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

30 May, 2019

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

Motorman: Blame it on Rio!

22 May, 2025

Following the third polite advisory, I figured there had to be a fair degree of substance to the warning. “If this is your first visit to Rio de Janeiro, please be careful,” came the personal hushed dialogue from the pleasant hostesses on a far from crowded Varig flight from Los Angeles to the famous Brazilian seaside city.
The previous evening I had flown into LA from Auckland en route to the 1985 international launch of the Fiat Uno Turbo. I was prepared for another long haul of just under 12 hours across Mexico, central America, Colombia, and central Brazil to that nation’s third largest city. Surprisingly the 10,500km run from Los Angeles to Rio is actually longer than the 8800km LA-London air route.
With the journey including a brief stopover in Honolulu I expected to travel just under 44,000km for the return journey to sample what was to be a low-volume version of a popular Italian car that would sell in even lower numbers in New Zealand. I like to think this shows nothing more than my deep commitment to my craft. In fact, even though I became lost on the homeward journey my total air miles would be little different.

Pinnacle Porsche

15 May, 2025

We were stopped at the side of the road, setting up the next photograph, when a faded Toyota slowed alongside and stopped. The window was already down to give the driver a good look.
“That’s my dream car,” he said, speaking for more than a few of us.
He drank in the gleaming red paint, shining in the sun, and the car’s purposeful swoops and curves. He exhaled half a lungful of cigarette smoke, gave a hang 10–style thumbs up and drove off.
On the side of the road, against a clear blue background, the Porsche stood out in all its stark red glory. It’s the classic 911 shape on steroids. It has the fat, even pouty, front lip of the G series 911s, added to comply with 5mph bumper restrictions in the US. It also has the oversized haunches to accommodate the wider rear wheels and tyres – a first for Porsche, which also confirmed its supercar credentials – and, most noticeably of all, that enormous whale-tail spoiler. They made it look as if Porsche had abandoned its restraint.

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

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