New Zealand Rally Championship
The New Zealand Rally Championship (NZRC) is New Zealand's leading off-road motor rally competition. A multi-event national championship has been held each year since 1975. Today the championship is held for a variety of classes based on engine capacity and further split by four or two wheel drive. The top class for a number of years has been the international Group N technical regulations and has been dominated by drivers of turbo-charged four wheel drive Mitsubishi Lancers and Subaru Imprezas.
| Category | Rallying |
|---|---|
| Country | New Zealand |
| Inaugural season | 1975 |
| Drivers' champion | |
| Makes' champion | |
| Teams' champion | |
| Official website | nzrallychampionship.co.nz |
The New Zealand Rally Championship has been a launching pad for the career of many New Zealand drivers. Rod Millen and Possum Bourne being the most notable. Recently Hayden Paddon has used the series as a springboard to international competition, competing in the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship before moving on to the Production and Super 2000 World Rally Championships.
The championship was formed around the then newly created Rally New Zealand when it joined the World Rally Championship in 1977. Since then Rally New Zealand has frequently been the starring event of the NZRC and the event is current based in Auckland. The International Rally of Whangarei is also a round of the NZRC as well as being a round of the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship. The current six round championship also takes in events based in Otago and Canterbury regions with two events based at Wairarapa.
Champions
Drivers
Sourced from:[1]
Co-Drivers
Sourced from:[2]
Drivers
| Year | Class | Driver | Vehicle |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Historics | Mazda RX-7 | |
| 2007 | FIA 2WD | Ford Fiesta ST | |
| Historics | Mazda RX-3 | ||
| 2008 | FIA 2WD | Ford Fiesta ST | |
| Historics | Nissan 240RS | ||
| 2009 | FIA 2WD | Ford Fiesta ST | |
| Historics | Mitsubishi Lancer | ||
| 2010 | FIA 2WD | Ford Fiesta ST | |
| Historics | Ford Escort | ||
| 2011 | FIA 2WD | Ford Fiesta ST | |
| Historics | Nissan 240RS | ||
| 2012 | FIA 2WD | Ford Fiesta ST | |
| Open 2WD | Toyota Levin | ||
| Historics | Mazda RX-7 | ||
| 2013 | Overall | Ford Fiesta R2 | |
| FIA 2WD | Ford Fiesta R2 | ||
| Open 2WD | Toyota Levin | ||
| Historics | Ford Escort RS1800 | ||
| 2014 | Overall | Ford Fiesta R2 | |
| FIA 2WD | Ford Fiesta R2 | ||
| Open 2WD | Toyota Levin | ||
| Historics | Mazda RX-7 | ||
| 2015 | Overall | Ford Fiesta R2 | |
| FIA 2WD | Ford Fiesta R2 | ||
| Open 2WD | Not Awarded | ||
| Historics | Mazda RX-7 | ||
| 2016 | Overall | Honda Civic | |
| FIA 2WD | Ford Fiesta R2 | ||
| Open 2WD | Honda Civic | ||
| Historics | Mazda RX-7 | ||
| 2017 | Overall | Ford Fiesta ST | |
| FIA 2WD | Ford Fiesta ST | ||
| Open 2WD | Ford Escort | ||
| Historics | Ford Escort | ||
| 2018 | Overall | Ford Fiesta ST | |
| FIA 2WD | Ford Fiesta ST | ||
| Open 2WD | Mazda RX-8 | ||
| Historics | Mazda RX-3 | ||
| 2019 | Overall | Mazda RX-8 | |
| FIA 2WD | Ford Fiesta R2 | ||
| Open 2WD | Mazda RX-8 | ||
| Historics | Ford Escort | ||
| 2020 | No 2020 Championship | ||
| 2021 | Overall | Ford Fiesta ST | |
| FIA 2WD | Ford Fiesta ST | ||
| Open 2WD | BMW 318ti | ||
| Historics | Ford Escort | ||
Co-Drivers
| Year | Class | Driver | Vehicle |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Historics | Mazda RX-7 | |
| 2007 | FIA 2WD | Ford Fiesta ST | |
| Historics | Mazda RX-3 | ||
| 2008 | FIA 2WD | Ford Fiesta ST | |
| Historics | Nissan 240RS | ||
| 2009 | FIA 2WD | Ford Fiesta ST | |
| Historics | Mitsubishi Lancer | ||
| 2010 | FIA 2WD | Ford Fiesta ST | |
| Historics | Ford Escort | ||
| 2011 | FIA 2WD | Ford Fiesta ST | |
| Historics | Nissan 240RS | ||
| 2012 | FIA 2WD | Ford Fiesta ST | |
| Open 2WD | Toyota Levin | ||
| Historics | Mazda RX-7 | ||
| 2013 | Overall | Ford Fiesta R2 | |
| FIA 2WD | Ford Fiesta R2 | ||
| Open 2WD | Toyota Levin | ||
| Historics | Ford Escort RS1800 | ||
| 2014 | Overall | Ford Fiesta R2 | |
| FIA 2WD | Ford Fiesta R2 | ||
| Open 2WD | Toyota Levin | ||
| Historics | Mazda RX-7 | ||
| 2015 | Overall | Ford Fiesta R2 | |
| FIA 2WD | Ford Fiesta R2 | ||
| Open 2WD | Not Awarded | ||
| Historics | Mazda RX-7 | ||
| 2016 | Overall | Honda Civic | |
| FIA 2WD | Ford Fiesta R2 | ||
| Open 2WD | Honda Civic | ||
| Historics | Mazda RX-7 | ||
| 2017 | Overall | Ford Fiesta ST | |
| FIA 2WD | Ford Fiesta ST | ||
| Open 2WD | Ford Escort | ||
| Historics | Ford Escort | ||
| 2018 | Overall | Ford Fiesta ST | |
| FIA 2WD | Ford Fiesta ST | ||
| Open 2WD | Mazda RX-8 | ||
| Historics | Ford Escort | ||
| 2019 | Overall | Mazda RX-8 | |
| FIA 2WD | Ford Fiesta R2 | ||
| Open 2WD | Mazda RX-8 | ||
| Historics | Ford Escort | ||
| 2020 | No 2020 Championship | ||
| 2021 | Overall | Ford Fiesta ST | |
| FIA 2WD | Ford Fiesta ST | ||
| Open 2WD | BMW 318ti | ||
| Historics | Ford Escort | ||
Drivers
| Year | Overall | 4WD | 2WD | Classic 4WD | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Driver | Vehicle | Driver | Vehicle | Driver | Vehicle | Driver | Vehicle | |
| 2013 | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 7 | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 7 | Toyota Starlet | |||||
| 2014 | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6 | [[]] | [[]] | |||||
| 2015 | [[]] | [[]] | [[]] | |||||
| 2016 | [[]] | [[]] | [[]] | |||||
| 2017 | [[]] | [[]] | [[]] | |||||
| 2018 | [[]] | [[]] | [[]] | [[]] | ||||
| 2019 | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 | [[]] | [[]] | [[]] | ||||
| No Championship | ||||||||
| 2021 | [[]] | [[]] | [[]] | [[]] | ||||
Co-Drivers
| Year | Driver | Vehicle |
|---|---|---|
Drivers
| Year | Driver | Vehicle |
|---|---|---|
Co-Drivers
| Year | Driver | Vehicle |
|---|---|---|
Manufacturers
| Year | Manufacturer |
|---|---|
| 1994 | |
| 1995 | |
| 1996 | |
| 1997 | |
| 1998 | |
| 1999 | |
| 2000 | |
| 2001 | |
| 2002 | |
| 2003 | |
| 2004 | |
| 2005 | |
| 2006 | |
| 2007 | |
| 2008 | |
| 2009 | |
| 2010 | |
| 2011 | |
| 2012 | |
| 2013 | Not Contested |
| 2014 | |
| 2015 | |
| 2016 | |
| 2017 | |
| 2018 | |
| 2019 | |
| 2020 | No Championship |
| 2021 | |
Drivers
| Year | Driver | Vehicle |
|---|---|---|
Co-Drivers
| Year | Driver | Vehicle |
|---|---|---|
Teams Cup
| Year | Team | Driver / Co-Driver | Vehicle |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Andrew Simms Mitsubishi | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X | |
| Ford Fiesta R2 | |||
| Ford Escort RS1800 | |||
| 2014 | Team Mason | Subaru Impreza WRX STI | |
| Mazda RX-7 | |||
| Toyota 86 | |||
| 2015 - 2016 |
Non Contested | ||
| 2017 | Subaru Impreza WRX STI | ||
| Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII | |||
| Suzuki Swift | |||
| 2018 | Tortoise and the Hare | Subaru Impreza WRX STI R4 | |
| Hyundai i20 AP4+ | |||
| 2019 | Team LJ Hooker | Audi S1 AP4+ | |
| Subaru Impreza WRX STI | |||
| 2020 | No Championship | ||
| 2021 | Paddon Rallysport | Hyundai i20 AP4+ | |
| BMW 318ti | |||
Multiple Winners
Drivers
| Wins | Driver | Year |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | Richard Mason | 2005-06, 2011-12, 2014 |
| Hayden Paddon | 2008-09, 2013, 2018, 2021 | |
| 4 | Bruce Herbert | 2000-03 |
| 3 | Rod Millen | 1975-77 |
| Tony Teesdale | 1982, 1984, 1987 | |
| Neil Allport | 1986, 1989, 1992 | |
| Joe McAndrew | 1993-94, 1996 | |
| 2 | Jim Donald | 1980-81 |
| Brian Stokes | 1985, 1988 | |
| Reece Jones | 1995, 1997 | |
| Geoff Argyle | 1998-99 | |
| Ben Hunt | 2015, 2019 |
Co-Drivers
| Wins | Co-Driver | Year |
|---|---|---|
| 6 | Robert Haldane | 1988-90, 1993-94, 1996 |
| Rob Ryan | 1999-2003, 2007 | |
| 4 | John Kennard | 2008-09, 2013, 2021 |
| Sara Mason | 2006, 2011-12, 2014 | |
| 3 | Tony Rawstorn | 2015, 2018-19 |
| 2 | Garry Cowan | 2004-05 |
| Leo Bult | 1995, 1997 |