Those with long memories will recall the works V8 Mercedes Coupes that contested the 1980 Motogard Rally in New Zealand. That event was a lengthy one, based in the South Island, and it is to the South Island that a Mercedes rally car will return for the first time in over thirty years when the epay Silver Fern Rally takes place in November.
Well known rally identity, John Giltrap of Lincoln, will drive the car when the event gets underway. Giltrap is well known for his rallying exploits in the South Island’s Mainland Rally Series where he has been a frontrunner for many years. Indeed Giltrap will tackle that series again this year in a new Subaru.
However he also has his eyes on a return to the epay Silver Fern Rally for the first time since 2006 in a Mercedes 190E 2.3 which is currently being prepared for him. In 2006 Giltrap ran a baby Quattro and he has not competed in the event since. “The Silver Fern has always clashed with business. I spend a fair bit of time in China,” explains the Director of Christchurch based excavator sales and service business, Diggalink.
The Quattro was a car a little different to the norm last time he competed and so too is the Mercedes this time. “We did a lot of research,” explains Giltrap. “The 190E was developed in Europe with a Cosworth engine but then the Audi Quattro was developed and became the car to beat”.
Giltrap and his team have only recently started work on the car. “It is a big project but we have enough resources to get it ready in time,” he says.
The Mercedes means that there are now twenty-six different makes and models of car already entered for the event.