ExWRC star McCrae ups Otago Rally ante

NEWS that former World Rally Championship star Alistair McRae will contest the Otago Rally in April has added further lustre to an event that promises to set the benchmark for international participation.

In fact, at this point I would go so far as to say that McRae is now hot favourite for the classic division, which will also feature exWRC ace Mikko Hirvonen, as well as leading classic rally exponents from here and Australia. McRae and Hirvonen will drive iconic Ford Escort BDAs Hirvonen has prepared in Christchurch for Brent Rawstron’s Rossendale Wines team, and McRae’s coming from Meirion Evans’ Wales Motorsport outfit, which is based near the small town of Newcastle Emlyn in west Wales.

Hirvonen’s WRC career overlapped McRae’s, and the Finn enjoyed greater success at the pinnacle of the sport, winning 15 rallies and finishing as championship runnerup no fewer than four times. But unlike McRae, Hirvonen will be making his first start in Otago, and so will have to adjust quickly to the technically demanding roads that are such a feature of the event.

McRae, who has previously retired from the Otago Classic Rally while leading, and finished runnerup to Hayden Paddon in 2015, also has an absolute ace card up his sleeve in the form of French codriver Stephane Prevot. It was Prevot — another exWRC star — who partnered Estonian Markko Martin to his backtoback Otago Classic wins in 2016 and ’17.

As well as preparing McRae’s car for the event, Evans will be competing, adding further international lustre to an entry list that is also set to include a record contingent of Australian contestants — more than 20 as of yesterday — and there is still plenty of time before entries close.

There will be strong local interest in Paddon’s intentions for the Otago Rally, too. My expectation is that he will front in his Hyundai i20 AP4+ car, looking to secure a fifth successive overall win for the Korean company in the event.

For those who want to do a little advance planning, the Otago Rally starts on Friday, April 3 (with the usual ceremonial start in the Octagon), and special stage action over the weekend of April 45, taking in roads around Lawrence on Saturday, and then a mix of stages either side of the Taieri Plain on Sunday.

Of course, the classic rally is only part of the Otago event, which doubles as the opening round of the New Zealand National Rally Championship (NZRC) and the FIA Pacific Cup division of the AsiaPacific Rally Championship.

Round 2 of the NZRC, Rally Whangarei (May), will also count towards the FIA Pacific Cup. The other national rounds will be Rally South Canterbury (midJune), Rally Hawke’s Bay (July) and Rally New Zealand — now back as part of the WRC — in September.

All in all, plenty to look forward in New Zealand rallying this year.

David Thomson

Editor

Drivesouth