Campbell wins Rally Waitomo and retains North Island Rally Series title

Phil Campbell/Brianna Little (Ford Fiesta AP4) have won both the Newstead Lodge Waitomo Rally and 2024 Generator Rental Services North Island Rally Series (NIRS) title. The fifth and final event of the NIRS season saw overall and Class titles decided over four Special Stages on Sunday 20 October 2024. Second home and overall was Quentin Palmer/Noel Moloney (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 5) with Phillip Broadbent/Sam Broadbent (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 8) third.

“It’s been a great day,” commented Campbell. “We knew we just had to finish the event to win the Series, so it was about taking no risks.”

The Newstead Lodge Waitomo Rally was run by the Hamilton Car Club, a Clubmans ‘blind’ event over 80kms around Piopio in the Waikato.

Rivals Quentin Palmer/Noel Moloney took the early lead after winning the opening 18.75km Special Stage with Campbell second. Unfortunately for Palmer, a broken transfer case in the 19.3km SS2 saw him drop down the order to fifth overall with Campbell taking the lead ahead of Carlin Leong (Subaru Impreza WRX). At the lunch-time servive, Palmer’s team did a great job replacing the transfer case within the allocated time-frame.

The afternoon saw a repeat of the first two stages with Palmer again winning the Tikitiki Special Stage ahead of Campbell and Broadbent. Campbell had a healthy 59.5 second lead over Leong heading into the final stage which he won. Palmer came in second to move up to second overall ahead of Broadbent, Leong and the first NIRS 2WD car home, Charlie Evans/ Dayna Kiekebosch (Mazda RX7).

“We got the car home in one piece, which is great,” said Campbell. “Quentin (Palmer) went really well, particularly in one and three (Tikitiki) so it was unfortunate that he had a problem in two.”

Class titles were also decided with Tony Young (Datsun 1200 SSS) winning Class A (2WD 0-1300cc) title from Steve Cox (Toyota Starlet) over the Series.

Daniel Alexander (Toyota Starlet) was first car home in Class B (2WD 1301-1600cc) with Simon Rabbidge (Suzuki Swift) winning the category.

Stephen Dill (Nissan Pulsar) won Class C (2WD 1601-2000cc) after finishing second to John Whooley (Honda Civic). Carlin Leong (Subaru Impreza ) picks up the Rookie Drivers award finishing ahead of Kaden Wood (Nissan Skyline) and Dill.

Charlie Evans (Honda Civic) claimed the Class D (2WD 2001 and over) title from Dave Strong (Honda Civic) with Ian Wood (Toyota DX Corolla) and Madeline Buhr coming in second to Evans in the rally.

The battle for Class E (2WD Classic) saw Adrian Smith (Ford Escort Mk2) win by 5-points over David Ayling (Ford Escort RS1800).

Phil Campbell also picks up the Class F (4WD 1601-1999cc) title from Todd Bawden (Ford Fiesta) with Haydn Mackenzie in third (Toyota Yaris).

As well as finishing second overall, Quentin Palmer easily won Class G (4WD 2001cc and over) with a 38-point advantage over Mike Torr (Subaru Impreza) and up and coming Carlin Leong.

Jamie Rodgers won Class H (Subaru H6) title while Shaun Wade (Mitsubishi Mirage) took the Class 4WD Pre 1996 title from Chris Burke (Toyota Celica) and Bevan Wilson (Subaru Impreza).

It was the second successful season for the Generator Rental Services North Island Rally Series with Campbell retaining his 2023 title.

“It’s a real cool series to be a part of,” said Campbell. “It has a good variety of events with gravel. Tarmac and rallysprints. There’s no stress, they make it easy to do and be a part of. Marty (Roestenburg) and his team do an awesome job and the whole series is well run.”

“We are delighted with how the Series is tracking with huge support from our sponsors and the whole rally community,” said NIRS coordinator Marty Roestenburg.

“The prizegiving for the Rallysprint Series and NIRS is 7 December at the Northern Sports Car Club. It will be a fun night with over $15,000 of trophies and awards presented. The 2025 calendar is shaping up nicely which will be announced at the prizegiving.”