Last year, Caleb Macdonald of Queenstown and co-driver Larisa Biggar of Australia won the Barry Robinson Memorial Wyndham Rally. It was Macdonald’s first outright rally win and the second overall rally victory for Biggar in a season where they also won the NZ Rally Challenge Championship.
This year, the duo returns on Saturday, 18 July, for an event that has a new look. The rally, now known as the Barry Robinson Memorial Rally Southland, has National Championship status and is Round 3 of the NZ Rally Championship.
Macdonald and Biggar are both looking forward to the event. “It is an exciting prospect,” says Macdonald.
“Any day you can rally and zoom around the roads is special. We are pretty blessed that the Eastern Southland Car Club are able to pick out some amazing roads. It is a great way to showcase Southland.
“It will be even more special with the top NZ Rally Championship competitors coming down. It is great that all that talent is coming to give it a decent nudge in my backyard. I know the ESCC will put together an amazing event, and with the talent competing, I am excited. I hope we can put some smiles on faces.”
Macdonald added, “With the Ceremonial Start and cars on display, plus the opportunity to meet the drivers at Invercargill Central on the Friday night (17 July) before the event, it also showcases the best of Southland in the new precinct, another big tick for a world-class event in Southland.”
Macdonald has a new Mitsubishi EVO 8 this year after his previous car was written off last season.
“It is a slightly newer version, and I have had a baptism of fire in Otago and Canterbury. There are a few kinks to iron out, and the car requires a slightly different driving style.”
Biggar is equally as excited about the prospect of this rally.
“I’m looking forward to it. The ESCC run fantastic events. Their previous events ran like national championship rallies anyway, so I am not surprised they have reached that level. The roads here are superb. New Zealanders are so lucky.
“They have some of the best roads and events in the world. I remember the Southern Lights Rally a couple of years ago. Black ice, frost and stages in the dark. That is part of my New Zealand adventure. It is new and different.”
Hailing from Queensland, Biggar started her co-driving career in the late 1990’s and has driven for many different drivers. She won the Australian Rally Championship Production Cup in 2022 and was first in the Queensland Rally Championship that same year.
So how did she come to be Macdonald’s co-driver?
“Some of my friends were coming over to watch a rally a few years ago, and Caleb was looking for a last- minute co-driver. I was apprehensive, but I said yes. It was a one-off, but six months later, Caleb rang me, and we did the whole season in 2024. I knew he was fast. You sit with different drivers, and you get a quick grasp on who has talent, and Caleb certainly does.”
“I like to work hard on my co-driving as well – I give my absolute all every rally.”
Another big change this year is the use of rally safety notes. While the ESCC has not used them for their major events in the past, the National Championship requires them. The notes can be purchased by crews from a company that prepares them, owned by experienced co-drivers John Kennard and Ian McKee. They give competitors clear, consistent Special Stage notes, and Larissa is well-versed with them.
“Last year was my first “blind” (without notes) rally. “Here I was on roads I had never seen before, trusting Caleb.”
Caleb, for his part, enjoys both forms of rallying. Blind rallies are more traditional, and you are more on the ragged edge. Rally note events are still not without risk, but there is that extra safety element due to more driver certainty.”
As the reigning NZ Rally Challenge Champions, Macdonald and Biggar are keen to retain the title this year, and that will be their major focus for this rally.
Macdonald is currently second in the driver points, just four points off the lead, while Biggar is sixth in the co-driver points after sitting alongside fellow Australian and two-time Dakar Rally winner Toby Price at Otago. “It was an interesting opportunity for me,” she says.
Macdonald’s company, Macdonald Perniskie Chartered Accountants, is also a sponsor of the event. “We are happy to help the club showcase the event and the province.”
Header Image: Tayler Burke Shots By TayB
