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Southern Mountains Rally 2008

Letter from the Rally Director – Matt Ruggles

In late 2007 we from NSW Classic Rally Car Association inc. set out to run an event primarily for Classic and Historic rally cars similar to the Alpine Rally where competitors in NSW, Victoria and the ACT could enjoy the experience of a traditional style event each year. With the workload that inevitably goes with an event of this type it made sense to run every other year to compliment the already established HRA Alpine Rally.With this in mind we surveyed many areas for suitability and settled on the south coast town of Eden. This region brings many advantages not least of which is the exceptional variety of fantastic roads available as well as being quite accessible to NSW, Victorian and ACT competitors. Local support from the townspeople and authorities of Eden is also very encouraging.

So it gives me great pleasure to announce the inaugural Southern Mountains Rally 2008. The event will run over 2 days on the weekend of 1st and 2nd November 2008 in congunction with the Eden Whale Festival. Crews will experience a great variety of roads starting from sea level and rising to over 1000 meters and back. With this in mind, our theme for the event is “Man vs Mountain”. Can you make it to the top and back.

The terrain is challenging for the crews while being easy on the machinery, very well suited to Classic and Historic rally cars. The variety and quality of roads used is I believe exceptional. The rally will venture into areas not used for rallying for over 30 years and some never used at all.

Competitors will enjoy approx 350kms competitive with 270kms transport making a total distance of 620k, in a moving rally visiting various towns along the way. The daylight division 1 will be a very gradual climb up the mountains covering approx 180k competitive while the night division will see crews return back down to Eden for the overnight stop where approx 260k competitive will have been completed. Sunday brings more of a fast dash with around 80k competitive using again some exceptional and new terrain just south of Eden.

Crews will then enjoy a presentation lunch so those returning home on Sunday can be on their way by mid afternoon. Spectators and family members will be well catered for also with many vantage points with easy access. The rally will run on the same weekend as the Annual Eden Whale Festival, which will also be an opportunity for families to enjoy the festivities over the weekend if they wish. This weekend also happens to be a sudo long weekend for the Victorians with Melbourne Cup the following Tuesday.

Service crews will also enjoy the event as the rally is a moving rally you wont find any boring service parks here!

Our intention is to run the event with a view to developing it into the Southern Cross International Rally in the future. Being mindful of the significant reputation and contribution this famous name has made to Australian Rallying over a period of 15 years between 1966 and 1980, we believe the event must evolve to spread to an International interest level. Make no mistake we will be working hard to ensure that we can deliver this in 2010!

With the assistance of highly experienced rally organisers like Stuart Lister (Event Checker) I am sure you will experience an event to remember, one that I hope you will look back on with fondness and recount being part of the first rerun of this classic event for nearly half a century. Southern Mountains Rally Website (Click Here)

Matt Ruggles
Rally Director June 2008

Hagstrom blitzes field to win Otago Classic Rally

May 11, 2008

Finland’s Pasi Hagstrom has dominated the 2008 Dunlop International Classic Rally of Otago, winning all but two of the stages and taking victory by over three and a half minutes. Hagstrom, with co-driver Ian McKee, blitzed the field in their Porsche 911 RS and were never in danger throughout the two day event. Pasi Hagstrom heads for victory in the Otago Rally. In wet and slippery conditions, the Finn became more and more confident with the handling and performance of the Porsche as the event wore on, and 2007 winner, Deane Buist, was never a threat. A rear punctured on the longest stage of the event, the 51km Duns stage, cost Buist over a minute and a half, but he was still able to salvage second place in his BDA-powered Toyota Corolla. Richard Kelsey, driving a Mazda RX7, had been third at the start of the second day, but crashed heavily on the opening stage of the day. He and co-driver, Rob Scott, were taken to hospital for observation after the accident, and the stage was subsequently stopped. This elevated the Group B Mazda RX7 of ‘Bert’ Murray and Stu Jenkinson into third place, a position they held on to until the end of the event, despite strong pressure from the Ford Escort RS1800 of Robert McCullum and Peter Kennard. Balclutha’s Duncan McCrostie and Murray Marshall rounded out the top five in their Nissan Bluebird Turbo, just clear of Regan and Nigel Ross in their Escort. Michael Boaden, with sister Helen Cheers calling the pacenotes, finished seventh and as the top Australians in the event in a 2-litre Escort. They led home Rob Wylie (Nissan 240RS), Andy Ruddenklau (Ford Escort) and Glenn Buist (Ford Escort). Bert Murray was third in his Gp B Mazda RX7. Michele Mouton had a better day, moving up to 12th place in her Escort RS1800, and continued to win fans over with her driving and her friendly manner. Major retirements on day two included Derek Ayson (Ford Escort), Euan Fuge (Mazda RX3) and Australian Darryn Snooks, who put his Datsun Stanza off the road late in the event. Provisional Results: 1.    Pasi Hagstrom / Ian McKee, Porsche 911 RS, 2h33m40.8s 2.    Deane Buist / James Bracefield, Toyota Corolla RS1800, +3m39.6s 3.    Robert Murray / Stu Jenkenson, Mazda RX7, +4m51.3s 4.    Robert McCullum / Peter Kennard, Ford Escort RS1800, +5m02.3s 5.    Duncan McCrostie / Murray Marshall, Nissan Bluebird Turbo, +5m30.6s 6.    Regan Ross / Nigel Ross, Ford Escort RSFJ, +8m56.1s 7.    Michael Boaden / Helen Cheers, Ford Escort, +9m05.9s 8.    Rob Wylie / Paul Turner, Nissan 240RS, +10m11.6s 9.    Andy Ruddenklau / Maree McFarlane, Ford Escort, +11m24.2s 10.  Glenn Buist / Darren Galbraith, Ford Escort RS1800, +11m58.9s Michael Boaden was the first Australian in 7th place.

 

(If you want to see the 1984 Rally of New Zealand DVD go to the Classic Rally DVD Page)