A selection of photos from the 2014 Rally of Otago are now in our photo gallery, showing a selection of cars in the NZRC, Allcomers and Classic rallies.

For rally fans, this weekend’s Stadium Cars Otago International Classic Rally shapes up as the battle of the WRC stars – both new and old.

Were you a driver, co-driver or event organiser in the 1976 Otago Rally? If so, the Otago Sports Car Club would like to invite you back to Dunedin to commemorate this anniversary.

For 12 years I’ve been singing the praises of New Zealand’s Otago Rally, after first travelling to the South Island city of Dunedin in 2003.

My first journey to the home of Speights beer and Cadbury chocolate was on the recommendation of five-times Australian Rally Champion, Ross Dunkerton, who had contested the event in 2002 and had come home gobsmacked by what he saw.

 

The Otago Rally got underway with the pre-event shakedown and media day. It featured the Classic Rally stars, Alister McRae and Hayden Paddon, and Dunedin's fastest female, Emma Gilmour.

Former Bathurst 1000 winner and lap record holder, Greg Murphy, is the latest big name entry in the Otago Rally, to be held in New Zealand’s South Island from April 8-10.

The 2015 Rally of Otago has received a financial boost with the Dunedin City Council increasing their funding of the rally for next year.

The 2015 Otago Rally gets underway tonight in the centre of Dunedin, after two days of perfect weather for competitors as they completed their pre-event reconnaissance.

One hundred entries have been received for next month’s 40th Anniversary Drivesouth Otago Rally, the first round of the New Zealand Rally Championship and incorporating the Stadium Cars Otago Classic Rally.

The 2014 Stadium Cars/ SSangyong International Classic Rally of Otago will hit TV screens in both New Zealand and Australia during the month of August.