Balclutha driver Dean Bond in his Mitsubishi EVO 6.5 is the top seed for the Catlins Coast Rally on Saturday 4 August.
Bond, the defending champion and also the winner in 2009, heads an outstanding field featuring a staggering 89 entries. Bonds speed over the final stages at Catlins is legendary and his major rivals are keenly aware that they have a battle on their hands, most tipping him as the man to beat. Bond is also the reigning Laird Motorsport Southern Rally Series Champion and currently leads the Mainland Rally Series.
Second seed will be Kaikoura driver Regan Ross in a Mitsubishi EVO 9. Ross has been a top contender in South Island rallying for many years and would love to win at Catlins, something he has yet to achieve. He was leading in 2010 when his engine blew. Third seed is the 2005 winner and a former New Zealand Rally Xtreme and Mainland Rally Series Champion, Derek Ayson who is now based in Gore. Ayson was leading the event last year in his Mitsubishi EVO 8 when he made a “silly mistake” which sent him off the road.
Fourth seed Andrew Graves of Gore won the rally in 2010 in his elderly Mitsubishi EVO 3. He has also won the event in the co-driver seat, alongside Ayson in 2005. Graves is the current Eastern Southland Car Club Rally Champion.
The fifth seed is another Balclutha driver, Rhys Gardner. Gardner has been very successful in 2-wheel-drive cars in the past and has made a successful transition to 4-wheel-drive cars this season. Bond believes he has the ability to finish close behind the leading seeds. Last year in a Toyota Trueno he finished seventh overall and won Class B.
Sixth seed Steve Wellington of Dunedin is a perennial top ten finisher in this event. He was battling for fourth last year until he blew a head gasket.
The 2011 National Hillclimb Champion, Lyndon Galbraith, will start at seven. Galbraith, originally from South Canterbury, is currently domiciled in Brisbane but has elected to return home for this event. It will be his first rally in the ex Marty Roestenburg EVO 3 and his first rally in a 4-wheel-drive car having only contested hillclimbs in the car until now.
Paul Cross of Gore starts at eight in a Mitsubishi EVO 3 owned by Craig Abernethy. Cross leased a later model EVO 8 to finish second in this event last year and also finished second in the Gore Rally of 2008. Scott Simpson of Oamaru at nine has not been seen in rallies for about twelve months due to work commitments. However he is another competitve driver and will feature well in his EVO 8.
The top ten is rounded out by the first of the 2-wheel-drive competitors, Marcus Van Klink of Kaiapoi. Van Klink is currently leading the New Zealand Classic Rally Championship in a Mazda RX7 but will bring his Toyota Corolla AE86 to Catlins.
Just outside the top ten lurk several other top competitors. Deane Buist of Christchurch, the winner in 2003 and winner of the 2008 Gore Rally will be in a Ford Escort this year at eleven ahead of Duncan McCrostie of Kaitangata in a leased Ford Escort, fresh from an outing in the classic section of Rally New Zealand in his familiar Nissan Bluebird Turbo. Bert Murray of Waimate is at thirteen in the ex-Neil Allport Mazda RX7. Murray was setting impressive times last year until a blown diff stopped him.
This years Catlins Coast Rally again features eight Special Stages totalling 157 kilometres of competitive mileage along with a further 90 kilometres of Touring Stages. As is traditional the first car will leave from Owaka Motors in Owaka at 9.00am on Saturday 4 August.
The final stage will again be the very popular Riverside Reserve stage in Balclutha, a stage that always attracts an excellent crowd.
