The annual Eastern Southland Car Club Crossroads Clinton Popotunoa Rallysprint in South Otago this Saturday (22 March) has drawn an impressive entry as many drivers use the event as preparation for the opening round of the New Zealand Rally Championship in Otago early in April.
Last year’s winner, Jack Hawkeswood of Auckland, is the top seed in his Toyota GR Yaris. Hawkeswood, the reigning FIA Junior Asia-Pacific Rally Champion, went on to win the Otago Rally after last year’s victory at Popotunoa. He has previously described the Popotunoa venue as “an awesome piece of road.”
The second seed is Emma Gilmour of Dunedin in her Citroen C3. A winner of this event multiple times and second last year she was third in last year’s New Zealand Rally Championship and has three times been runner-up in the championship. She was the first women to win a round of the NZ Rally Championship back in 2016 and has been a factory McLaren driver in the Extreme E Series and a member of the Hyundai USA Red Bull Rallycross team.
Caleb MacDonald of Queenstown is the third seed in his Mitsubishi EVO 6. Fifth at this event last year he also sealed fifth place in last year’s NZ Rally Challenge Championship, Carter Strang of Wallacetown near Invercargill in an EVO 10 is next up. Strang was second in last year’s NZ Rally Challenge Championship and won Class D here two years ago.
Kingsley Jones of Pukekohe at five is another who has come south for mileage before the Rally Of Otago with his Skoda Fabia R5 and will be another frontrunner.
James Worker of Mossburn is seeded at six and will drive an EVO 6 this year after finishing third in Class B in a Ford Fiesta last year. Kevin Laird of Cromwell (Subaru Impreza H6) is next, followed by a former top kiwi competitor in the 1980’s and 90’s, Ray Wilson of Pokeno, at the wheel of a Subaru Impreza WRX Sti. Nigel King of Rakahouka near Invercargill in an EVO 3 is at nine with the top ten rounded out by the winner of the event in 2023 when he blitzed the field in his Holden Barina, Ari Pettigrew of Ohoka. He returns this year in a Ford Escort MK2 in which he will be one of the favourites in Class C. His chief opposition will come from the eleventh and twelfth seeds, Derek Ayson of Gore in his exciting new Opel Manta 400 and Stephen Gill of Winton in another MK2 Escort.
Thomas Paul of Dunedin, last year’s Class B winner Ian Warren of Dunedin, and Jake Thomas of Mosgiel look best placed to fight out Class B while Jak Elliott of Glenavy and Kevin Brockie Dunedin will go head-to-head in Class A.
Event Secretary, Roger Laird of the Eastern Southland Car Club, says “We are delighted to have three of the four previous winners of the event back competing again – multiple winner Emma Gilmour, plus Ari (Pettigrew) and Jack (Hawkeswood). The only previous winner missing is Andrew Graves who is also a multiple winner. It is great to have Crossroads Clinton back on board to support the event too.”
The event has attracted a top-class entry with thirty-six cars set to compete.
Each driver will receive three runs over Leg 1 and then three runs at Leg 2, which will be the same road used in the opposite direction.
The event will be signposted from SH1 south of both Clinton and Waipahi.
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