About the NZ Silver Fern Rally and the Marathon Rally Car Club
NZ SILVER FERN RALLY BEGINNINGS
The NZ Silver Fern Rally has grown out of an idea that Gary Smith and Carl Rabbidge had been considering for some time. Gary had competed with Graham Lorimer in the London to Sydney marathon event in 1993, and saw that the costs of competing there were rather high, and thought “we could do a similar event here for a lot less”.
At the 2005 Dunlop Otago Classic Rally, notices were circulated to interested parties, similar to the current registration of interest flyer available on this site. They outlined some of the ideas, competing over stages maybe as long as 100km’s, in a week long marathon rally, and over some of the famous old stages used in the Heatway and Motogard Rallies of the 1970’s and 80’s. We were keen to know if there was enough interest out there from competitors and others to make it worthwhile taking the event from concept to reality.
Originally the event was circulated as the Rally of the Southern Cross, but his idea was re-considered at the inaugural meeting, as the name was to similar to the Australian events held in the past. The objective was to make this a truly New Zealand event, so it was decided to give it the name, NZ Silver Fern Rally.
The response to the original concept was very encouraging and a meeting of interested parties was held in Hamilton in August 2005 to further consider the events viability.
It was subsequently voted overwhelmingly a big yes by those present, and six hours were spent making plans and discussing ideas to “make this thing happen”..
The 2006 NZ Silver Fern Rally is now history, and planning is well underway for another event in October 2008.
MARATHON RALLY CLUB’S BEGINNINGS
The Marathon Rally Car Club Inc was formed in Hamilton, in August 2005, following the idea to organise a marathon rally in the South Island of New Zealand in late 2006 or early 2007.
At the inaugural meeting, the members present saw a need for a Car Club to promote a proposed new marathon event, the NZ Silver Fern Rally. It was considered the best way to achieve this, was to form a completely new club.
This was done, with the name derived from its marathon event objectives. Gary Smith was elected President, Graeme Robertson, Secretary, Martin Fine, Treasurer, and six executive members Mike Gibbs, George Kuttel, Murray O’Donnell, Carl Rabbidge and Paul Smith.
The Marathon Rally Car Club Inc comes with definite objectives, the main one being to build a membership of enthusiasts interested in the idea of organising and competing in long distance marathon rally events.
In September 2005, the Marathon Rally Car Club Inc was affiliated to Motorsport New Zealand (MSNZ) New Zealand ’s governing body for Motorsport.
Please check out the other sections of this web-site for more details on the club, how to join, and help make this event a success, and for more details of the NZ Silver Fern Rally.