Sport + Motorsport
An opportunity to see the cars close up, get some autographs from the drivers and then watch the field take the Ceremonial Start this Friday on Esk Street, outside Invercargill Central in Invercargill will set the scene for the Barry Robinson Memorial Rally Southland which takes place on Saturday.
The pre-event action centres on Invercargill from 4pm on Friday, with the cars taking the start from 6pm.
The rally is Round 3 of the 2026 Brian Green Property Group NZ Rally Championship and remembers one of the south's best ever rally drivers - Barry Robinson who led the 1983 New Zealand Rally Championship into the final round only to suffer an engine failure which cost him the title. Among many other successes Robinson won the Southland Rally twice.
Hayden Paddon, fresh from contesting selected World Rally Championship events with the Hyundai WRC team will lead the field away in his Hyundai i120N Rally 2. Paddon has appeared in WRC events in Monte Carlo, Croatia - where he finished on the podium in third - and Japan this season. Southland will be his first New Zealand rally appearance for the year. The only kiwi to win a WRC Rally he was also the Production World Rally Champion in 2011 and has been the NZ Rally Champion seven times. He was the European Rally Champion in 2023 and in 2024 while he is also the reigning Australian Rally Champion.
Four-time New Zealand Rally Champion Ben Hunt of Pukekohe is next up. Hunt is making a guest appearance at the wheel of a GR Toyota Yaris as the championship prepares for the introduction of a GR Toyota Yaris Cup category next year.
Jack Stokes of Waikuku, the current leader of the NZRC in his Skoda Fabia Rally 2 evo will be the next car on the road. Stokes won the opening round of the championship at Otago before finishing second at Canterbury. His co-driver is Hayden Graves of Gore who leads the co-driver standings of the NZRC as he comes to his home rally. Jack Hawkeswood, based in Millers Flat, the man who beat Stokes by just .2 of a second at Canterbury, is the next seed in his GR Toyota Yaris Rally 2. He currently sits just two points behind Stokes in the championship.
Robbie Stokes follows in his Skoda Fabia Rally 2 evo. Second in last year's NZRC, Stokes has had a horror start to this year's championship and is looking for a finish in Southland. Interestingly, the Stokes brothers and Hawkeswood are sons of former NZRC Champions.
Quentin Palmer of Taumarunui, currently third in the championship in his Skoda Fabia Rally 2 evo, is next up ahead of Ari Pettigrew of Ohoka in his unique and spectacular Porsche 911 WRC followed by James Worker of Mossburn in his EVO 6. Thomas Paul of Cromwell is next in the first of the Subaru H6 cars followed by Josh Keighley of Christchurch in a similar car with Andrew Graves of Gore, a former Wyndham Rally winner, next in an EVO 3. Last year's Wyndham Rally winner Caleb Macdonald of Queenstown follows in an EVO 8 with James McIver (Rolleston) next in a Subaru followed by Mark McMillan, the 2024 Wyndham Rally winner, in a Subaru Legacy.
There are three Australian entries - Stew Reid in a Mitsubishi Mirage AP4, Richard Galley in a BMW E30, who will have Barry Robinson's daughter Anna in the co-driver seat, and Rose North in a Toyota Yaris.
There are plenty of other interesting entries throughout the field - Carter Strang of Wallacetown in his brand-new GR Toyota Yaris, former national rally champion Dean Sumner of Wanaka in a Ford Escort Mk2 and National ClubSport Champion Josh Cooper.
Hayden Paddon's father Chris is also driving in the event, the very first time father and son have competed in the same event, while Hayden's sister Eve will be the co-driver for that effort.
On Saturday the rally commences at the MLT Three Rivers Hotel in Redan Street, Wyndham at 8.30am and competitors will tackle seven high speed Special Stages before the rally concludes at the Ascot Park Hotel in Invercargill with the first car expected at 3.45pm.
Rally maps to allow spectators to follow the rally will be available at the Ceremonial Start on Friday.