Multiple Otago Rally winner, Deane Buist, will be looking to add to his Classic Rally titles at April’s event.

The Christchurch driver has won the outright rally (1992), the Classic Rally (2007) and the Allcomers Rally (2016 and 2017) in Escorts, VW Golfs and a Mazda RX3.

For 2022, he’ll be onboard Barry Varcoe’s Group B Toyota Celica replica, a car that should be right on the leading pace.

Featuring a Toyota 3TGTE engine, a 5-speed dog ‘box and a Hilux LSD, the car will be a welcome addition to the head of the Otago Classic Rally field.

“It’s a car Barry has had for a few years, he ran at Otago last year,” Buist told RallySport Magazine.

“It has some good gear in it and has got good power, so I don’t see why it shouldn’t be as fast as the VW on the faster roads.

“It may not be quite as good on the tighter sections, but should be good fun, and it will be good to drive something different again.”

The car is fitted with MCA suspension that should adequately handle the smooth, flowing Otago roads that Buist loves.

The rear-wheel drive Toyota Celicas were a much-loved car during the WRC’s Group B era in the mid-1980s.

Factory versions of the car were driven at Rally New Zealand by Bjorn Waldegard and Juha Kankkunen, although those events were solely on the North Island.

The Volkswagen Golf GTi that Buist has driven in recent years has been sold.

Story courtesy of www.rallysportmag.com