Two days of racing on the Waimakariri River have delivered a weekend defined by tight margins, smart river craft and several remarkable turnarounds across the fleet. From Saturday’s sharp circuit laps at the SH1 Bridge to Sunday’s demanding two-leg Stuart Blanchard Memorial Race, the Golden Homes Waimakariri River Race Weekend 2025 showcased why river racing remains one of New Zealand’s most compelling motorsport codes.
Across both days, patterns emerged. Some teams converted Saturday’s speed into full-river success. Others struggled on the circuit before storming back into contention on Sunday. Foster overturns Saturday’s result to claim the Stuart Blanchard Memorial Trophy
Saturday’s Circuit Race was decided by two seconds: Andrew Scott (NZ1) took the win in 23:00, just ahead of Richard Foster (185) on 23:02. It was the kind of margin that promised a fierce rematch on the river, and Sunday delivered it.
In the Stuart Blanchard Memorial Race, Foster and co-driver Brent Miller produced a complete performance. Their combined time of 46:23 came from a strong 23:43 upstream leg and a faster 22:40 downstream run. Scott and co-driver Nigel Young finished second in 48:50, unable to match Foster’s pace on either leg.
Across the weekend, Foster went from a narrow runner-up to clear event champion and the new holder of the Stuart Blanchard Memorial Trophy.
Behind them, Byron Campbell and Tuffy Harkerss maintained consistency across both days. Campbell sat fourth overall on Saturday and finished third in Unlimited on Sunday. His weekend lconfirmed a reliable package over both sprint and endurance distances.
A Class: Kelly shows river strength, Hill dominates the short course
A Class produced some of the clearest contrasts between Saturday’s sprint format and Sunday’s long course.
On the circuit, Justin Hill and Scott Smith were dominant. Their 25:00 lap was not only fastest in class but placed them third overall, ahead of several Unlimited entries. However, Sunday told a different story.
Joseph Kelly and Sean Keals won A Class with a combined 50:30 (26:50 upstream, 23:40 downstream). Kelly’s upstream time was especially notable, faster than multiple CX and FX-Evo boats and only a little behind the Unlimited leaders.
Garth Campbell and Allan Jeffcott finished second in 1:03:41, comfortably ahead of Hill’s 1:10:03. Hill’s Sunday time reveals exactly where the shift occurred: a DNF 35:58 upstream leg, and a DNS for his downstream run.
It would have been fascinating to see how Hill’s proven speed stacked up against Kelly across both Sunday legs.
CX Class: DNFs on Saturday, domination on Sunday
CX delivered one of the most interesting cross-day reversals.
Saturday’s Circuit Race
- 1st: Riley Smith – 27:13
- 2nd: Damian Pulley – 28:16
- 3rd: Craig Robinson – 29:30
- DNF: Brad Monk, Mike Pooley
Sunday’s Stuart Blanchard Memorial Race
- 1st: Brad Monk and Kent Patterson – 52:07
- 2nd: Riley Smith and Zane Rich – 53:03
- 3rd: Damian Pulley and Paul Cross – 54:57
- 4th: Mike Pooley and Zane Rich – 57:57
- 5th: Craig Robinson and Paul Baxter – 1:03:45
The turnaround is dramatic: two Saturday DNFs, Monk and Pooley, finished Sunday inside the top four in class.
Monk’s combined time placed him fourth overall across all classes. Smith followed in fifth overall, showing consistent speed over both days.
For Robinson, the opposite trend emerged: third on Saturday, fifth on Sunday after a slow upstream leg of 34:27. CX ultimately proved the most dynamic class of the weekend.
FX-Evo: Christie remains perfect as Howley finds form
The FX-Evo class saw the heaviest attrition on Saturday, with only one finisher, Shane Christie, in 34:55.
On Sunday, Christie and co-driver Matthew Thomson repeated the performance, winning in 1:05:28 and finishing ninth overall.
Behind them, Regan Howley and Ollie Sharpe delivered a strong rebound from Saturday’s DNF, finishing second in the Memorial with 1:06:57, only 1:29 behind Christie over two legs.
Nick Sullivan and Roger Wilson completed the class in 1:35:22, their downstream time of 51:50 the slowest single leg of the day.
Cross-category patterns
Looking across both days:
- Unlimited remains the benchmark, but A Class and CX boats regularly break into the top four overall, proving the river rewards precision as much as horsepower.
- The top four overall on Sunday: Foster, Scott, Kelly, and Monk represent U, U, A and CX, no-longer a rare spread in New Zealand river racing, highlighting how balanced the modern fleet is.
- Several boats showed class-specific strengths: Hill for sprinting, Kelly for river pace, Monk for resilience, Christie for consistency.
- The event offered a reminder that Saturday’s DNFs do not define Sunday; especially in CX and FX-Evo, where multiple crews recovered strongly.
A successful and competitive weekend
With strong competition across all classes and clear improvement from many teams between Saturday and Sunday, the Golden Homes Waimakariri River Race Weekend 2025 delivered a memorable edition. The combination of sprint pace, river endurance and class-wide turnarounds ensured tight racing and a deserving set of final winners.
