Pre Otago Rally report from Max Bayley

Hi there

This weekend Dunedin holds the second round of the New Zealand Rally Championship, Rally Otago. It was one of my highlights competing in this event last year,and it will be great to head back down and give it a crack this weekend. It is contested over 2 days, Saturday and Sunday, totalling 292km of competitive stages.

There will be some stiff competition however, with all the usual NZRC goers plus a few big names like Hayden Paddon, Ken Block and Alister McRae just to name a few! The rally has 30 classic entries so it will be great to be able to compare myself with all those fellow 2 wheel drives. I am seeded 17th on the road behind the experienced Deane Buist, so it will be good to see how I go against him.

Donna Elder will yet again be calling the notes. Trevor Sandilands has also put in lots of effort to get the car ready. Also its a big effort to get the car down here so thanks to Dad.  Now its up to the driver to keep on the road!

On Saturday the the first stage kicks off at about 8am. There are 9 stages, totalling 131km of stages. There is also a Super Special Stage around the centre of town to finish off the day, which normally attracts upwards of 5000 spectators. The Saturday stages will all be new to me, as they weren’t used last year.

Sunday has the more traditional stages that I competed in last season, which I have just finished reconnaissance on today. These roads are looking very fast, with lots of blind crests and swept gravel meaning that it will be essential for us to commit to the notes.

So the aim for the weekend is to finish in the top 10 out of NZRC competitors. The roads so far look awesome to drive on, and should make it a interesting rally. Live streaming videos of the day can be found on www.nzrallychamps.co.nz, and live results can be found on www.chrissport.co.nz.

Thanks to the sponsors, Farmlands, Freshmax, Gulf oils, VJ’s Distributers and John Bates Wheel Alignment.

Cheers

Max