Campbell to defend title as Hawkeswood Mining North Island Rally Series gets underway

The 2025 Hawkeswood Mining North Island Rally Series (NIRS) gets underway this Sunday, 11 May 201,5, with the Ruarangi Rd Rallysprint run by the Northland Car Club.  Phil Campbell (Ford Fiesta AP4) tops the entry list as he returns to defend his 2024 NIRS title.

Also doubling as the third round of the Newstead Lodge Northern Rallysprint Series, the one-day event is known for its high speed, cresty gravel road and has been compared to the 1000 Lakes stages at WRC Finland and is not for the faint-hearted.

Campbell will be under pressure right from the start with Quentin Palmer competing in his new Skoda Fabia Evo2.  Palmer finished runner-up to Campbell last year, driving a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 5.  Charlie Evans is also making a return in his Mazda RX7.  Last season, Evans won the Class D (2WD 2001 and over) title in a Honda Civic from Dave Strong (Honda Jazz), who also lines up this Sunday in a Ford Fiesta S2000.

Local hotshot Ben Huband will be keen to keep the front runners honest in his Subaru Impreza, whilst talented young rookie Alex Johnstone will be competing in his first ever rallysprint in his Mazda 323 GTX.

“We have a great variety of pilots and machinery lined up for this exciting Event” said NIRS coordinator Marty Roestenburg “Bradley Stewart and William Menzies are making the big haul North all the way from Dannevirke to compete”

The Ruarangi Rd, Mangapai Rallysprint (South of Whangarei) comprises approximately 7.0km of ridge top gravel road run in a South to North anticlockwise direction.  The event gets underway at 10 am with a familiarisation run for the field of 40 cars. Competitors will then have up to four timed runs, and the fastest two cars in each class will have a fifth run to determine the class winners as per the Northern Rallysprint series Rules and Regulations.

The NIRS competitors times over the four runs will be cumulative, and they must retain the same co-driver throughout the competition to qualify for points.

2025 Hawkeswood Mining North Island Rally Series Calendar

• Round 1: 11 May Ruarangi Rd Rallysprint – think 1000 Lakes crests!
• Round 2: 12 July SBT Group Taranaki Tarmac – based back in New Plymouth –  new route 
• Round 3: 23 August Rally Coromandel – back after a 6-year hiatus!
• Round 4: 21 September Rally Waitomo – Clubman’s
• Round 5: 11 October Battery Town Rally Bay of Plenty 
• NIRS Prizegiving – 22 November, Mt. Richmond

Prepared by SB Networks on behalf of the North Island Rally Series