In an thrilling Sunday finale to the Central Machine Hire Otago Rally, overall leaders Ben Hunt, Robbie Stokes, and Jack Stokes treated fans to an epic battle at the front of the field.

Each driver had a case to make for their chances at the overall win, and the leaderboard changed right from the opening stage.

A slow time on the opener dropped Hunt to third, and it was a battle for the Skoda driver to get back.

Hunt’s small time loss elevated the Stokes brothers Robbie and Jack to first and second, respectively, with the leading trio separated by just 8.2 seconds after the opener.

A second stage win for the younger Stokes, Jack, on stage 11 was his last. On the following test, a stick punctured his radiator in the Berwick Forest forcing his retirement.

At the final service break at the picturesque Lake Waihola, Robbie Stokes led by 7.4 seconds.

With Taieri Beach and Kuri Bush to come, pundits knew Stokes’ lead was ever-valuable.

Hunt’s push on the penultimate stage got him within a tenth of a second of Stokes, resulting in a near winner-takes-all battle on the last stage.

Over the final 15 kilometres, it was Hunt who came out on top, clinching his first Otago Rally victory.

“We’ve never won Otago, we’ve been so close many times,” Hunt said at the rally’s end.

“I don’t know actually what the difference was, but Robbie and his brother Jack were awesome all weekend.”

Stokes’s second place equals his best result at Otago from 12 months ago and is a great start to his time in a new Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo.

Jack Hawkeswood followed up his 2024 win with another podium this year, while Josh Marston and Emma Gilmour completed the overall top five.

Meanwhile, in the Otago International Classic Rally, it was Deane Buist who collected his fourth victory.

It’s a result that further etches his name into the history pages of the event.

Buist and co-driver Karl Celeste were aware of their speed deficit to the two pre-event favourites, Hayden Paddon and Kris Meeke, but they were ever-consistent eventually coming out on top by a minute and a half.

Meeke was a class above through the opening day and took every stage win, however, his substantial overnight lead wouldn’t last long.

On the 33-kilometre Akatore stage, Meeke punctured a tyre and lost more than five minutes in the Rossendale Wines Ford Escort RS1800.

That elevated Buist into the lead, and he didn’t look back, clinching victory despite not winning a single stage.

“It’s good… lucky, really,” Buist told Colin Clark at the end of the final stage.

“I knew I couldn’t beat those guys, so I just knew I had to beat the rest, and unfortunately for Kris, it didn’t go his way.”

For Irishman Meeke, it was a case of what might have been, however, his second trip to Dunedin was just as special as his first.

“What a rally, honestly,” he said.

“We had our troubles this morning. (On) one stage it all went with a puncture, lost the intercom and everything.

“If there’s one thing to do in your life is to do Otago Rally in a Mk2 Escort, it’s simply sublime. I’ll be back, that’s for sure!”

Hayden Paddon, returning after his steering problems on Saturday, took multiple stage wins, including the scratch Classic time on the final Kuri Bush stage.

Paddon’s stage win was only a tenth of a second clear of Meeke, highlighting the talent of the closely matched former WRC stars.

Behind Buist and Meeke on the podium was New Zealand young gun Ari Pettigrew in a Nissan-powered Ford Escort.

Ben Harding was the only non-Escort in the top seven, piloting his Mazda RX7 to fourth, with Stephen Gill in fifth overall.

In the Classic 4WD Rally, Tim Smith drove a fine rally to win, while the Allcomers class went to James Worker’s Mitsubishi that also collected an impressive sixth overall.

Sunday’s action also included Hayden Paddon’s run through the world-renowned Kuri Bush stage in his former WRC-winning car.

Paddon, alongside co-driver John Kennard, set a new stage record in their Hyundai i20 World Rally Car, wowing the thousands of spectators stage-side for the historic moment.

The event is grateful to the Dunedin City Council for Premier Event funding.