![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/502716537_1100996482062594_5486488529160877121_n.jpg\")
Dylan Thomson might well be the dark horse for not only this weekend\u2019s season-opening Central Machine Hire Otago Rally but also the Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Championship as a whole.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\tThomson the dark horse in 2026 championship<\/p>\n
Dylan Thomson might well be the dark horse for not only this weekend\u2019s season-opening Central Machine Hire Otago Rally but also the Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Championship as a whole.<\/p>\n
The perennial 2WD champion has secured the car that won the last two national championships under the driving of Ben Hunt \u2013 now the Palmside Skoda Fabia Rally 2 car will be in the hands of the talented Christchurch-based peddler.<\/p>\n
With Hunt enjoying retirement having stepped away at the conclusion of the 2025 season, Thomson joins a list of talented young drivers that includes Robbie Stokes, Jack Stokes and Jack Hawkeswood chasing a break-through championship in 2026.<\/p>\n
While all four drivers could lay a claim to being one to beat, Thomson has already displayed the ability to put together a championship, to minimise risks, maximise bad days by salvaging the most points possible \u2013 all the small things that when added up have a major impact on the points table.<\/p>\n
A decade ago, Thomson contested his first rally and since then he has been building for this moment \u2013 a chance to compete in the very best machinery against the best talent in the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve really been waiting all my life for this moment,\u201d an excited Thomson said. \u201cThe car is amazing to drive, and I can\u2019t wait to compete in an iconic event and on some of the best rally roads anywhere in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomson claimed a comfortable win in the lead-up to this event when he won the Westland Rally a fortnight ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were able to build throughout that event, and I felt like we were making great strides by the time we got to the end of it,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will have some serious competition at Otago, but I feel I\u2019m capable of matching it with the other contenders.\u201d<\/p>\n
With the highly regarded Bayden Thomson acting as co-driver, the Thomson cousins will be ones to watch when the rally begins with a ceremonial opening at the Octagon on Friday night and two days of competition over the weekend.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Thomson the dark horse in 2026 championship Dylan Thomson might well be the dark horse for not only…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":370111,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[111,43,139,69],"class_list":{"0":"post-370110","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-new-zealand","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-newzealand","11":"tag-nz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=370110"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370110\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/370111"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=370110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=370110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=370110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}