The Viking Motorsports Team is headed up by former World Rally Champion co-driver Phil Mills, who co-drove Petter Solberg to world championship glory in 2003. Phil was running three cars. His team manager and co-ordinator was Iain Tullie, ex M-Sport team co-ordinator and seven time LeJog gold medal winner. Phil was also running three times British Rally champion Matt Edwards, who was co-driving and mentoring racer-turned-rally man Bonamy Grimes, a fascinating character who is also an endurance cyclist who had previously ridden over some of the rally territory of New Zealand. As a rally driver with Matt Edwards, the crew finished eighth overall, a great top 10 finish.
The Silver Fern Rally had some incredible stages with some amazing names, Sheep Dip Road for example! Another great stage wound around the edge of the ever so blue Lake Lyndon, this incredible lake stage had a speed restriction in one part as there were no divers or safety boats! Then the Middle Valley Road, which was 33 kilometres in length heading towards the snowcapped mountains of the Southern Alps in the South Island, most UK teams agreeing with Jardine when he said that all he wanted to do was “stop the car and take a picture!”
Pig Saddle Road was tight and twisty through a forest in contrast to the super-fast stages. Then there were mountain passes, raw and unforgiving, step-up to the heavens through the 28km Myers Pass! With a fast beginning and end, but a major climb to tight fresh air hairpins and huge drops on each side, it proved to be an adrenalin rush, especially the second run the other way in thick fog!
Rolled Stratos was able to undergo some rapid repairs in its reversed position
Geoff Ridder and Peter Whitten
Whilst the heat and dust hard caused some visibility issues, the stages, especially over some rutted sections, were also a challenge. Jardine told team boss Jeff Judd that he was grateful for the Pirelli choice of their hard tyres, as others either punctured or went through softer tyres at an alarming rate.
The rally was loving rookies Phil Kadoorie and another ‘out of place’ champion, co-driver RAC and Safari-winning Ryan Champion in the crowd-wowing Lancia Stratos, bringing its Ferrari-engined sound track to New Zealand for the first time. The 1972 Stratos HF sadly ended up on its roof, neither crew hurt, yet even while it was still upside down, the quick-thinking service crew managed to get into the stage, replacing the uprights on the damaged car even before it had been righted! Kadoorie and Champion got it back into action as soon as possible, finally finishing 17th having been in the top ten. “I have to come back in 2026 to redeem myself, what a rally!” said Phil afterwards.
There were some other accidents, sadly for William Midgley, who was in the famous, historic Midgley Toyota Corolla 1600 GT brought all the way over from UK and co-driven by the man who’s navigated it through most of its history, Geoff Maybank. They ended up upside down, a long way down a bank wedged between trees, but after hauling it out and deciding on a policy of no surrender, a day of body hammers and repairs delivered them back into the rally. The crew finished 34th overall, a brave effort indeed.