Former British rally champion Gwyndaf Evans will headline this year's International Classic Rally of Otago, to be held around Dunedin on May 25-27.
The 52-year-old will drive a Ford Escort RS1800 prepared by Christchurch's Bryce Biggs, who will be running four international drivers at the event.
Rally of Otago spokesman Roger Oakley said the Otago Sports Car Club was thrilled to have secured the talented Welshman.
''Gwyndaf Evans is a name synonymous with rallying in the UK, and to have him confirmed for this year's Otago Rally is very pleasing.''
Evans was the 1996 British rally champion and has been one of the country's leading rally drivers since the 1980s, driving for the factory Ford, Seat, MG and Mitsubishi teams.
He has taken several top-10 placings in World Rally Championship events and comes to New Zealand determined to follow in the footsteps of the other international visitors who have contested the event.
Oakley said his New Zealand and Australian classic class rivals would definitely find him in form as he won the famous Roger Albert Clark Rally in the United Kingdom last November.
''While much of Gwyndaf's success has come in front-wheel-drive rally cars, he has more recently been driving rear-wheel-drive Ford Escorts in classic events, so he'll feel right at home in the Bryce Biggs-prepared Escort in New Zealand.''
At the forefront of competition will be Gore's Derek Ayson, who will be aiming for his fourth consecutive win driving his mighty Nissan-engined Escort Mk 2. Opting for his classic ''baby'' over the Mitsubishi Evo 8 he has been campaigning recently, Ayson was characteristically modest about his chances.
''We will be trying for number four but it's probably going to be a big ask as there's some pretty good drivers entered this year.''
Among them from the Kiwi contingent will be Kaiapoi's Marcus van Klink (Mazda RX7) and Aucklander Robert Van Gisbergen (Escort BDA).
A large influx of Australians will also be hoping to topple Ayson from the top of the podium including the Melbourne-based, two-driver Grant Walker Parts team of double Australian rally champion and former Datsun factory driver Geoff Portman, and his boss Grant Walker.
Portman's Ford Escort RS1800 is his own, and the one in which he convincingly won last year's Alpine Rally in Victoria, while Walker will lease a similar car from former Otago Rally winner Deane Buist.
Portman has contested the Otago Rally before and may be known to New Zealanders after driving a Holden Commodore to third place in the 2010 Silver Fern Rally.
Queenslander Stewart Reid will drive another Escort and also has a real claim to victory, particularly after he led the event last year before mechanical problems struck.
Along with the International Classic Rally of Otago, the event also includes round three of the New Zealand Rally Championship, and the popular Allcomers event.
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