Stokes Motorsport Season Overview

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24/04/2023

The rally season for 2023 has already kicked off with the Otago Rally held down south at the beginning of the month. We have some exciting changes in the team for the new season.

First up we have introduced Dave Neil to the Stokes Motorsport team as co-driver. Amy made the decision at the end of last year to take her skills out of the car to pursue the role of team manager on events. Dave has over 16 years of rallying experience and several national championships to show for it so we are confident that he will step up to the challenge!

In another exciting change for this season, the Ford Fiesta AP4 rally car will be maintained throughout the season by Williamson Design and Engineering, based in Raglan. Jack and his crew have spent the summer rebuilding the car from the ground up and we are eager to see where future development will take us throughout the season.

The lead up to Otago Rally this year did not allow for any pre-event testing due to time constraints created by unreliable ferry crossings and difficulty getting parts into the country. Robbie and Dave had a very successful rally, coming home 7th overall, considering stage one was the first time they had sat together and the first time the car had been tested on gravel. While there were some mechanical issues to iron out throughout the weekend it was promising to see the whole team work together to get the car to the finish without a scratch on it.

The remainder of the New Zealand Rally Championship (NZRC) season is not yet set in stone the next event on the calendar will be the International Rally of Whangarei held in Northland from 12-14 May. At King’s Birthday weekend, the Autosport Club will host the Canterbury Rally, the second round of the Mainland Series, which Robbie and Dave are currently leading. Two weeks after that we head to the open and very fast roads of South Canterbury for round 3 of the NZRC. Dates are yet to be set for the rest of the national season as Cyclone Gabrielle has prevented the running of Rally Hawkes Bay and Rally Coromandel. However we are excited to see what events will take their place as we are guaranteed to be skidding around on new roads!

For more information and updates, follow Stokes MotorSport Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/stokesmotorsport/

2023 Rally Season

Rally of Whangarei 12-14 May

Canterbury Rally 4 June

South Canterbury Rally 17th June

Rally Bay of Plenty 14th October

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