Waikuku’s Robbie Stokes and co-driver Amy Stokes convincingly won the 2021 Canterbury Rally.
This was despite a failing alternator at the end of the final stage.
The family pairing won all the previous six special stages of the one-day event, but limped out of the final stage in the Ashley Forest, with concerns that they may not make it to the controlled finish in Christchurch.
Stokes was going to compete in his father’s Ford Escort but made a last-minute switch to his Ford Fiesta AP4, in which they are competing in the New Zealand Rally Championship.
The rally was the third round of the 2021 Mainland Rally Championship, which saw Michael Tall/Matt Richards ina Mitsubishi Mirage second home ahead of Marcus van Klink/Dave Neill, in a Mazda RX8, and Jeff Judd/Alex Parkin fourth in a Ford Escort RS2000.
Second quickest in the first four stages was Robbie Stokes’ national and local North Canterbury rival team, Matt Summerfield/Nicole Summerfield, in a Subaru WRX.
Back competing in their older Subaru, the Summerfields had to battle a gearbox issue then a broken gear shift lever, and lost time against the top contenders, eventually finishing 16th.
While admitting that the day had been character-building, the Summerfields did win the final run through the Ashley Forest — special stage 7.
- John Cosgrove
