SERVICE CREW FOR THE OTAGO RALLY 2019

This was my first time attending the Otago Rally, my friend Willy has competed in the Otago Rally a few times in the Agile Performance Celica GT4, and this time I decided to come along and help with Service Crew duties. I’ve been to a number of rallies previously and some sprints, but Otago quickly proved to be on another level from what I was used to.

Soon after arriving in Dunedin we needed to unload the Celica GT4 and get it ready for the opening ceremony in the Octagon, at the heart of Dunedin city. In typical motorsport fashion the car was not entirely ready which meant applying some remaining sections of the refreshed livery in the rain before Willy and co-driver Sam could head off to the display area. Thankfully we got it done before the real downpour began, and we all headed for the Octagon from our accomodation close by. As the rest of the service crew and I walked towards the Octagon, we got our first experience of the Otago Rally being different from what we were used to – Haydon Paddon casually driving past and stopping at the traffic lights in his Hyundai AP4 Rally car, well – as casually a noisy AP4 rally car can be in the middle of a city. I’m used to seeing Rally cars on rural public streets, that’s a fairly important part of Rallying after all, but in the middle of a city is a cool sight and quickly set the tone for a memorable first night.

As we approached the Octagon we could see the streets were all blocked for the Rally and there was already quite a crowd gathered. Quickly the difference between a local rally and a round of the New Zealand Rally Championship had become clear and it was great to see so many locals checking out all of the cars and kids getting autographs from drivers. As we arrived the cars were all lining up in a display formation along the outsides of the streets surrounding the Octagon. Dunedin’s octagon is surrounded by bars and restaurants so we promptly found a dry seat under cover and had a cool beverage and soaked in the atmosphere.

The Classic 4WD class which Willy competes in were first to lead the stages which made it easy to see when we should expect the GT4 into service, but unfortunately he was not to be seen when the time came. The nearby Specialised Auto Services (SAS) team who are friends Agile Performance, and tune the car, came over and showed us on the GPS tracker he was stopped on one of the early stages in a forest. As there was no cell coverage we had no communication with Willy or Sam to confirm the situation so we loaded up the Service vehicle and prepared to head towards the stage finish to recover the Celica once the rest of the field completed the stage. As we arrived at the end of the stage, to our surprise we saw the Celica coming towards us, and they pulled over and informed us they had just been beached on some loose gravel and had been pulled out at by a sweeper car, a frustrating reason to not complete the stage, but thankfully the car was ready to rejoin the Rally without any damage.

The afternoon stages were unfortunately also drama filled with a suspension failure seeing the car stranded in another no cell coverage area deep in nearby forest. This time we received confirmation from officials that they would require a recovery so we headed to the stage, located the guys, and loaded the vehicle onto the trailer to return back to the service park.

Unfortunately by this time most of the day had passed us by with little success, but the failure was determined to be an easy fix if we could locate some welding equipment and there was a chance we could make the final stage of the day which was a street stage back in Dunedin. We loaded up and headed back to Dunedin where we tracked down the SAS crew at the final service area who had a welder on hand and we were able to repair the broken part in time.

The Celica was able to complete the street stage and our Service Crew managed to head down to spectate some of the classes, ending the day on a good note.

Sunday was a very long day, starting around 5am, with the Service Crew needing to head straight to Oamaru, about 90 minutes north of Dunedin, for the first service park. This service park was another great location, this time in the centre of Oamaru on the main street. Although being a tight squeeze it was a cool location, and meant lots of activities available for the Service Crews when free time was available, and plenty of spectators around to provide a great atmosphere. Thankfully Sunday was free of any real dramas, Willy, Sam and the Celica went well and the car was able to complete all stages. This meant an easy day for our Service crew and we managed to have a look around Oamaru and take a short walk to the beach between services.

The finishing ceremony was to be held back in Dunedin, so at the end of the day we packed up and headed south again to the famous Dunedin Train Station which would play host to the finishing ceremony. Although the weather had turned cold and rain was starting in Dunedin by the time we arrived back the Celica made it without any issues and while the first days lost stages meant a podium was out of the question, it was good to get a full days running in and make the official finish after the troubles of Saturday.

As expected, Haydon Paddon took overall honours, smashing a number of stage records along the way in typically Haydon fashion and put on a great show.

My trip to the Otago Rally quickly showed me how big of an event this is compared the local events I had experienced previously, and although it was a long event with a lot of kms to travel and we had some car troubles, it is a great time with some beautiful stages and service areas and we look forward to doing it all again next year.