An emotional Robbie Stokes has beaten his brother Jack Stokes to take line honours at the third round of the 2025 Mainland Rally Championship. The one-day Rally of Canterbury saw nine Special Stages across North Canterbury, with Robbie winning six and Jack the other three.
“I don’t have any words,” commented Stokes.
“It is still to sink in as it’s been a brilliant day.”
The event also doubled as the third round of the New Zealand Championship, with Robbie Stokes/Shane Reynolds (Skoda Rally2 Evo) winning from Ben Hunt/Tony Rawstorn (Skoda Rally2 Evo) and Jack Stokes/Hayden Graves (Ford Fiesta AP4) in third.
“That was really hard work,” said Jack Stokes.
“We have been battling a power steering issue in the last stage with almost no power steering. Really stoked with the result. We had a few small issues, but once we gained confidence in the car this morning, it has been really good.
“The step up to the AP4 has been really good; I’m loving it. We got lucky heading into service (Cheviot) with the alternator dying on us. Got lucky with that one.”
Third home in the MRC was a jubilant Caleb MacDonald/Larisa Biggar (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6) followed by Tim Smith/Ben Trevelyan (Subaru H6) and Josh Marston/Andrew Graves (Holden Barina AP4).
“Had a really good day,” said MacDonald.
“No real issues with the car. I was a bit slow first thing as it took me a bit to get into a rhythm, but I can’t complain at all.”
Marston won the previous round in South Canterbury but struck an engine ‘Error Issue’ partway through the third stage, necessitating a reset and restart, losing valuable time, which dropped them down to thirteenth before a fight back to finish in fifth.
“It’s been a tough day,” said Marston.
“Good to get to the end. Overall, it’s been a really good day, other than losing time in one stage.“
Seven separate Class battles also took place over the day. Josh Silcock/Ben Leech (Toyota Starlet) were first home in Class A (2WD 0-1300cc) ahead of Jal Elliott/Blair Bronsan (Toyota Vitz).
Silcock has extended his lead over Mike Matheson to 28 points.
In Class B (2WD 1601cc and over), Ian Warren/Brody Cattermole (Nissan Pulsar) was first home and now leads the class after previous leaders Thomas Paul/Bridget Airey (Honda Civic) retired with a gearbox issue in Special Stage 7.
Deane Buist continues his strong form in Class C (2WD 1601cc and over). He continues to lead Richard Gailey (BMW 320i) with Andrew Slim, moving into third after Marcus van Klink (Mazda RX8) retired with a mechanical in Special Stage 3.
Robbie Stokes continues to hold the overall MRC lead and now has a nine-point lead in Class D (4WD) to Marston, with Caleb MacDonald also in contention, holding third, six points further back.
Hayden Shakespeare/Joshua Henderson (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 3) were first home in Class E and are now equal on points with Nathan Fraser.
Stephen Gill (Ford Escort Mk2) has stretched his lead in Class F (Classic 2WD) to sixteen points over Paul Cross (Toyota Corolla AE86).
Tim Smith/Ben Trevelyan (Subaru Impreza) has retaken the lead in Class H6 after Kevin Laird was not able to make the start-line.
Stokes has increased his overall MRC lead to 15 points back to Marston, with MacDonald in third, a further five points behind. Jack Stokes has moved up to fourth overall ahead of Deane Buist (Ford Escort), who finished the rally in sixth.
Drivers and teams now have a break before the fourth round; the Wyndham Rally in Southland takes place on 2 August 2025.
Header Image: Euan Cameron
