This year’s Rally of Otago will see two lady drivers at the pointy end of the field, proving that you don’t have to be a man to be successful in the dirty and dusty world of rallying.

French lady, Michele Mouton, is widely regarded as the greatest female rally driver of all time, but a local Kiwi girl will also be challenging the boys for victory when the event gets under way on May 10.

Rally fans are being given the opportunity to take part in an exclusive dinner, to be hosted by former World Rally Championship star, Michele Mouton, in the week leading up to the Otago Rally.

Mouton, a former works driver for the Audi factory team in the famed Group B era of the WRC, will be in New Zealand to drive a Ford Escort RS1800 in the southern hemisphere’s best classic gravel rally.

The youngest driver ever in the New Zealand Rally Championship, Sloan Cox, will make his debut at the Rally of Otago in May, and looks set to leave his mark on the Dunedin based event.

The 16-year old was only able to contest two of the six championship rounds in 2007 as he wasn’t old enough to obtain an international motorsport licence, but is champing at the bit ahead of his debut in the Dunedin-based event.

The route map for the 2008 Rally of Otago has been updated, and now includes service and spectator locations.

The story of the Kelly Gang may have ended when the famous Australian bushrangers were killed in 1880, but the Kelly name continues to pop up.

The official entry list for the 2008 Rally of Otago is now available. The list includes 21 entries in the New Zealand Rally Championship round, 50 entries in the Dunlop Classic Rally, and a further 32 cars in the Rally Xtreme.

Drivesouth, the motoring section of the Otago Daily Times, has been announced as the major sponsor for the motorsport show to be held on Friday, May 9, the night before the 2008 Rally of Otago gets under way.

Have you ever dreamed about sitting in the co-driver’s seat of an Audi Quattro with over 400 horsepower as it roared along a special stage?

Well here’s your chance!

Hey kids! Win some fantastic Otago Rally prizes simply by colouring in this great picture of Michele Mouton in her Audi Quattro.