The event takes place just two weeks before Rally Otago and that has provided many competitors with an ideal opportunity to prepare at Popotunoa. The capacity entry includes every past winner of the event, several of the country’s very best rally drivers, including four from the North Island, as well as one from Australia and another from Vanuatu.
The top seed is the winner of the event for the past two years, Jack Hawkeswood, of Hamilton, in his Toyota Yaris. Hawkeswood has previously described the Popotunoa venue as ‘‘an awesome piece of road’’. Last year he had a mammoth battle with another multi-win racer, Emma Gilmour, of Dunedin, in her Citroen C3, before taking the victory. Hawkeswood arrives in the south fresh from a win at the Possum Bourne Memorial Rally, in Waikato, last weekend.
Waikuku brothers, Robbie and Jack Stokes, are seeded at two and three respectively in their Skoda Fabias. Robbie was second in last year’s New Zealand Rally Championship, (NZRC) as well as the Mainland Series Champion. He has an outstanding record over the past two years that has seldom seen him outside the top three in any rally he has contested, while his brother Jack was fifth in last year’s NZRC.
Gilmour is seeded at four this year in her Citroen. She has been runner-up in the NZRC three times and third once and was the first woman to win a round of the NZRC in 2016.
There will be much interest in Gore driver Andrew Graves, seeded at five for the event. Graves has achieved much success in an elderly Mitsubishi EVO 3, including multiple wins at this event. This year he will be at the wheel of a GR Toyota Yaris Rally Cup car. Toyota GAZOO Racing NZ will introduce a new class for the cars into the NZRC next season and Graves’ outing is part of the testing programme for the car.
Sponsor of the series and the 2017 NZ Rally Champion Andrew Hawkeswood, of Auckland, is entered in his Mazda 2 at six after finishing third at the Possum Bourne Rally last weekend, his first rally since 2019.
Carter Strang, of Wallacetown, in an EVO 10 and Caleb Macdonald, of Queenstown, in a new car, an EVO 8, start at seven and eight. Richie Chadwick, of Mosgiel, in an EVO is next, while the 2023 winner, Ari Pettigrew, of Ohoka in Canterbury, returns in a Porsche 911, to complete the top 10.
The class battles will provide plenty of competition. Class D for 4WD competitors is sure to be fought out between the top nine seeds. Class C for cars of 1601cc and over will include Pettigrew, McConachy, last year’s winner Ayson and Tim Mackersey, of Dunedin, in a Ford Fiesta.
Jake Thomas of Mosgiel in a Toyota Corolla B leads the Class B (1301-1600cc) entry from the class winner for the last two years, Ian Warren, of Dunedin (Nissan Pulsar), Rory Lawn, of Christchurch (Toyota Starlet) and Paul Cross, of Gore, in a Toyota Corolla.
Class A (0-1300cc) is a repeat of last year’s battle between Jak Elliott, of Oamaru, and Kevin Brockie, of Dunedin, in their Toyota Vitzs.
The event will run over two legs, the first 9.7km of public road and the second a run over 9.6km in the opposite direction.
Competitors will get up to three official runs on each leg and results will be determined by combining a competitor’s fastest single run on leg 1 with their fastest single run on leg 2.
The event will be signposted from SH1 south of Clinton and near Waipahi.
Eastern Southland Car Club committee member Roger Laird was delighted with the calibre of entries and looked forward to an ‘‘awesome event’’.
- Lindsay Beer
