Shredded wet tyres still steaming, it was a relieved and ecstatic Chris Henderson, of Dunedin, stepping out of his Toyota Corolla AE86 following his class win in the 1+01 endurance race at Highlands Motorsport Park yesterday.
''It doesn't get much better than that,'' a beaming recipient reports after some scorching hot laps with Southland's Inky Tulloch in his bellowing 650hp Camaro GT3 at Highlands Motorsport Park in Cromwell yesterday.
Rallying in conditions similar to those on his native South Canterbury roads, Hayden Paddon is well prepared to slog it out in the rain and mud at the 2015 FIA World Rally Championship's final round in Wales this weekend.
Dunedin rally driver Emma Gilmour has mastered the art of getting sideways in the Middle Eastern desert sand and in doing so, won a fully funded drive in a cross-country rally next year.
Wanaka's Braden Currie ran his way to runner-up in the World Xterra Championships in Hawaii yesterday in his third attempt at this race, which attractsa stellar field of international athletes.
There must be something in the water, bike trails and hills around Wanaka, as five athletes from the small town will be representing New Zealand at the World Xterra Championships in Hawaii on Sunday.
The South Island Endurance Series will go down to the wire in next Saturday's final round, with Allan Dippie and Scott O'Donnell holding a slim four-point lead.
Despite the bonnet of their Porsche 997 Cup S flying up and cracking their windscreen, Dunedin's Allan Dippie and Scott O'Donnell snatched a dramatic victory in the opening round of the South Island Endurance Series.
Dunedin rally driver Emma Gilmour will be exchanging the dirt roads of New Zealand for Qatar's sandy dunes after being selected to undertake a desert racing training camp in the Middle East.
Cheered on by legions of Kiwi fans, New Zealand's Hayden Paddon had a solid start to his WRC Rally of Australia yesterday.
Hayden Paddon's promotion to the primary Hyundai Motorsport squad and his season-long targeting of Rally Australia as his greatest chance for glory, all point to a podium finish on Sunday.
Some women's days out may involve getting a mani/pedicure at the mall. Wanaka skier Janina Kuzma's idea of fun with fellow females is nail-biting not pampered. She talked to Catherine Pattison.
In the past month, Wanaka athlete Dougal Allan has gone from the depths of despair in Canada to the heights of elation at the end of Ironman Sweden. He talked to Catherine Pattison about how he turned his season around.
It could be the plot of a motorsport movie.
The popularity of cross-country skiing in Norway and Sweden matches that of rugby in New Zealand, which makes competing in the discipline from this part of the world an uphill battle for Andy Pohl.
Sitting second in the US Xterra Championships but keen to test himself in different disciplines, Wanaka's Braden Currie has been dipping a toe in the water of 70.3 (half-ironman) racing in the United States and Ecuador recently.
Kiwi team Paddon and co-driver John Kennard head to the German round of the World Rally Championship this week with a fresh mindset for what will be the first tarmac event of the season.
You could say Wanaka skier Janina Kuzma has it all - she can rip up a big mountain freeski run, or throw down a series of inverted tricks in a halfpipe.
Balclutha driver Dean Bond battled with malfunctioning brakes and a sick co driver to win his third Catlins Coast Rally on Saturday.
Mosgiel's Steven Thompson (23) has been cutting his rallying teeth for the past five years, yet this weekend's Catlins Coast Rally remains an enigma for him.
