Paddon, Murphy to drive in Targa Rally

Two very familiar faces will be taking part in the Targa Rally this year.

World Rally Championship driver Hayden Paddon and four-time Bathurst winner Greg Murphy have been enlisted.

Paddon will not only be driving - he has been booked as a guest speaker at the Legends of Targa dinner in Invercargill on Labour Day.

Paddon will be driving a "hot" Hyundai Hatch, while Murphy will join the rally in the tour category from Wednesday and will drive a brand new right-hand-drive Chevrolet Camaro as part of a promotion for the vehicle.

The Targa Rally, which gets under way in Invercargill on Monday, has been operating in New Zealand since 1995.

It is just the second time the event has been staged in the South Island and spokesman Paul Shanahan said the event had been well supported.

"We have an unprecedented number of entries from the South Island this time, with 26 out of 64 entries in the competition category," he said.

"The tour category has 21 South Island entries while the vintage category is 100% south with 22 entries."

Perennial frontrunner and former winner Martin Dippie shapes as the strongest of the local drivers. He has joined forces with co-driver Jona Grant in a Porsche 991 GT3RS and will be wanting to win on his home patch.

The Wellington family has three vehicles in the tour category. Patriarch Mark has teamed up with son Steve in a Porsche, while Rick and Mike Wellington have teamed up with Bevan Ritchie and Andrew Black respectively.

The vintage category is new and will be definitely won by a South Islander.