Finnish World Rally Championship legend, Mikko Hirvonen, will contest next year’s International Classic Otago Rally in a huge coup for the New Zealand event.

The winner of 15 World Rally Championship (WRC) events, Hirvonen retired from the top level of rallying at the end of the 2014 season, but will drive a Ford Escort RS1800 for the Rossendale Wines team in the Dunedin based event

Hirvonen, 39, is looking forward tackling the famous South Island rally for the first time.

“I have been aware of the Otago Classic Rally for a number of ...    more...

Christchurch’s Dylan Thomson heads to the final round of the Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Championship, the Handy Rentals Waitomo Rally, looking for a result that will secure him third in the championship.

In what has been his first season in a four-wheel drive car, Thomson aimed to learn across the season, looking to complete every rally. His consistency and increasing speed saw him move into third in the championship after the fourth round, Rally Canterbury, then maintain the position through round five.

The final round has seen several new supporters ...    more...

Christchurch’s Marcus van Klink heads to the final round of the Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Championship, the Handy Rentals Rally Waitomo, in a winner takes all shootout for top two-wheel drive honours.

The season could not have had a better start for van Klink and co-driver Dave Neill, the pair taking victory in each of the first four rounds and were looking to wrap up the title with a round to spare at round five, Rally Coromandel, however van Klink was side-lined in the week leading up to the event with a ...    more...

Queenstown’s Mike Sheehan heads to the final round of the Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Championship with one hand on the trophy, requiring only one point from the Handy Rentals Waitomo Rally this weekend.

In his first full season at a national level, Sheehan has been a model of consistency, securing top two placings in four of the five rounds to date that have secured him a 30-point lead prior to the season finale.

A season victory would continue a strong run for Sheehan, who twice was victorious in the Mainland ...    more...

MotorSport New Zealand personnel are delighted to see the overnight news that Rally New Zealand will once again feature as a FIA World Rally Championship event in 2020 after an eight-year hiatus.

“To see the 2020 FIA WRC calendar come out this week with New Zealand taking a 3-6 September slot is evidence of Rally New Zealand’s continued professionalism and passion to again share our iconic rally roads with the world’s best rally drivers,” says Wayne Christie, President of MotorSport NZ.

“This is a fantastic result for the hard-working team ...    more...

The annual Targa New Zealand tarmac motor rally is 25 this year and the man behind it, Peter Martin of the Ultimate Rally Group, says it has never been easier to enter the event than in its anniversary year.

This year the annual five-day event, which Martin markets as ‘The Ultimate Road Race,’ starts in Taupo on Tuesday October 29 and ends in Palmerston North on Saturday November 02. And with three separate starting groups - Competition, the Targa Tour and now a Time Trial organised in conjunction with the Vintage Car Club or New Zealand - Martin ...    more...