As much as we love to highlight the outstanding achievements of our volunteers within the rally scene and community, we would like to take an opportunity to highlight the amazing work some of you do outside of our world to!

On this occasion I’d like to the opportunity to congratulate what would be fair to call a veteran of our scene; and a newer face who people may not have had the pleasure of meeting just yet.

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Starting with old reliable; Keith Williams has been a staple of the RNZ team for longer than I’ve been on the planet! Whether its out and about delivering resident letters, helping in the documentation/secretariat room or being a part of our legendary CRO crew, Keith will always be there with a smile on his face, a willingness to ensure the job is done to the best of its ability and a joke in reserve just to keep you on your toes.  

Keith decided after many years of playing in the mud that he would go and see what all this circuit racing nonsense was. Joining up with our good friends at the motorsport club, Keith unsurprisingly quickly became a crucial and beloved part of the CRO team there too, taking his skills and experience to help train a new generation of CRO’s, some of whom have returned the favour and joined us in the gravel.  

For his dedication, Sportsmanship and Enthusiasm The Motorsport Club was honoured to award Keith the Delwyn Memorial Trophy at their annual awards night a few days ago, highlighting his true passion and natural leadership which have extended well and truly into the entire motorsport world.

Thankyou Keith – we appreciate your efforts and can’t wait to spend many more years working alongside you!
(3rd from right in image below)

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The Other Person we wanted to highlight is a new edition to the zero-car crew. Michael Howe began his volunteering adventure in reverse of Keith, starting as a flag marshal at Pukekohe (RIP) and Hampton Downs respectively.

He then was given an opportunity to become one the start line crew and never looked back. Michael – affectionately known as Chief to many became exactly that, making the start line his own for events of all calibre, including being the Chief Starter for Supercars, CTFROC (Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship) and every other major event happening in that part of the world.

Having to put up with some terrible company including myself along the way, we managed to convince Michael to jump over and give rallying a go where he joined the crew for Whangarei and WRC events, where he is quickly learning and becoming a strong and valued member of our team.

Michael was also recognised for his achievements at The Motorsport Awards night and where his passion, leadership, commitment, enthusiasm and just generally being a good bugger stood out to the level he was awarded the Volunteer of The Year award!

If you haven’t had a chance to meet Michael yet, then make sure you do! It’s awesome to have you on board mate and hope to see your face more over the coming years.
(Bottom right image)

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To both of you from the RNZ community, congratulations boys! Keep representing yourselves and the RNZ group out there and show them just how awesome we really are! Your accomplishments really show the dedication and skill it takes to keep our sport thriving, and we appreciate you both!