Long Southern Connection For New Catlins Rally

MEDIA RELEASE
22 JULY 2010

Long Southern Connection For New Catlins Competitor

A long connection with southern motorsport events will continue when Timaru driver Gordon Beeby competes in the Catlins Coast Rally this Saturday.

Beeby has lived in South Canterbury all his life but in his early motorsport days he came south to compete at every opportunity. "I started rallying in 1985 in a Datsun 120Y. My second ever rally was the Gore Rally. I had relations in Southland and I used to come down every year for the Southern Sprint Series. Four different clubs in the area used to hold two hillclimbs over a weekend on different surfaces. I won the series one year." Ironically the year Beeby won the Southern Series it came down to the wire between he and Roger Laird of Gore. Laird is a life member of the Eastern Southland Car Club who run the Catlins Rally and nowadays acts as Assistant Clerk Of The Course as well as Secretary for the event - a small world indeed. Laird remembers well one spectacular Beeby incident from those early years when the Timaru man managed to puncture three tyres on one corner during an event.

As far as cars go things have gone full circle for Beeby since 1985. Twenty-five years since those first rallies in a Datsun 120Y he enters his first Catlins Coast Rally in another Datsun 120Y. "I have built up the 120Y for the Mainland Classic Series. It's a 2 litre. It has a Nissan FJ20 engine although it is a standard one," (although he warns a new engine is being built for the car). It is fourteen years since Beeby last competed in a rally. Why is he making his return at Catlins? "Of all the rallies Catlins and Gore were always highly regarded. Catlins is known for the roads, the hospitality and the social side afterwards."

In another twist Beeby points out that his original co-driver all those years ago was and still is one of his best mates and his co-driver for this weekend is that mates son - Josh Mitchell. "Josh has been working for Trevor Crowe and has done one rally with him and has the bug." Beeby's wife, a great supporter of his motorsport, will be part of the service crew this weekend.

The Datsun 120Y that Beeby is driving produces 115 horsepower which prompts a laugh. "It's a bit different to the more than 400 horsepower I'm used to." While he hasn't rallied for many years Beeby has been competing in hillclimbs and other events in recent times in a supercharged Subaru Impreza WRX. The car is an extremely potent machine and true to his passion for southern motorsport events Beeby has brought that car south for the Bluff Hillclimb on two occasions, finishing third in 2008. Beeby warns that he has been putting some effort into extracting even more speed from the Subaru and he aims to bring it back to Bluff to give that event a real nudge in the future.

While he has had a long association with motorsport and fast cars Beeby's day job sees him driving mobile harbour cranes at the Port Of Timaru.

"They are 500 ton machines. They were the biggest in the world when bought 8 years ago." Asked if driving the big machines is a bit boring after charging hard in motorsport events Beeby says definitely not. "When you have a 40 foot box swinging at you it is pretty exciting," he laughs.

Beeby's goal for this weekend is to "come down, have fun and get to the end."

The Catlins Coast Rally begins from Owaka Motors premises in Campbell Street, Owaka on Saturday at 9am when "Miss Jim Beam Rosebank Lodge Catlins Coast Rally" flags the first of the cars away. Ahead of the competitors will be eight high speed Special Stages. New this year are stages such as Lochindorb, Purakauiti and White Flat while well known stages such as Tawanui, Catlins Valley, Cannibal Bay, Barrata Creek plus the Super Special Stage introduced for the first time last year at Balclutha's Riverside Reserve remain.

The Super Special Stage will be the last of the rally and will provide a fantastic venue for spectators to watch the last few kilometres of action.

Loyal supporters, the Rosebank Lodge in Balclutha, MWH, Southroads, Owaka Motors, the Clutha Licensing Trust and Century Batteries all return with all important sponsorship to allow the event to take place again.

The rally will be Round 3 of the Mainland Rally Series and Round 2 of the Laird Motorsport Southern Rally Series which is fought out by drivers and co-drivers with a residential address in Southland, Eastern Southland or Otago.
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