Two of the New Zealand Rally Championship’s brightest stars could easily have gone down a different sporting route.
As Southland products, Caleb Macdonald and Kevin Laird prepare for the upcoming Barry Robinson Memorial Rally Southland, they have shared their history with the sport of ice hockey – a sport that, like rallying, is huge in that part of the country.
Laird still coaches ice hockey to this day and has played the sport growing up, while Macdonald was quite the achiever on the ice.
Speaking on BB and Budgie’s Thursday Night Recce, which airs on Thursday night, Macdonald recounts his history in the sport, which saw him represent New Zealand at age-group level as well as playing in the semi-professional New Zealand Ice Hockey League for the Dunedin Thunder.
“I haven’t really done skates for a wee while – I guess motorsport took over ice hockey a bit earlier on in the piece,” Macdonald explained.
“Our weekends away were with the ice hockey team, so it was with the lads doing that, going away to tournaments, you know, playing up in Nasby, going on adventures up to Tekapo and playing on outdoor rinks.
“Kevin’s just come back from the Erewhon Cup, a pretty fun weekend away in the cold weather and the snow and snow-capped mountains, and you’re out on either a frozen pond or a frozen rink somewhere, and you’re bashing into each other and then getting to drink beers afterwards; you can’t beat it. It’s good fun.
“As a young fellow, I loved it. That was what it was all about, you know, egging each other along and being able to push people over, and you know, I wouldn’t say legal fights, but you know, you can sort of knock each other around a bit more than you can in most other sports.
And as far-fetched as it sounds, Macdonald believes there are some transferable skills from what he picked up in his ice hockey days that he can use as a rally driver.
“There definitely is,” Macdonald said.
“I think balance is a big one. People probably don’t think of drivers as having to be balanced, but you know, you are transferring the weight of the car around, trying to find that grip, you know, flinging it around corners. So, I guess in a similar way to just trying to stay on your feet when you’re skating, right? Or when people are pushing you about, you gotta be able to use that balance and use those edges. Feel what’s under your feet, you know, same way that you kind of drive a car by the bum of your seat.”
The Barry Robinson Memorial Rally Southland will take place on Saturday, July 18 – round three of the national championship.
Header Image: Geoff Ridder
