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There will plenty of action on the southern roads today as the Barry Robinson Memorial Rally Southland gets under way.
After the ceremonial start in Invercargill last night, drivers will get behind the seat in Wyndham this morning — and there are plenty of names to keep an eye on.
The biggest of them all will be Hayden Paddon, competing for the first time in New Zealand this year at the event which doubles as the third round of the New Zealand Rally Championship.
Paddon, whose father and sister, Chris and Eve, are also competing, is fresh from contesting selected World Rally Championship events and will lead the field in his Hyundai i120N Rally 2.
Four-time national champion Ben Hunt, of Pukekohe, is making a guest appearance at the wheel of a GR Toyota Yaris.
Jack Stokes, of Waikuku, the current leader of the NZRC in his Skoda Fabia Rally 2 Evo will be the next car on the road. His co-driver is Hayden Graves, of Gore, who leads the co-driver standings of the NZRC as he comes to his home rally.
Millers Flat-based Jack Hawkeswood, the man who beat Stokes by just 0.2sec at Canterbury, is the next seed in his GR Toyota Yaris Rally 2.
Robbie Stokes follows in his Skoda Fabia Rally 2 Evo, then Quentin Palmer, of Taumarunui, currently third in the championship in his Skoda Fabia Rally 2 Evo, Ari Pettigrew, of Ohoka, in his unique and spectacular Porsche 911 WRC, and James Worker, of Mossburn, in his EVO 6.
Others to watch include Thomas Paul, of Cromwell, Josh Keighley, of Christchurch, Caleb Macdonald, of Queenstown, James McIver, of Rolleston, and Mark McMillan.
There are three Australian entries — Stew Reid in a Mitsubishi Mirage AP4, Richard Galley in a BMW E30, who will have Barry Robinson’s daughter, Anna, in the co-driver seat, and Rose North in a Toyota Yaris.
The race gets under way in Wyndham at 8.30 this morning and, after seven stages, the rally will finish in Invercargill about 3.45pm. — Allied Media