As the New Zealand Rally Championship heads to round three in Southland this week, a pair of local stars have lifted the lid on why the region has produced so many top-class drivers in this era.
Kevin Laird, Caleb Macdonald, Andrew Graves, Carter Strang, Steve Gill, Roger McKay, Derek Ayson, Paul Cross, James Worker and Mark McMillan have all proven themselves as quality drivers on the national stage and they all hail from the Deep South.
It is a phenomenon that has been prevalent in New Zealand rallying throughout its history – geographic pockets that produce a cluster of stars all at the same time.
The Canterbury region has a strong contingent at present, while there have been times when South Auckland and the Manawatu have seen several stars come through together.
This weekend’s Barry Robinson Memorial Rally Southland is being run by the Eastern Southland Car Club, and Laird says clubs like that are the reason why you see a period of success across the board.
“I think the local clubs in the area are really good,” Laird said.
“It starts at the grassroots. Like the Autocross Championship, they’re on there, and it’s really solid, and you get people of all abilities coming through and coming back to do them just when it suits them
“Sometimes the kids are getting to the age so they’ll start competing in them as well. And then the gravel sprints that are around are really good indicators and really good for progressing into the rally sprints and stuff like that.
“There are just so many good roads down there because the farms are everywhere, and you’ve got gravel roads going everywhere. And when you’re an apprentice auto-electrician getting around these farms, you can do a little bit of practice when no one’s looking.”
Macdonald believes that success builds on success, and if a club is doing well, it will produce a generation of talent.
“It is that grassroots stuff too, right? I think over the summer the local club was sort of getting 60-plus people with an autocross, on a regular basis, to the point where they’re almost a little bit worried about actually having to cap numbers,” Macdonald explained.
“When there’s that sort of enthusiasm coming through, it builds on itself, right? So you know, the next step off from that I guess is a small gravel event or a hill climb or something like that. And through my own experience, not really having family connections to start with, when I came along, everybody was open-armed and more than willing and helpful to get me to the events and help me out with my learning, ’cause it’s all a big learning curve.
“I think it helps bring along some of those young drivers and really promote the sport within. So yeah, if we can get the clubs out there and keep them promoting the way that they are, I think we’ll continue to see the country have some pretty good drivers coming through the ranks.”
The Barry Robinson Memorial Rally Southland begins with a ceremonial start in Invercargill on Friday night.
Header Image: Geoff Ridder
