Organising committee chairman Laurie Brenssell commented: “It was not surprising to see that John and Jane were first on the list of entrants for the rally section of the Rallyfeste celebration, they are passionate rally fans, and great supporters of the sport.”
Their philosophy in rallying is “Enjoy it, be a good sport, look after your sponsors, respect your competitors and officials, be an ambassador for motorsport, be competitive and get to the end!”
The Kershaw - Buckman team have a passion for the “classic” side of rallying and have a number of Vauxhalls at their disposal, a Viva GT, and two high spec Chevette HSR cars, one designed for tarmac events such as Dunlop Targa and another gravel car which they recently used to good effect in the 2006 Silver Fern Rally.
The pair started rallying back in 1975, with a Vauxhall Magnum 2300, and then using their rebuilt Viva GT, won the pre-72 section of the Top Half Series in 1994, and later the Clubman’s section of the International Rally Rotorua in 2002.
Their ex-Dealer Team Vauxhall, Pentti Arikkala Chevette HSR (silver) car has also served them well with top overall and class placings in tarmac Targa events in both New Zealand and in Tasmania, as well as at the Classic Adelaide event.
For the Dunlop Rallyfeste Rally event they will use their gravel spec (white) Chevette, which was re-built and upgraded from an original 1980’s Grant Ottway car, especially for last year’s 1000km Silver Fern Marathon event held in the South Island.
The Rallyfeste Weekend (March 23-25) includes a Rally Show for the public on the Friday evening, the Rallyfeste Rally, and a celebration dinner marking four decades of rallying in New Zealand on the Saturday evening.
Saturday March 24th will see the rally event start at Hamilton’s Waikato Events Centre at 8.00am, with rally competitors travelling north to first tackle four high speed sealed special stages on closed roads in the North Waikato area, followed by four gravel stages in the “home of rallying”, the Maramarua Forest.
Rallyfeste organisers encourage past and present competitors, enthusiasts, and officials from the all of the four decades to participate, and ask that they register now to keep up to date with the planning and details for the rally and celebration events.
Further information is available on the Dunlop Rallyfeste website - www.rallyfeste.co.nz
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