The 2008 Otago Rally's biggest drawcard, French woman Michele Mouton, has arrived in Dunedin for this weekend's Dunlop International Classic Rally.

Former British Rally Champion, Alister McRae, will be the headline act at this year’s Otago Classic Rally, to be held in New Zealand’s south island in mid-May.

McRae contested the Otago Rally at the wheel of a Subaru Impreza WRX in 2007, but will return in 2009 in a Ford Escort RS1800 prepared by Christchurch’s Bryce Biggs.

The world’s best known, and most successful, female rally driver, Michèle Mouton, will be the drawcard entry in the 2008 Dunlop Classic Rally of Otago, driving a Ford Escort RS1800 for the Rossendale Rally Team.

For five years now, the Rossendale Team have been working in a very successful partnership with the event organisers to bring high profile European drivers to what is now regarded as the Southern Hemisphere's premier classic rallying events.

This morning's shakedown for the 2008 Rally of Otago saw a number of drivers testing their cars ahead of this weekend's event.

International Motorsport is offering Otago Rally competitors significant savings on transporting their vehicles between the North and South Islands for the May event.

The 2008 Rally of Otago may be still three months away, but that hasn’t stopped a record number of early entries for this year’s event, scheduled for May 10 and 11.

Already nearly 60 competitors have registered their intention to compete in the Dunedin-based rally, including 10 from Australia, one entry from the Philippines, and high-profile entries from Finland and France.

Dunlop International Classic Rally drawcard, Michele Mouton, has another hurdle to overcome as she prepares for this weekend’s event.

2007 Otago Classic Rally winner, Deane Buist, returns to the event this year, hoping to repeat the success he tasted two years ago.

Buist won the 2007 rally driving a Ford Escort RS1800, but sold the car not long afterwards. He returned to defend his title last year, but at the wheel of a Toyota Corolla powered by the popular BDA engine.

The popular Australian husband and wife team of Keith and Mary-Anne Callinan will return to New Zealand in May for another shot at the Dunlop International Classic Rally of Otago.

With last year’s Otago Rally winning Ford Escort RS1800 sold to Bryce Biggs, Deane Buist will attempt to defend his title in an unfamiliar car this weekend.