Robbie Stokes has retained his lead in the Mainland Rally Championship following the MLT Barry Robinson Memorial Wyndham Rally, where he and co-driver Janey Blair were the fifth competitors home.
Invercargill’s Mark McMillan, with co-driver Murray Wright, took his maiden rally win in a Subaru Impreza WRX Sti, which has catapulted him into fifth overall with two rounds remaining.
Stokes, driving a Subaru H6 instead of his usual Ford Fiesta AP4, holds a 17-point advantage over Deane Buist following the round.
James and Harry Worker were the second Mainland Rally Championship competitors home in a Mitsubishi Evo.
Buist and co-driver Tim McIvor’s third-place finish in a Toyota Tueno saw them jump to second in the standings at the expense of Caleb MacDonald.
In a Mitsubishi EVO 6, MacDonald entered the rally as the top seed but lost considerable time when a tyre came off the bead. He eventually finished 15th, but remains third in the standings after second-placed Marcus van Klink did not enter the round, which drops him to fourth.
Gareth O’Hara and co-driver Skyla Tohill (Toyota Corolla) were the fourth Mainland Rally Championship pairing home, ahead of Stokes and Blair.
The battles within the seven different MRC Classes continued. In Class A (0-1300cc), Pat Norris (Toyota Yaris) and rival Mike Matheson (Toyota Vitz) are still head to head after four rounds. While Norris took Class honours, Matheson holds an 11-point lead with two rounds remaining.
Harri Silcock (Toyota Starlet) had an opportunity to edge ahead of Jack Stokes, who didn’t enter the event, in Class B ( 1301-1600cc). However, his retirement in Special Stage 3 with a mechanical put an end to that. The first home was Craig Cormack (Toyota Levin AE86).
Buist’s second overall and first in Class C (1601cc and over) gives him a commanding 14-point lead over van Klink. In Class D (4WD), Caleb MacDonald has nudged ahead of Stokes by five points, with the latter competing in Class H for this event.
Nigel Ede (Subaru Legacy RS) and Shane McKenzie (Mitsubishi Galant) continued their rivalry in Class E (Pre 2000 4WD). While McKenzie was first in class, Ede holds a nine-point lead.
Stephen Gill (Ford Escort FJ20) took honours in Class F (Classic 2WD) and has moved two points ahead of Ally Mackay (Ford Escort Mk1). Tom Millikan’s (Subaru H6) second to Robbie Stokes in Class H has drawn him three points shy of Amy Keighley, who sat out the rally.
The MRC takes a break until late November, when both the penultimate and final rounds will be run in conjunction with the first two days of the 2024 Silver Fern Rally, which has attracted a big field of overseas entries. As MRC drivers are able to drop their worst round result, overall and Class titles will be decided from the best five of the six-round series.
