When the Eastern Southland Car Club resurrected the Wyndham Rally in 2023, it was an ideal opportunity to remember a rallying icon, Barry Robinson, who had passed away in March 2022 and had farmed at Mokoreta during the height of his rally career.
This year, the event is part of the National Championship and is known as the Barry Robinson Memorial Rally Southland.
“I feel very proud Dad’s name is attached to a National Championship Rally,” says Barry’s daughter Anna, who co-drove for Barry on several occasions.
“He won the Southland Rally twice, and it is good to see his name there.”
Asked what Barry himself would think of it all, Anna says, “Dad would say he would rather be driving in it than having his name on it.”
When the club held the initial event, Anna sat in the co-driver seat of the Vauxhall Chevette that Barry made famous alongside Chris Lange, the son of one of her dad’s former co-drivers, as the pair performed Double Zero car duties.
The next year, the duo was together again in the Double Zero car, this time in Ian Begg’s MK2 Ford Escort. Last year, the pair competed in the event. This year, Anna will co-drive for Australian Richard Galley.
“Chris (Lange) and I did Otago, but we did not finish, and we are out for the season, so Derek Ayson became matchmaker and teamed me up with Richard because his co-driver was unavailable for a few events. We have done Canterbury and now Southland, with a couple more to come. It is good as I am able to interpret Australian to Kiwi!
Galley responds by saying, “I do my own notes, so she didn’t need to learn my language. She did a fair bit of homework, and it went okay.”
It is clear that Richard and Anna have quickly gelled, as Galley says, “she is a fun lady. My previous co-driver of six years needed surgery, so I did Canterbury with Anna and had such a blast.” Despite coming from Australia, Galley has become a regular competitor in the south.
“This part of the world has the best roads, the club does such a good job, and the New Zealand rally community is great,” he says when explaining why he keeps coming back to the south.
Anna prepared for this weekend by co-driving for Kevin Laird of Alexandra at the Circle Hill Rallysprint.
While Anna was growing up, Barry was establishing himself as one of the country’s best rally drivers, only missing becoming the 1983 New Zealand Rally Champion when an engine failed at the final round.
Anna estimates she did around fifteen events in the co-driver seat alongside her dad, and together they won the 1999 Catlins Coast Rally.
All the cars and drivers in the Barry Robinson Memorial Rally Southland will be at Invercargill Central from 4pm on Friday, 17 July, where the opportunity exists to get autographs and see the cars close up 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.
Header Image: Janey Blair
