The penultimate round of the 2025 Mainland Rally Championship (MRC) takes place this Saturday in Southland as drivers and teams continue their battle for Class and overall titles.
The one-day Barry Robinson Memorial Wyndham Rally takes place east of Invercargill and features six competitive Special Stages.
Current MRC overall leader, Robbie Stokes, heads to Wyndham with a healthy 15-point lead over nearest rival, Josh Marston, who has elected not to compete in this event.
This could lead to a shake-up in the standings with third-placed Caleb Macdonald (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6) set to move into second and Deane Buist (Toyota Trueno) likely to move up to a podium position from his current fifth place.
Stokes will compete with sister Amy Stokes in the David Kirk Ford Fiesta Proto, the car that Derek Ayson has driven in the event the past two years.
“I rang Kirky to see if it was an option,” said Stokes.
“A lot of work has been done to it, and it is probably the closest thing to my Rally2 Skoda I could get for this event.”
Seven separate Class battles also take place over the day. Josh Silcock/Ben Leech (Toyota Starlet) led Class A (2WD 0-1300cc) over Mike Matheson/Gordon Legge (Toyota Vitz) by 28 points, with Kevin Brockie/Darryl McManus (Toyota Vitz) also on the start ramp looking to move into third in Class.
In Class B (2WD 1601cc and over), Ian Warren/Brody Cattermole (Nissan Pulsar) have a 14-point lead over Thomas Paul/Bridget Airey (Honda Civic), who have elected not to compete, which could see Harri Silcock/Mark Greenwood (Toyota Starlet) move up from third.
Deane Buist (Toyota Trueno) continues to battle with Richard Gailey (BMW 320i), with just 13 points between them in Class C (2WD 1601cc and over).
Robbie Stokes has a nine-point lead in Class D (4WD) to Marston, with Macdonald likely to move up into second just six points further back.
In Class E, Hayden Shakespeare/Joshua Henderson (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 3) have the potential to move 20 points clear of Nathan Fraser, who is sitting this round out.
Stephen Gill (Ford Escort Mk2) has won Class F (Classic 2WD) at each of the three rounds held so far, hence the battle in Wyndham will be for second between Paul Cross (Toyota Corolla AE86) and Pat Norris (Toyota Vitz).
Ally Mackay (Ford Escort Mk1) has joined the fight and is likely to take away valuable points from the runner-up contenders.
Tim Smith/Ben Trevelyan (Subaru Impreza) lead Class H6 with second place Kevin Laird returning to the series as well as Ben Huband, who is competing in both MRC and the North Island Rally Series, and Tom Milliken all making an appearance.
The Barry Robinson Memorial Wyndham Rally will be centred on the township of Wyndham, 45 kilometres east of Invercargill and 25km south of Gore.
It will start at the MLT Three Rivers Hotel in Redan Street, Wyndham at 9.00 am on Saturday 2 August, from where competitors will tackle six Special Stages before the event ends back at the MLT Three Rivers Hotel in Wyndham with the first car due at 3.30 pm.
With the Timaru Tarmac Rally now not going ahead, the MRC calendar has a total of five rounds, with competitors able to drop one round from their total score.
Header Image: Euan Cameron
