A Rally in a cardboard box

As the Eastern Southland Car Club prepare for the Barry Robinson Memorial Wyndham Rally on Saturday 2 August it will mark 50 years of rallying for the club and for just over half of that storied history Craig Jessop has been working behind the scenes to make many of those rallies happen – and it all started with a cardboard box!

Jessop originally got involved in motorsport in the Nelson area. “I only did a couple of rallies up there. I was milking cows at the time so work had a habit of interrupting my motorsport ambitions.”

Jessop arrived in the south in 1994 and his first rally in the area was the 1994 Gore Rally. “I did a few rallies and I think my last rally as a driver was the 1997 Wyndham Rally. As the 1998 Wyndham Rally approached the organising committee said they were stepping down. They had done the initial work to bring the rally to fruition but were not going to hold it. We had two or three months to make it happen. A group of us, mainly gullible guys from the Clutha area, thought how hard can it be – Derek Ayson was one. I’m the only one of the original team left.”

“We stepped in and ran the event. We were basically handed the rally in a cardboard box. I co-drove that year with Grant Hastie but we did not finish – that was one of my last rallies.”

Since then, Craig has worked tirelessly organising and running events. “At the beginning one of our team worked for a local engineering consultancy company and he computerised everything. He digitised the road book with excel programmes – systems we still use today!”

After that baptism of fire, the group put together the first Catlins Coast Rally in 1999. “I was Assistant Clerk of the Course initially to Roger Laird and then went on to become Clerk of the Course myself.”

“The requirements for Traffic Management Plans and Safety Plans weren’t what they are now. The requirements have increased and we have grown with it. We were lucky we came into it at the start of the time when computers were becoming commonplace which gave us the ability to print stuff off. We used to get together in Balclutha for a weekend to print all the road books and other documents and bind them all and do the final piecing together of the event. It meant copying 17,500 pages. We used Montgomery Watson’s premises, a company that had American owners, and I’m not sure how it was explained why there was such a surge of stationery use and printing costs at that time of year – they were great supporters!”

“Over the years it was great to be part of things like the Rally Xtreme Championship and by being involved with the Otago Rally and seeing some of their innovations we picked things up – things like temporary withdrawal of competitors with the ability to rejoin events. We also introduced TV coverage, unusual for a regional rally. We’ve probably gone full circle now with livestream coverage on social media.”

“We did Catlins for about 20 years and they were big things to be a part of. It was developed from an idea because the Catlins had great roads, perfect for rallying. The bulk of our crew was from Clutha so it made sense. It grew into an iconic event and it was easy to sell as the roads were so good. The tight, compact nature of the event was a plus too.”

“Our family outings with the kids used to involve driving around dropping off resident letters to those on the rally route and talking with them. When we started our kids were babies and now they are all getting married, and the families of the residents that we were visiting were progressing through the same process. Over the years those residents visits gave a real sense of connection and a feeling that the rally really was a part of the local community.”

“The big thing for me is the camaraderie it is a close-knit organising team and so too with the competitors. It is great to have built an event that has done so well and it is pleasing that people enjoy the event as much as we do in holding it.”

“The rebirth of Wyndham has come about because the Clutha team had dwindled and Roger (Laird) and I won’t be around forever. It is a cool thing to take the rally back to Wyndham as many of our club members are from the Invercargill and Gore areas and it is exciting to see club members become more involved and growing into their roles.” It is a rebirth – a changing of the guard – as new people come on board. One thing that perhaps we took for granted was that because Catlins had such a reputation, even in tough economic times we weren’t hit too badly for entries because if people were only going to do one event that year, Catlins would be the one, Wyndham hasn’t got to that stage yet, but the word is spreading!”

As for Craig’s future he says, ”Rog has 12 years on me so I guess when he gives it away I might have to keep going for at least twelve more years!”

From 1999 the club held twenty Catlins Coast and two Gore Rallies as their main event plus a number of Clubman Rallies in Rankleburn and Dusky Forest’s. Errol & Beth Hewlett have also been a huge part of the team over these events.

The 2025 rally is based around the township of Wyndham, 45 kilometres east of Invercargill and 25km south of Gore. It will start at the MLT Three Rivers Hotel in Redan Street, Wyndham at 9.00am on Saturday 2 August with the first Jesco Hydraulics Special Stage at Tuturau over 21.15km. Challenge Marshalls Garage Wyndham Valley, over 17.49km is the second stage before the 28.12km Derek Ayson – PGG Wrightson Real Estate Waikawa Valley stage. The Marshall’s Excavating – Pine Bush stage, over 25.99km is followed by a new stage, the 13.95km Advance Agriculture Graham Road, before the final 30.45km iHire 0800 24 7 Rent Fortification stage.

The first car is expected to cross the finish line back at the MLT Three Rivers Hotel in Wyndham just before 3.30pm. During the day there will be three service parks – the first in Wyndham after Stage 1 and two in Tokanui, approximately 44 km from Wyndham, the first after Stage 3 and then again after Stage 5.

The event will be Round 4 of the Mainland Rally Championship, Round 4 of the H6 Cup Rally Series and the opening round of the 2025/2026 Eastern Southland Car Club Rally Championship Cup.

Sponsors this year include Traffic Management Services and Yuasa Batteries with support from the Southland District Council, Gore District Council and the landowners on the rally route.