars leave Wyndham at 8.30am before tackling seven high-speed Special Stages before the event concludes at the Ascot Park Hotel in Invercargill at 3.45pm.
Header Image: Peter Whitten
