Eastern Southland Marks 70 Years as 16-Year-Old Becomes Youngest Club Champion
Archive photo: anniversary panel guest Hayden Paddon (right) with John Kennard celebrating at Rally Argentina on April 24, 2016—not Ryan Howden or the 2026 Gore ceremony. Photo: McKlein / Hyundai Motorsport via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0. Resized for display.
Eastern Southland Car Club’s 70th-anniversary celebrations paired decades of local motoring history with a new generation of competitors. In an October 19, 2026 report, MotorSport New Zealand named 16-year-old Ryan Howden the club’s youngest champion.
Two championships, not one points table
Howden won the 2025/2026 overall club championship with 162 points, ahead of his father Glenn on 133 and Neville Krammer on 131. His margin was 29 points. He separately won the ClubSport championship on 143 points, ahead of Craig Jessop’s 122 and Glenn Howden’s 112. The two totals belong to different competitions.
The dinner at Croydon Lodge in Gore also recognized volunteers. David Kirk, Brigg Henderson, Glenn Howden and Ismay Howden received life memberships. Rally guests including Hayden Paddon and Emma Gilmour joined a question-and-answer panel.
The celebration was not held on the report’s publication date
The October 19 account describes the function as having taken place recently. An October 7 preview by Lindsay Beer for Talk Motorsport scheduled the anniversary evening for Saturday, October 10. The fresh report supplies the awards outcome; October 19 should not be mistaken for the date of the dinner.
That earlier account traces the group’s beginnings to an Eastern Southland branch of the Southland Sports Car Club in 1954, followed by the Eastern Southland club’s first meeting at Charlton Hall on June 11, 1956. Members recalled grass-track racing, hillclimbs and the gradual move toward rallying. Those recollections are historical background, not newly staged events.
A club scene that continues between major rallies
MotorSport New Zealand’s member-club guide describes more than 90 affiliated clubs organizing most of the country’s 700-plus annual motorsport events. It also emphasizes clubs as places to share practical knowledge and experience. Eastern Southland’s anniversary illustrates that wider social role alongside the competition results.
For readers interested in the local scene, the club’s own website lists regular meetings on the third Tuesday of each month at 8 p.m. at Croydon Lodge, Gore, and says everyone is welcome. Check directly before traveling: a recurring meeting listing is not confirmation of an extra anniversary event or a place in a competition.
For another example of motoring heritage bringing owners together, see our report on the Toyota Automobile Museum’s forthcoming classic-car festival.