Nathan Roa Rally

When Ben Huband asked if I was available for the 50th running of Central Machine Hire Otago Rally this year it was an opportunity I was never going to say no to. Its an event with a special aura in New Zealand and ever since I started this codriving thing its been something Ive wanted to do.

The excitement starts well before the first stage with getting the notes and doing recce - seeing just how many times some variation of a crest is noted is eye opening for someone who's only ever done North Island events. Then you have the ceremonial start in the Dunedin octagon packed to the brim with cars, crews, spectators and media. Spent some time on the supplied notes adjusting from our recce but mostly focussed on getting some good sleep to be sharp for 2 big days of fast gravel stages. We had 2 objectives - have fun first and foremost and get the car back on the trailer (although as Ben kept saying: "it will go on the trailer one way or another" 😂)

We opened our rally on saturday morning with 2 stages of complete opposites. SS1 we set the 7th fastest time of 142 cars which for me is easily a personal best. Part of the way through Ben discovered the steering had shifted alignment, but we werent sure how or why yet...

In SS2 the problem nearly ended our rally in when Ben tried to turn in on a tight corner and the wheel spun freely in its linkage, the splines on the shaft/linkage had worn out! We were lucky to get out of the stage and back to service in Lawrence with only about 2 minutes lost and not stuck down a bank somewhere. The team managed to fix the issue with some quick thinking and we were back out for our next loop. Great job team!

The rally started to bare its teeth in the next few stages with many cars having mechanicals or crashes, some very serious. I dont believe there were any major injuries luckily. There was also a lot of dust to contend with, and these factors started to influence us a bit to not be fully committed and focus on being there at the end. We still managed a 9th fastest time on the longest stage of the rally, Tuapeka.

We ended day 1 with a strange small power loss 8km into the 31km SS6. It felt like we lost that last bit of punch from the car and so had to focus on trying to carry speed and make it to the end. It fixed itself by SS7 and then we had the final stage in town on tarmac with heaps of people watching!

Sunday brought a dusty start to the morning but by midday it had started to rain significantly. This was reflected in our times, we started off dialled back but were setting top ten times again in the second half of the day when the rain removed the dust and Ben could see the road again. Our favourite was probably Taieri Beach (we felt like we were back home in the North Island 😂) and of course the legendary Kuri Bush. Ben had never driven this stage and I had never been through it full stop so to drive as committed as we did and get through cleanly (apart from one corner... 😅) was awesome. We were both fizzing by the end - this stage is even BETTER than people say it is (if thats even possible) and such a rewarding experience. We finished 11th overall.

This rally is not just about the racing either and I had a great time with the PQC/Vanuatu team and all the other crews you end up spending time with either in a pub somewhere, on the stages or in the airports to and from the event.

Overall really happy with how the event went, im trying to get better every time and this was a great opportunity to do that. These stages demand good pacing on the notes and good reading of the road to identify exactly which crest you are on as they all start to look the same and the consequences for getting it wrong are bigger than normal. Ben drove great and we had a nice clean 'moment' free rally (once the steering was fixed 😅). Ben is pretty handy as a codriver too and had a few tips for me over the course of the event especially around the admin side of things.

Big thanks to Ben, Nicole and the PQC Motorsport team for having me, and a big thanks to my wife Hannah for supporting me to do this despite us being so early into parenthood and the Roa/Blackie whanau as well for their help.

Back to my usual gig with Carlin Leong Racing at our favourite Rally Waitomo on May 17th and I cant wait to bring a bit more experience to our season as we continue to work towards our goals 🤙

📸
Geoff Ridder
Replay Images/John Slater
Josh Kelly

Just over a year ago I drove a campervan down Kuri bush on my honeymoon for a bit of a look (thanks .jane.93 😂) thinking that one day I might get the chance to do it for real. Little did I know I’d only have to wait another year! Can’t wait to jump into the Subaru Impreza this weekend with Ben Huband for my first taste of South Island gravel at . Thanks to as well for the annual leave 😂

Such a good feeling to be doing something competitive again, and as part of a pretty awesome team. Massive thanks to this amazing community of volunteers, supporters and competitors who make this all possible and all the experienced people took the time to have a chat and help a rookie learn a thing or two. Loved every minute rallying and all the experiences and memories that have been made this year. Its been a privilege to tautoko Carlin Leong in the car - mate your drive and resilience not just this season but the whole time I've known you to get to where we are now has been an inspiration.

North Island Rallysprint Series
1st Overall Co-drivers Champion
2nd Class E 4WD

North Island Rally Series
1st Class B 2WD 1301-1600cc (thanks Matt!)

Carlin also won Star of the Sprint Series and Rookie of the Year for the rally series

Couldnt have done it without Subtech Subaru, , Speedy L**e & Tyre ,

2nd 📸 Dan Mickleson

Nice way to end a challenging first season in rallying! Nathan took home 1st place overall co-driver for the Northern Rallysprint series while I collected 2nd overall as well as the ‘Listos Star of the series’ award which was a real honour. Also got 1st Rookie for the North Island Rally Series which Nate missed out on as I forgot to register him as a rookie. Sorry mate 😂 Congrats to for taking out the top spot, can’t wait for next year. Thanks to everyone who helped us out this year, would not have been possible without you all, and my sponsors Subtech Subaru, , Speedy L**e & Tyre,