NZRC Otago Rally 50th Anniversary — Stokes Claims Maiden Win, Hawkeswood Penalised, Japanese Crew Tops 2WD

The Otago Rally is New Zealand's oldest and most prestigious rally event. Its 16 stages run through the dry gravel of the South Island interior — Waipori Gorge, Tuapeka, Lee Flat, Akatore Road among them — totalling 280 competitive kilometres, one of the largest distances on the NZRC calendar. The 50th anniversary edition drew attention well beyond domestic rallying, with the event standing as one of the benchmarks of grassroots Southern Hemisphere competition.

Stokes drove a clean, consistent event and built a small but real advantage over Hawkeswood on the road. The defining moment came on the final day. Hawkeswood was judged to have checked into service ahead of the permitted time, resulting in a two-minute time penalty under the rally regulations. That penalty effectively ended his podium challenge and handed Stokes a winning margin of more than two minutes. 'I've been waiting a long time for this,' Stokes said after finishing. He and his co-driver embraced beside the car, their reaction unfiltered.

Quentin Palmer in a Škoda Fabia Rally2 took third. In the Open 2WD class, Ari Pettigrew drove a Porsche 911 to an overall time that placed him third on the road — an unusual result that drew comment across social media for a 2WD car finishing with Rally2 machinery in its wake. The 2WD class win itself went to Japan's Fuyukiha Takahashi and Ken Takahashi in a Ford Fiesta Rally4, a Japanese crew claiming category honours at one of the Southern Hemisphere's most storied events.

With Otago serving as NZRC Round 1, the results put Stokes ahead of Hawkeswood by just two points in the early championship standings. The 50th running of this event — on its gravel roads carved through South Island stone — marked a generational handover as much as a milestone. A new winner on a historic stage: that is what the Otago Rally offered in 2026.