The 2026 Mainland Rally Championship gets underway this weekend with the Westland Rally attracting a strong 34-car field. An early-season favourite, the Westland Rally will again present drivers with fast, flowing gravel stages mixed with challenging, tight, and twisting public roads in the Grey and Westland Districts, with servicing based at both the Kumara Sports Ground and the township of Hokitika.
It’s a busy Saturday of rallying with ten Special Stages offering drivers over 100 competitive kms with 320 kms of touring. Seeded first on the road, Dylan Thomson and co-driver Richard Fairhall are this season campaigning the ex-Ben Hunt NZ Rally Championship-winning Skoda Fabia Rally2. The pairing will be difficult to beat for both overall and Class D honours, although second on the road, Jonty Brenssell/Dean Johnston (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) will keep them honest.
Seven separate MRC Class titles for both drivers and co-drivers will be contested over the season, with a number of returning Class title holders on this Saturday’s entry list. Josh Silcock won Class A last season in a Toyota Starlet and has entered a Ford Fiesta in Class B (2WD 1301 to 1601cc.
Previous MRC champion and last season’s overall runner-up and Class winner, Deane Buist and co-driver Karl Celeste, return with their Toyota Trueno. They will have some stiff competition for Class C (2WD 1601cc and over) with the crowd favourite Mazda RX8 of Marcus van Klink and Matt Richards also on the entry list.
Class E (4WD Classic) title holder Hayden Shakespeare (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 3) will be on the start line, while Class F (2WD Classic) will be highly contested with Ally Mackay/Mikko Johnston (Ford Escort Mk1) and Tim McIver/Justin Wolff (Ford Escort Mk2) and Mark Parsons/Blair Bartels (Triumph TR7) in the mix. The ever-competitive Class H6 (Subaru) has attracted five entries for the round.
Five different roads make up the 10 Special Stages run throughout the day. The 12.88km Lady Lake Special Stage 1 offers up a good mix of conditions to get drivers in the groove first thing, and then a great finale (SS10) run in the opposite direction at the end of the day.
Mitchells offers up a flowing piece of road over 17.92km for Special Stage 2. It’s not for the faint-hearted, with a couple of corners close to a lake, and it works well to run in both directions; the second run-through is for SS 9.
The short 5.04km Old Christchurch Road returns to the event for Special Stage 3 with a twisting uphill opening to a flowing run to the end. Run in the opposite direction for SS8, then offers the exact opposite, fast and flowing, into a twisting downhill section to finish.
Adairs is a short 4.16km fast blast with readable crests, run from West to East for both Special Stages 4 and 6, while Kaniere’s 10.94km SS5 and 7 send drivers down a fast, flowing stretch of road to a challenging, tight section close to Lake Kaniere, then a quick ending.
The first car starts from the Union Hotel, 20 Herbert St, Greymouth, at 08:30 am Saturday morning and returns later in the day at approximately 5:00 pm.
The 2025 Mainland Rally Championship has the support of RDL Performance, Brita Safety Ltd, Palmside NZ Ltd, Christchurch Building and Decorating Ltd, Thomson Rust and Repair Services Ltd, and Rally Drive NZ.
Entry List – (Driver 1/Driver 2, Car, Class)
- Dylan Thomson/Richard Fairhall, Skoda Fabia, D
- Jonty Brenssell/Dean Johnston, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9, D
- Josh Keighley/Anton Montgomerie, Subaru Impreza WRX, H
- Paul Thomas/Bridget Airey, Subaru Impreza WRX RA, H
- James McIver/Matthew Wright, Subaru Impreza, H
- Deane Buist/Karl Celeste, Toyota Trueno, C
- Graham Ferguson/Ross Moody, Ford Escort MK2, F
- Marcus Van Klink/Matt Richards, Mazda RX8, C
- Harri Silcock/Mark Greenwood, Mitsubishi Lance Evo 6, D
- Sean Haggarty/Jono Taylor, Suzuki, D
- James Macdonald/Tim Macdonald, Subaru Impreza, H
- Willy Hawes/Ronnie Penny, Toyota Celica, D
- Ally Mackay/Mikko Johnston, Ford Escort MK1 F
- Andrew Sim/Glenn Buist, Ford Escort MK2, D
- Tim McIver/Justin Wolff, Ford Escort MK2, F
- Sheldon Bell/Jacson Edie, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 7, D
- Josh Silcock/Ben Leech, Ford Fiesta, B
- Dave Ollis/Gemma Thomas, Subaru Impreza WRX STI, D
- Amy Keighley/Grant Marra, Subaru Impreza H6, E
- Nigel King/Brayden King, Mitsubishi Lancer, E
- Nic McCallum/Anna McCallum, Ford Escort, C
- Brayden Sim/Cameron Jolly, BMW 316i, C
- Kerry Sloan/Henry Raymond, Toyota Starlet, B
- Tim McDonald/Anya McDonald,Ford Escort MK2, B
- Mark Parsons/Blair Bartels,Triumph TR7, F
- Hayden Shakespeare/Ryder McGuigan, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 3, E
- Wayne Hoy/Pip Bennett, Subaru Impreza WRX, H
- Eddie Gray/Josh Skafer, Ford Escort MK2, F
- Jamie Donaghy/George Simons, Toyota Corolla FX GT, B
- Kade Bugler/Connor Henderson, Toyota Celica, D
- John Ward/Jordan McLeod, Subaru Impreza WRX STI, D
- Pat Norris/ Kevin Cooke, Toyota Yaris, B
- Rex Ford/Gary Wilkinson, Datsun 180B, F
- Marike Balzarini/Mauro Balzarini, Toyota Starlet, A
2026 Mainland Rally Championship Calendar:
- 28 March 2026 Westland Rally (Westland CC)
- 11 April 2026 Otago Rally – Day 1 only (OSCC)
- 31 May 2026 Canterbury Rally (Autosport)
- 18 July 2026 Rally Southland (ESSC)
- 15 August 2026 Timaru Tarmac Rally (T.B.C.)
- 3 October 2026 Rally Waimate (T.B.C.)
Header Image: Terry Marshall
