The battle for Catlins Coast Rally glory looks set to be fierce, with five former winners heading the seedings for the eight-stage event tomorrow.
Defending champion Rhys Gardner, of Balclutha, is the top seed in his Mitsubishi Evo 7, which is freshly repaired after taking out a fence line at last month's Manawatu-based Daybreaker Rally.
After watching in-car camera footage, Gardner said his team realised they had a ''serious handling issue'' that meant the car snapped into oversteer after each corner.
Suspension modifications and some new rear springs have it race-ready to attempt a repeat of his charge home to victory in the Catlins over the final stages last year.
This season, his best placing has been sixth in the national championship class in the Rally of Otago, along with new co-driver Alex Ramsay. Gardner has also recently completed the 2013 Elite Motorsport Academy in Dunedin.
The 2009 and 2011 winner, Balclutha's Dean Bond, who starts at No2 in his Mitsubishi Evo 6.5, has had an all-or-nothing string of results in his past four Catlins rallies driving this car.
''Two wins and two DNFs,'' Bond said, adding that this year he would be happy with a podium.
''Now that we have won it twice, I'm not busting my guts to win the rally. I want to bring the car home in one piece for a top three place for my supporters and sponsors.''
Bond, the Eastern Southland Car Club champion, and co-driver Ross Moody finished a creditable fourth overall in the Otago Rally, winning the Allcomers section in the process.
Gore's Andrew Graves pulled off a win in 2010 and from his position as third seed will no doubt extract every last second out of his elderly Mitsubishi Evo 3. Graves and co-driver Jared Leebody were second last year and third in 2011.
The 2004 victor, Deane Buist, of Christchurch, is seeded fourth in his Mitsubishi Evo 4 this year after finishing fourth last year in a Ford Escort BDA.
Rounding out the top five, Gore's Derek Ayson - the winner in 2005 - has forsaken four-wheel-drive for a run in his two-wheel-drive Nissan-powered Ford Escort.
However, the former Mainland Rally Series, Rally Xtreme, and Laird Motorsport Southern Rally Series Champion has finished as high as third in a two-wheel-drive car in the past.
The 2013 field faces fresh routes with only the iconic Cannibal Bay stage remaining unchanged and the drivers will contest the longest stage in New Zealand rallying this year, the 48km monster Waitepeka Stage.
Seventy cars will begin the event in Owaka at 9am and the first car will start the final stage at the Riverside Reserve in Balclutha at 3.27pm.
The rally is round three of the Mainland Rally Championship and round two of the Laird Motorsport Southern Rally Series.
