The Central Machine Hire Otago Rally has secured a major international coup for its milestone 50th Anniversary event, confirming that Australian motorsport superstar Toby Price will join the field this April 10-12.

Price, a two-time winner of the gruelling Dakar Rally in the motorcycle category (2016, 2019), has recently made a seamless transition to four wheels.

The off-road legend is fresh from the 2026 Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia, where he drove a factory-backed Toyota Hilux to an historic eighth-place finish — the best-ever result for an Australian in the car category.

Price holds a record nine Finke Desert Race titles and has rapidly come onto the scene in the Australian Rally Championship, with several national starts now under his belt.

His entry into the Central Machine Hire Otago Rally is expected to significantly boost international interest in the event, which is already shaping up to be the largest in its half-century history.

For his New Zealand debut, Price will get behind the wheel of a brand-new Toyota GR Yaris, prepared by Auckland’s Force Motorsport.

The four-wheel drive, sequential-gearbox machine is the first car built for the newly announced GR Yaris Rally Cup, a one-make series set to launch in New Zealand in 2027.

“I jumped at the opportunity to compete at the Otago Rally; it’s got a big reputation in Australia,” Price said.

“I can’t wait for the challenge of driving on those fast, smooth Otago roads against a quality field, and I’m really looking forward to meeting the New Zealand drivers and fans.

"To drive a brand-new Toyota GR Yaris is a dream — it's such an awesome car."

Event spokesperson Roger Oakley welcomed the addition of the Australian icon.

"This 50th Anniversary event is shaping up to be huge; we are expecting up to 30 international teams to join the New Zealand field. 

“We’re delighted Toby is coming to the Central Machine Hire Otago Rally. He’s achieved a huge amount in motorsport, especially in the intensely demanding field of desert racing.

"Equally, his achievements in rallying are increasingly competitive. He’s a great ambassador for motorsport and an inspiration to young people.”

Tony McConachy of Force Motorsport echoed the excitement.

“When we conceived the GR Yaris Cup, the aim was to attract a wide range of competitors with a high-performing car. Having Toby as the first driver is a thrill, and we are really looking forward to working with him.”

The Central Machine Hire Otago Rally will feature 280 competitive kilometres across 15 special stages on Dunedin’s world-renowned gravel roads.

More than 120 teams are expected to enter the event, which serves as a round of the Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Championship, the FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship, and the TER Series.

The Otago Rally acknowledges and thanks the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment for support through its Events Boost Fund, and the City of Dunedin for Premier Event support.

New Zealanders Hayden Paddon and John Kennard have done the job they were tasked with doing: get to the finish of Rally Monte Carlo.  

The opening round of the 2026 FIA World Rally Championship, which ran 22 to 25 January, lived up to its unpredictable reputation with snow, ice slush and mud making the 17 special stages of twisty asphalt roads through the French Alps of this year’s edition of Rally Monte Carlo every bit as challenging as it’s ever been.  

Add in the fact that Paddon and Kennard were learning the Hyundai i20 Rally1 car, plus the short preparation timeframe and it’s understandable to hear Paddon say it’s been one of the most mentally and physically challenging rallies of his life.  

The Kiwis finished just outside the points in 11th place. They finished Thursday evening’s first three stages in a creditable eight place, improved to seventh place by the end of Friday, but despite trying to balance speed with low risk on Saturday, they were caught out by worsening weather and road conditions, slipping off SS12 into a paddock. Fans helped them get the car back on the road but the time delay dropped them to 13th overnight. They came through Sunday’s final four stages to improve to 11th overall.  

Paddon says, “We got to the finish which was obviously the first objective. I knew it was going to be a big learning process, and the conditions made that learning process a lot harder than it should have been. Sometimes we had some good splits, less than a second a kilometre off the times of our teammates, so there were a few positives but we didn’t put it together consistently enough over the weekend. Conditions were very hard to be learning the car as well.  

“Honestly, I’ve dreaded coming back to this event over the last six weeks since I got the call. I never wanted to come back to this place, but it was obviously an amazing opportunity and I’ve loved it. From this, I think I can move forward now, it’s like a weight off my shoulders. To be fair, I probably should have come back here eight years ago. I thought I moved on but when I got told I was coming back, you know, this has been the most challenging six weeks of my life. But I’m a professional and I knew what my job was to do.  

“The conditions were tougher than what everyone expected and it didn’t get any easier as the rally went on. The margin for error was very small, knowing our job was to finish the rally. Driving was a balancing act which I struggled to get right. But it’s Monte Carlo and you’ve got to remind yourself you’ve very lucky to be here.”  

Hyundai Motorsport will reveal which other 2026 WRC rallies Paddon and Kennard are doing with the team in due course. Meanwhile the team heads to Rally Sweden in the middle of February with Finnish pairing Esapekka Lappi and Enni Malkonen in the third Hyundai i20 Rally1 car.  

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It’s the news Kiwi rally fans have been hoping for – New Zealanders Hayden Paddon and John Kennard are returning to compete in the FIA World Rally Championship with Hyundai Motorsport in 2026!  

Paddon and Kennard have been asked to rejoin Hyundai Motorsport for a part-time programme in the 2026 WRC. The popular Kiwis are confirmed to contest the opening WRC round, Monte Carlo, running 22 to 25 January in a Hyundai i20 N Rally1 car. The other drivers running the team’s third Hyundai i20 N Rally1 have been confirmed as Dani Sordo and Esapekka Lappi.  

Paddon says, “There’s a lot of emotion – a mix of excitement, anxiety and just wanting to get going. That’s the best way to describe getting the call-up from Hyundai Motorsport to return to the World Rally Championship. It’s certainly not what we expected but we’ve never given up with all the programmes we’ve been doing over the last eight years all over the world.”  

Fresh from winning his first Australian Rally Championship in 2025 after two back-to-back European Rally Championship titles in 2023 and 2024, Paddon appreciates the significance of this opportunity where he’s expected to contest three to five WRC rounds.  

“It’s massive,” says Paddon. “A pinch yourself moment to think that eight years after we were last in the WRC, we’re going back. That’s pretty unheard of. So many people believed in us for so many years. Of course, we’re going to take this opportunity with both hands and do the best job we can and see what we can make of it.”  

He's very aware what’s expected of him. “It’s a different mindset to what it was eight or ten years ago when you’re young and ambitious and it was all about trying to win rallies and be a world champion. This time around it’s about being a team player. We have a very clear role to play to within the team and that’s in a supporting role, to collect points and be consistent. I guess we can back ourselves in what we’ve been good at doing over the past few years all over the world, and have solid experience and some wisdom to lean into. I guess that’s one of good things of being older, and we’ll try to use that to our best advantage.”  

The 2026 season will mark Paddon and Kennard’s 21st year rallying together.  

“It’s great to continue this partnership with John and it’s also great to see our loyalty to the Hyundai brand, which started 12 years ago, has helped create this opportunity,” said Paddon. 

“I’m hugely thankful to so many people to make this happen. Obviously there’s a lot of work to do in a short space of time as we head into rallies that we don’t have so much experience of and not necessarily rallies that you’d call favourites but we’ll take the opportunities we’re being given make the most of it.”  

Kennard is also excited to have this new opportunity. “I’m super happy that Hayden and I will be competing in WRC events with Hyundai Motorsport again. I’ll be working equally as hard as Hayden to make the most of the opportunities.”  

This coming weekend, Paddon is competing in a Hyundai i20 N Rally2 car in a French tarmac rally, Rallye National Hivernal du Devoluy, with UK co-driver Jack Morton alongside for the first time. The asphalt rally, in the south-east of France, is renowned as a Monte Carlo warm-up. Paddon joins Hyundai team-mate Adrien Fourmaux at the event, who’ll pilot a Rally1 car.

Two-time World Rally Champion Kalle Rovanperä’s single seater journey will begin in January in New Zealand in the Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Trophy.

In a symbolic first step, he will join the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing-supported championship to begin a transformational process that the young star hopes will take him to the top level of circuit racing.  

Speaking after confirming his retirement from rallying, the 25-year-old Finn made it clear he has his sights set on progressing towards the highest levels of single seaters, which will include Super Formula in 2026.  

“It has not been an easy choice by any means,” he explained. “I have already achieved so much in rallying and I have achieved those things at a young age.  

“It feels like the right timing to pursue my next dreams and challenges. We’ve been making some good plans to prepare the best ways possible so that I can make the most of this opportunity. I’m really looking forward to pushing myself in the world of single seater.”  

His single seater circuit racing journey will begin with Hitech in the highly-regarded Castrol Toyota FR Oceania Trophy. The 2026 championship will race over four consecutive weekends with two rounds in New Zealand’s North Island and two in the South Island, including the concluding event of the 2026 season – the 70th New Zealand Grand Prix at Highlands Motorsport Park.  

All of the championship’s circuits are highly-respected for their challenging and unforgiving characteristics and are the perfect training ground to prepare drivers for northern hemisphere campaigns. 

Rovanperä will compete in Japan’s Super Formula championship which begins in April 2026 at Motegi, just two months after his campaign in NZ concludes.  

The NZ championship will be the good opportunity for Kalle to gain more experience of circuit racing, which has been limited to races in the Porsche GT3 Cup during 2024 when he enjoyed a year out from full-time rallying after winning back-to-back World Rally Championship titles in 2022 and 2023.  

He joined Toyota and the WRC’s top level aged just 19 in 2020 and during the following three years set new standards in the sport. He became the championship’s youngest-ever podium finisher, youngest-ever rally winner and then youngest-ever world champion when he clinched his first title at Rally New Zealand the day after his 22nd birthday.  

Fans will be able to follow Kalle’s progress in the championship easily. Qualifying will be livestreamed on TOYOTA GAZOO Racing’s YouTube channel. Races will also be on that channel and on SkySport domestically in New Zealand. Races will also be streamed live on the Motorsport.TV platform.