Targa Rally sweeps through northern Tararua and Hawke's Bay

Veteran Targa Rally driver Brian Green poses with his Mitsubishi EVO 10 after finishing third in the eighth leg.

A total of 55 cars sped through the Hawke's Bay and northern Tararua over the July 4-5 weekend in the Hawke's Bay Targa Rally. There were 34 competitive drivers and 21 tourers.

The rescheduled Targa Hawke's Bay tarmac motor rally was the first major New Zealand motorsport event run there since the Covid-19 lockdown was lifted. The two-day event was originally scheduled to run over the May 16-17 weekend.

Mike O'Donnell and crew took the opportunity to be pictured with NZ's longest sign at the showgrounds being rather in too much of a hurry to visit it during the race.

The rally travelled through seven special stages in Hawke's Bay in bitterly cold and icy conditions on Saturday but then struck fine weather on the eight special stage on Sunday morning as the cars travelled from Porongahau to Wimbledon.

After lunch and a pitstop in Dannevirke at the A&P Showgrounds it resumed on the Matamau-Ormondville road heading out through the Ormondville - Te Uri, Tourere and Ngahape roads before finishing back in the Hawke's Bay at Hatuma. It concluded in special stage 10 at Havelock North.

The winner was tarmac rally specialist Leigh Hopper and co-driver Michael Goudie in their Subaru Impreza WRX, winning nine out of the 10 special stages to cross the finish line in Havelock North on Sunday afternoon with an advantage of more than three minutes over second-placed local pairing Ivan Knauf and Trevor Corbin, also in a Subaru Impreza.

Third was ex-local and four-time former New Zealand gravel rally champion Bruce Herbert and his co-driver Bevan Parker in their Mitsubishi Evo.

There were races within races as the classic cars competed within their own categories, many of them going on to rate in the top 20 overall.

Bruce Farley from Nelson in his 1985 BMW E30 headed out of the Dannevirke A&P Showgrounds determined to make up 10 seconds on leader Mark McCaughan to win the Classic 2WD division of the rally. He did and also finished a creditable 13th overall.

With a number plate saying TAGAKA, husband and wife team Troy and Kyla Twomey are keen rally participants. They say it is the ultimate test of a marriage and came eighth overall in their 2005 Mini Cooper.

Targa New Zealand events are organised by the Ultimate Rally Group and event director Peter Martin said he was thrilled to stage the event at such short notice.

He thanked the local councils and organisations for responding so quickly and said his organisation had made sure local businesses and groups had benefited financially especially given the area had suffered from both drought and the lockdown.

Dannevirke Host and Norsewood Lions were marshals for the second last special stage and although there was no catering for lunch because of Covid concerns, local cafes and hotels did very well catering for the 500-plus visitors.