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Evo 10 takes top honours in the Targa Hawke’s Bay

30 May, 2019


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McKenzie and Sayers set an early lead and held onto it throughout three days
of torrid classic tarmac rally racing in the bay.


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Haydn McKenzie and co-driver Matt Sayers (Mitsubishi Evo 10 4WD) won the 2019 Targa Hawke’s Bay tarmac motor rally, held this year over three days from Friday May 17 to Sunday May 19, after managing a lead they held from midway through the first day.

The name Kirk-Burnnand remained at the top of the time sheets in the HW Richardson classic 2WD class too. This time it was the patriarch of the Auckland clan, Barry Kirk-Burnnand, and co-driver Dave O’Carroll (BMW E30 M3) who won the class.


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At the end of the first day and until the lunch break of the second, it looked like the Wellington branch of Targa’s ‘first family,’ Mark and co-driving dad Chris, were going to repeat their 2018 win in the HW Richardson Classic 2WD class in their virtually identical E30 M3.

But fate in the form of an electrical issue had other ideas. Mark and Chris were forced to put their car on the trailer at Turangi halfway through Day 2 and it was left to Barry and Dave to defend family honours.


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Up front it was all about Albany, Auckland ace Haydn McKenzie and his Hamilton-based mate and co-driver Matt Sayers as they led home teammates David Rogers and Aidan Kelly (Mitsubishi Evo 10) who were second, and finished just over two-and-a-half minutes up on 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 thrash from Rotorua to Havelock North, each pair claimed a class win.


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2019 Targa Hawke’s Bay results
Fri-Sun May 17-19, 2019

1. 981 Haydn McKenzie/Matthew Sayers (Mitsubishi Evo 10) 3:03:29.1
2. 961 David Rogers/Aidan Kelly (Mitsubishi Evo 10) 3:04:24.4 +0:55.3/+0:55.3
3. 756 Steven & Carl Kirk-Burnnand (BMW E36 318ti) 3:06:07.3 +2:38.2/+1:42.9
4. 667 Eddie Bell/Blair Forbes (BMW M3) 3:07:09.2 +3:40.1/+1:01.9
5. 966 Andrew Oakley/Steve Hutchins (Audi RS5) 3:12:24.9 +8:55.8/+5:15.7
6. 631 Mike Tubbs/Mike Vincent (BMW M2) 3:12:42.7 +9:13.6/+0:17.8
7. 988 Graeme Wong/Kim Blatchley (Subaru WRX) 3:14:47.1 +11:18.0/+2:04.4
8. 583 Jeremy Friar/James West (BMW E46 318ti) 3:16:05.9 +12:36.8/+1:18.8
9. 912 John Rae/Dave Leuthart (VW Polo R) 3:17:12.4 +13:43.3/+1:06.5
10. 699 Tim James/John Mulrennan (Porsche 996 GT3) 3:17:57.5 +14:28.4/+0:45.1


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The Targa Tour remains a popular part of the Targa Hawke’s Bay event. Photo credits: Fast Company/Ben Hughes@ProShotz.


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NZ Classic Car magazine, March/April 2026 issue 404, on sale now

22 February, 2026

BMW’s flagship techno showcase
The supermodel 1995 BMW 840Ci is simply elegant and perfectly engineered.
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Poster 1964 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, C2

Family pet

20 February, 2026

Diana and Fred Vermeulen from Manurewa, Auckland, have been involved with cars and car clubs for most of their married life. In the early days, it was all about Vauxhalls. At one stage they were president and secretary of the Vauxhall Owners Club. They have lost track of how many Vauxhalls have passed through their hands. Now, their garage contains a classic ’62 Oldsmobile and an ’80s Ford panel van, behind which is a kit car that few in this country will have heard of. It’s a Bulldog — the squat, flat-nosed dog with short legs beloved of the political cartoonists of last century as a symbol of the British spirit. For its automotive equivalent, most will think of the Austin Allegro.