Five Otago drivers will be pitting themselves against star-studded competition, including Production World Rally Champion Hayden Paddon, in this weekend's North Canterbury-based Ashley Forest Rally Sprint.
Among them and hungry to repeat his 2007 victory will be Outram's Glenn Frew, in his Mitsubishi Evo. Frew made it to the final two last year before capitulating to Aucklander Glenn Inkster.
Competition will be ferocious because defending champion Inkster will be challenged by his fellow New Zealand Rally Championship rivals Paddon - who became the first driver in the southern hemisphere to win a world rally title, at Rally Australia this month - and three-time national champion Richard Mason, of Masterton.
Geraldine's Paddon will be sharing the drive with a previous Ashley Forest triple champion, Papakura's Steve Murphy (2004, 2008 and 2009) in his 750hp hybrid, V8 Cordia.
"I have watched this event on the tele ever since I was a kid. To get this chance is very exciting," Paddon said.
It will also be Mason's first venture into this forest sprint and he will be driving the Subaru Impreza that he drove to victory in this year's NZRC.
Doug Good, president of the event's host, the Rallies and Trials Enthusiasts Club, said: "Both have the credentials to compete at the sharp end but neither of them has driven in the special, sudden-death atmosphere that surrounds this event."
Competitors must blaze up and down the 1.7km course today to find the quickest 32 to return tomorrow. Then the competition starts in earnest with the field being halved after each run, until it is a battle between the final two.
In addition to the prize for the outright win, the competition also includes class categories for unlimited four-wheel drive featuring Frew, Kaitangata's Duncan McCrostie and Dean Bond of Balclutha. There are no Otago drivers in the 4WD rally spec or classic two-wheel drive classes, but Mosgiel's Chris Hey will be hoping to repeat his 2010 win in the unlimited 2WD section. Oamaru's James Bee is piloting his Toyota KP60 Starlet.
Good described the field for this 25th running of the event as "one we have been striving for, for a number of years now".
