The scheduled 8-10 May running of the International Rally of Whangarei, the third round of the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) has been forced to postpone.

A statement on Thursday 19 March by MotorSport New Zealand to suspend the necessary permit to run the event has forced the postponement. The event falls inside the two-month period of suspended activity – due to the COVID-19 situation.

“We are naturally disappointed to be caught-up in this ever-changing situation. As much as people are attempting to go about their lives the current reality today is, we cannot ...    more...

MotorSport New Zealand has made the decision to suspend all MotorSport New Zealand permitted events, at all levels, initially for two months in response to the fast-evolving COVID-19 situation, effective immediately until May 19th.

Following a meeting between MotorSport New Zealand Management and the Board, it was decided that the most important thing to consider amid COVID-19 was the safety and wellbeing of all members of our sport, those that offer their services at events, the community in general and spectators.

In making this significant decision, both Management and the Board hope that the sport ...    more...

Due to the spread of COVID-19 the Otago Rally, one of New Zealand's major motorsports events, will not be held on the planned date of April 3-5, 2020.

It is unknown whether an alternative date later in 2020 is feasible. If this proves not to be the case, then the event will definitely be held in 2021.

Until recently it was felt that the event could have been run safely and to a high standard by adopting measures that minimised crowd sizes and avoided public gatherings.

The organisers have been tracking the escalation of COVID-19 and ...    more...

Third time was indeed a charm for Auckland’s Haydn Mackenzie and his Hamilton-based co-driver Matt Sayers (Mitsubishi Evo 10 RS) as the pair won the first Targa tarmac rally event of the year, the two-day, Waikato-based, Targa Bambina, which finished in Hamilton this afternoon.

The pair won their first Targa tarmac rally together – the two-day Targa Hawke’s Bay event - in May last year then took on and won – on only their second attempt – the main five-day Targa New Zealand event through the central North Island in late October and early ...    more...

Kiwi rally star Hayden Paddon won the inaugural Ben Nevis Station Golden 1200 Hillclimb which wrapped up on Sunday 8 March. Rotorua’s Sloan Cox was second and Kaiapoi’s Job Quantock third.

The overall leader-board was determined by adding a competitor’s best time from day one to their best time from day two. Cromwell-based Paddon’s combined time was 5m 49.3s compared to Cox’s 6m 13.5s and Quantock’s 6m 18.5s with the trio taking the top three places overall and in the open 4WD class. Paddon set the course ...    more...

Auckland’s Haydn Mackenzie and his Hamilton-based co-driver Matt Sayers (Mitsubishi Evo 10 RS) have dominated the first day of competition on this year’s two-day Targa Bambina in the south Waikato and King Country.

The pair won six of today’s seven timed special stages to arrive back in Hamilton with a lead of almost a minute (0:58.1) over second placed Subaru Impreza WRX driver Leigh Hopper and his co-driver Michael Goudie from Orewa (the only other pair to win a stage today) and just over one and three-quarter minutes (1:47.3) ahead of third placed David ...    more...