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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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Range Rover CSK — the original SUV

5 June, 2026

The Range Rover, thanks to Charles Spencer King, went into production in 1970 boasting an iconic shape that would last until 1996. The vehicle that would create the SUV moniker came about because Rover decided it was time to add a bigger four-wheel-drive vehicle, one with a 100-inch wheelbase, to the model range. Land Rover made a 109-inch wheelbase model but the standard vehicle had a 88-inch wheelbase.
The new model would be more suitable for road use than the existing Land Rover, which was considered to be predominantly for rural use. To make sure it could cope on any road it came standard with the Rover 3.5-litre V8 engine. The body design was originally sketched by King and went into production with only a few minor touch-ups by the Rover styling team.
According to King, “The idea was to combine the comfort and on-road ability of a Rover saloon with the off-road ability of a Land Rover. Nobody was doing it.”

Ford’s Mustang – the endlessly hip American dream machine

28 May, 2026

Fifty or so years ago, the only place in New Zealand to see a Ford Mustang was on the racetrack. In a local market severely constrained by a lack of new motor vehicles, the new North American Ford was a dreamy icon boosted by considerable motorsport success.
Import licences for cars were limited, and if Kiwis travelled abroad, the amount of currency they could take with them was restricted. What’s more, those funds could not be used to buy a car for importation back home. Yet it was OK to spend the money on heavy drinking at a London pub, Gucci shoes, sable fur coats, and excessive stays at the Hôtel Martinez at Cannes in France.
However, any rare Mustang that landed on our shores would not be destined to pose around Auckland’s then trendy Queen Street on a Friday night but would more likely be found in the care of well-known racing drivers on the starting grid at local motor racing tracks.