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Jack Hawkeswood won the International Rally of Whangarei by 56.8s to clinch the 2026 NZ Rally Championship with a round to spare.
Jack Hawkeswood won the 2026 Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Championship at the Vertex Lubricants International Rally of Whangarei on Sunday 27 September, clinching the title with a round to spare. He and co-driver Jason Farmer won in their Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 by 56.8 seconds, taking almost half of the special stages along the way.
The championship turned on Saturday. Title rival Jack Stokes ran wide on a fast corner within sight of the finish of the fifth stage and hit a tree stump, tearing a wheel off his Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo. He and co-driver Hayden Graves were taken to hospital for checks and released later that day, but their title charge was over. Hawkeswood led brother-and-teammate Robbie Stokes by 32.3 seconds overnight and extended the margin on Sunday.
The result makes Hawkeswood the first second-generation champion in the series (his father Andrew won the title in 2017) and gives Toyota its first title in the championship.
Quentin Palmer (Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo) completed the NZRC podium. Four-time champion Ben Hunt was fourth in the NZRC classification in the Force Motorsport Mazda 2 AP4 that Andrew Hawkeswood drove to the 2017 title, with Vanuatu's Pierre-Henri Brunet fifth.
The championship ends at the Battery Town Rally Bay of Plenty on 30–31 October, where Hawkeswood has said he wants to wrap up the Manufacturers' title for Toyota. Next year Whangarei moves to the finale slot. See the 2027 International Rally of Whangarei.
See our results page and the full stage-by-stage classification at chrissport.nz.
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