Local fans will have at least two drivers - Dean Sumner and Bill Hunter - to cheer for in the annual Targa Rotorua tarmac rally in the city and surrounding areas this weekend.
Sumner, the 2010 New Zealand Rally champion, and new co-driver Malcolm "Pedro" Peden, from Tauranga, are entered in the Allcomers 4WD (four-wheel-drive) class in a Mitsubishi Evo 9, while fellow local businessman Hunter is contesting the Metalman Classic 2WD (two-wheel-drive) class with sister-in-law Julie Wallace alongside in his ex-Rod Millen Mazda RX7.
Both men are better known for their exploits on gravel but with no local gravel event and with the tarmac-only Targa Rotorua - quite literally in Hunter's case - on their doorstep, both decided to give it a go.
Having entered on a similar whim and finished second overall in the 2009 event, Sumner - the owner of the Rotoma ITM Building Centre on Lake Rd - has a reasonable idea of what to expect.
But it will be all new for Hunter and Wallace.
The plan for Sumner and Peden is "to drive as fast as we can while keeping the car on the road", according to Sumner. "I'll definitely have to change my driving style to try and keep the car a little straighter than I would on the gravel but if it is wet I think rally guys like us will go pretty well because we are used to driving the car with a bit of attitude."
Despite a long history of both driving and working on rally cars himself, Hunter - who these days runs a business which owns and operates three automotive workshops in the region as well as Rotorua tyre shop The Tyre Rack - is a little more circumspect, having previously competed only on gravel.
"Realistically, our goal is to be there at the finish," he said. "It's my first time in the car on tarmac and it is Julie's first time in the co-driver's seat so both of us will be learning as we go along."
This year the Targa Rotorua event comprises almost 400km of special stages and 500km of touring stages, with the shortest the 18.39km Hamurana stage, northeast of Rotorua on Saturday afternoon, and the longest the 40.22km Te Miro/Buckland stage (which is repeated), from just outside Cambridge to near Hinuera (northeast of Matamata) on Sunday.
And though this year is the first time he's entered a car in the rally, Hunter has been a keen student of the event since he moved to a property at Hamurana. "I actually live on the Hamurana stage and for the past two or three years I've wandered down to the end of the driveway with my family and watched the cars go by like everyone else. In fact, it was my wife who suggested we do it."
This year's event has attracted more than 90 entries.
Heading the list in the blue riband Allcomers 4WD category, after claiming a breakthrough win in Targa Rotorua last year, are Orewa pairing Leigh Hopper and Simon Kirkpatrick in a Subaru WRX Impreza. Competition is expected to come from the Mitsubishi Evo 6 entry of two-time Targa Bambina winners Glenn Inkster and Spencer Winn, Sumner and Peden, the Nissan GTR-35s of four-time Targa New Zealand winner Tony Quinn and co-driver Naomi Tillett from Australia, and the Auckland pairings of Harry Dodson and Glenn Cupit and Clark Proctor and Tony Callaghan.
In the other classes, the battle for the lead in Instra.com Modern 2WD looks set to be between Targa Bambina class winners Mark Whyte and Tracey Lance from Paeroa in their V8-engined Toyota Altezza and Pukekohe pairing Gary Murphy and James Bell in their BMW M3.
And with last year's category winners, Cameron Young and Steven Fisher from Opotiki (Mitsubishi Lancer GSR 4WD), now contesting the Allcomers 4WD category, favourite status in the Metalman Classic 2WD category reverts to this year's Targa Bambina category winners Neil Tolich and Cully Paterson, from Auckland, in their V8-engined Ford Capri Perana and the father-and-son pairing of Chris and Mark Kirk Burnnand, from Wellington, in their BMW M3.
In the non-competitive Targa Tour category, 12 pairings will enjoy two days of closed road touring.
Competitors arrive in Rotorua tomorrow with scrutineering in the City Focus between 3pm and 5.30pm and the cars then go on display at the Village Green.
On Saturday the first car is due to leave the Novotel at 7.20am and be back by 5pm, then leave on Sunday at 7am and be back at 5pm.