Three-time Welsh Rally Champion, Meirion Evans, is the latest international entry for the 2018 Otago Classic Rally.

Meirion Evans in action in his Ford Escort on the 2016 Carlisle Stages Rally.

Evans joins Norwegian WRC star, Mads Ostberg, at the event, both driving Ford Escort RS1800s.

Evans is no stranger to New Zealand and is the reigning Silver Fern Rally Champion from 2016, having won the event on his first attempt.

For the Otago Classic Rally he’ll team up with Kiwi co-driver Rob Scott, and together they’ll be pushing for a top three finish in a brand new Escort that Evans has shipped from Wales to New Zealand.

“The car is brand new, and it will be a real eye opener,” Evans says.

“With some experience of New Zealand roads from the Silver Fern Rally, hopefully we should do okay.”

Evans’ previous results should install him as one of the pre-event favourites.

He won the Welsh Rally Championship from 2011 to 2013, and in doing so became the first driver to do so undefeated.

In 2012 he won five major rally championships – West Midlands, WAMC, North West, Border and TVMC, and more recently won the 2014 International Rally Isle of Man Tarmac Classic.

When he’s not driving himself, Evans is the Managing Director of Wales Motorsport, a company that produces quality components for Group 4 Mk 1 and 2 Escorts.

Along with Evans and Ostberg, the Otago Rally will include over 10 international entries, the majority of which are from Australia.

The 2018 Otago Rally includes the Dunedin Isuzu NZRC rally, the first round the Brian Green New Zealand Rally Championship, receives Major Events funding from Dunedin City Council, and is supported by the Otago Community Trust.

A field in excess of 120 competitors is expected to gather in Dunedin for the two-day event, which includes famous Otago Rally stages Kuri Bush, Waipori Gorge, McIntosh Road and Whare Flat.