The President of the Eastern Southland Car Club (ESCC), Nigel King of Rakahouka, will have a foot in two camps when the club hosts the Barry Robinson Memorial Rally Southland, Round 3 of the NZ Rally Championship (NZRC), on Saturday 18 July.
Not only is he the Joint Chair of the Organising Committee, but he will also be participating in the event, competing in Class E. King is having a superb season in his Mitsubishi Lancer EVO and leads his class in the Mainland Rally Series, of which this will be Round 4.
King has won every round in his class to date. “The others in the class are real chargers, and it is really close,” he says. As the series comes to home turf, King says he is mindful of the series situation.
“I have a good lead, so it is about being fast, smooth and consistent. We need a level-headed push to bank as many points as I can and also as many points for Jaimee, my co-driver.”
Jaimee is Nigel’s daughter. “She has done the Otago and Canterbury rallies with me this year. She had never been in the car on gravel before that. Otago was a baptism of fire for her as we did notes and recce. She is going, very, very well.”
In the opening round, son Brayden was in the co-driver’s seat. “He, too, is really good and can read a road,” says Nigel.
“He is actually my main man on the service crew this season, and his knowledge is a valuable part of my campaign. It is a privilege and very special to be doing this as a family. My other daughter, Brooke, hasn’t been in the car on gravel yet, but there is a rumour she will be part of the Service Crew on this event.”
King has done the last two Wyndham Rally’s, the club’s forerunner to this event, finishing second in his class both times.
“I would love to go one better. The early part of this year’s rally uses a lot of the same roads. They are quite forgiving and fast, but you have to respect them. There is a bit of everything with some tight, technical stuff too. We are very lucky to have some of the best roads.”
Some of the stages later in the event date back to the original Rally Of Southland days, with the iconic Dunsdale stage as the finale. “It is a nice bit of the rally.”
While he has been doing well with his own rally efforts this season, King admits that the job of putting together a National Championship rally is “bigger than I thought.”
This is only the second time the Eastern Southland Car Club have organised a National Rally, the last time being in 1984.
“It was a big privilege to be asked,” says Nigel.
“We were happy doing what we were doing with the Wyndham Rally, but we have kept the same and added to it. Some of the brains of our organising committee have been around rallying a long time, and the club has been organising rallies for 50 years, and the NZRC guys have been very good to work with.
“It has been a big challenge, but you get out what you put in. If you get the basics right, the rest follows. It has been a big team effort. People have stood up. Everyone is busy, but we all have five minutes spare somewhere, and if twenty people give five minutes, that’s nearly two hours.”
“There are people from throughout New Zealand who have offered assistance, which shows the respect the club has. This event will showcase Southland in a very, very, big way.”
All the cars and drivers in the Barry Robinson Memorial Rally Southland will be at Invercargill Central from 4pm on Friday, 17 July, where there will be an opportunity to get autographs and see the cars up close before the Ceremonial Start at 6pm.
The following day, the cars leave Wyndham at 8.30am before tackling seven high-speed Special Stages before the event concludes at the Ascot Park Hotel in Invercargill at 3.45pm.
Header Image: Enuff Photography
