TARGA HAWKES BAY REPORT
TOP OF THE CLASSICS: BARRY KIRK-BURNNAND AND DAVE O’CARROLL
After managing a lead that they held from midway through the first day, Haydn Mckenzie and co-driver Matt Sayers won the 2019 Targa Hawkes Bay tarmac motor rally in their Mitsubishi Evo X 4WD.
The rally was held over three days from Friday, 17 May to Sunday, 19 May. This year’s event was organized in association with new naming-rights sponsor The Piako Group — the Morrinsville-based, Bay of Plenty–wide Mitsubishi car and Massey Ferguson, Fendt, Valtra, and Challenger tractor dealership owner. It was held in cool, crisp, but largely fine weather through the roads across the lower Waikato on Friday, the central Bay of Plenty on Saturday, and Hawke’s Bay on Sunday, where the roads were slippery early on until the sun burnt off the overnight moisture.
The name ‘Kirk-burnnand’ remained at the top of the time sheets in the HW Richardson Classic 2WD class. This time, however,
it was the patriarch of the Auckland clan, Barry Kirk-burnnand, who won with co-driver Dave O’carroll in their BMW E30 M3.
At the end of the first day and until the lunch break of the second, it looked as if the Wellington branch of Targa’s ‘first family’, Mark and co-driver dad Chris, were going to successfully defend their HW Richardson Classic 2WD class win of 2018 in their virtually identical E30 M3. However, fate, in the form of an electrical issue, had other ideas, and it was left to Barry and Dave to defend the family honour when Mark and Chris were forced to put their car on the trailer at Turangi halfway through day two.
The leaders
Up front, it was all about ace Haydn Mckenzie from Albany, Auckland, and his Hamiltonbased mate and co-driver Matt Sayers. They were followed home by the Mitsubishi Evo X of teammates David Rogers and Aidan Kelly, which finished just over two-and-a-half minutes ahead of the third-placed BMW 318ti — and first 2WD car home — of last year’s event winner, Steven Kirk-burnnand and his co-driving brother Carl.
As well as their overall places on the three-day / 1143km mini marathon from Rotorua to Havelock North, each pair claimed a class win. Mckenzie and Sayers won Andrewsimms.co.nz 4WD Class 9 (Production), Rogers and Kelly won Andrewsimms.co.nz 4WD Class 10 (Allcomers), while the Kirk-burnnands (Barry’s sons) won Global Security 2WD Class 7.
Sweet vindication
For Mckenzie and Sayers, the win was sweet vindication for the disappointment that both had felt after crashing out of the lead on the
main Targa New Zealand tarmac motor rally at the end of the second day of last year’s event in the South Island.
“I definitely didn’t want to do that again,” Mckenzie, dealer-principal of the family’s automotive business, Albany Toyota, said, as he was surrounded by well-wishers in Havelock North.
Despite leading the event from the lunch break on Friday to the finish in Havelock North, Mckenzie won only three stages outright, with he and Sayers tying for second on most stage wins — three each — with fellow Aucklanders David Rogers and Aidan Kelly, and fellow former BNT NZV8S series racer Eddie Bell and his co-driver Blair Forbes from Christchurch.
The latter pair worked their way up to fourth place overall, plus victory in Global Security Production 2WD Class 6, by winning the last three stages of the event in Bell’s late-model BMW M3.
What might have been
Meanwhile, left pondering what might have been were early pacesetters Leigh Hopper and co-driver Michael Goudie from Orewa. The pair won 10 stages but ended up classified 38th of 41 official finishers after losing 10 minutes to Mckenzie, Rogers, et al. with an engine throttle-body issue on the first day, then rolling out of the event for good on the final day.
Multi–targa Rotorua winner Hopper continued to set the pace when his Subaru WRX was back on song, completing the set of stage wins on Friday before adding three Gentle Annie stages to his tally on Saturday to make the 10. However, just as he had worked his way back into the top 10 — from being at 36th at the end of day one — Hopper rolled the WRX on the 20.64km Waimarama stage south-east of Havelock North, and his day and event were effectively done.
Also rolling out of the event, after an impressive entry into the top six on Saturday, were Christchurch’s Rory Callaway and his codriving father Stewart in their Subaru WRX.
Ring a bell?
After they had matched pace and times with Eddie Bell and Blair Forbes for most of the event, it was a real shame that a puncture meant Perth-based event regulars Robert Darrington and David Abetz had to limp their BMW M3 out of the final stage, and lost what looked like a certain fifth place after losing eight minutes.
That place went to Christchurch pairing Andrew Oakley and Steve Hutchins in Oakley’s late-model Audi RS5, with Mike Tubbs and Mike Vincent in Tubbs’s current-model BMW M2 just 17 seconds back in sixth place. A further two minutes back, but elated to claim a spot in the top 10 (seventh), were long-time Targa entrants Graeme Wong and Kim Blatchley in a Subaru WRX.
Getting better with every kilometre that they covered over the three days were hard-charger Jeremy Friar and co-driver James West in Friar’s BMW 318t; they ended up eighth overall. While, after spending several events sorting out minor teething issues with his exotic World Rally Championship (Wrc)–style VW Polo R, New Plymouth driver John Rae and co-driver Dave Leuthart enjoyed a strong and virtually trouble-free run this year to finish ninth, holding off the fastfinishing Porsche 911 GT3 of Tim James and John Mulrennan.
A classic case
As stated earlier, the HW Richardson Classic class went to Targa-event veterans Barry Kirk-burnnand and co-driver
Dave O’carroll. Second home was the locally conceived and built HQ Holden–based twodoor Cheetah sports convertible of Tony Butler and co-driver Joanne Jenson. Third was the Porsche 911 of fellow Aucklanders Eddie Grooten and Wade Maurice.
Anniversary event
With the three-day Targa Hawkes Bay over for another year, the focus of the Targa faithful turns to the full five-day 25thanniversary Targa New Zealand event, which will start in Taupo on 29 October and finish in Palmerston North on Saturday, 2 November.
Targa New Zealand events are organized by the Ultimate Rally Group, with the support of sponsors Andrewsimms.co.nz, Chicane Racewear, Global Security, HW Richardson Group, New Zealand Classic Car, Race Brakes, Race 4 Life Trust, Racetech, Team Talk, The Piako Group, Track It, and Writeraze.
For more information, go to targa.co.nz or check out the Targa New Zealand page on Facebook.