The spectacular fire-breathing Mazda RX8 of Marcus van Klink will be entertaining spectators at next month’s Repco Battle of Jacks Ridge.
The popular Van Klink has confirmed his entry in his iconic rotary-powered Mazda and will be one of the star attractions at the Sunday November 15 event that is fast selling out.
Held on former national champion Andrew Hawkeswood’s Auckland property and using a World Rally Championship-calibre power stage, the best drivers in the country will square off to be crowned champion.
“I don’t know much about Jacks Ridge but the who’s who of New Zealand rallying is going to be there so I didn’t want to miss out on that,” Van Klink said.
“I’m not a great sprinter, I’ll be honest about that, but it will be a bit of fun and it should be a pretty level playing field with no-one really knowing the stage too well.
“Our main goal will get through the City of Auckland Rally the day before and keep the car straight and the exhaust pipes intact for those fans.”
Van Klink has been the standout 2WD competitor in recent New Zealand Rally Championship seasons and should feature as the man to beat in that class at the Repco Battle of Jacks Ridge.
“It will be a little weather dependent,” Van Klink said.
“We will be race-ready though seeing as we just did Rally Canterbury last weekend and we’ll have Auckland the day before so that should help.”
His head-to-head battle with good friend Regan Ross in recent seasons won’t be quite as level with Ross buying a Ford Fiesta R5 this year and entering in the 4WD class but Van Klink will no doubt be keeping a close eye on his rival.
“He’s gone to the dark side because he could keep up with us in 2WD,” he quipped.
While he is very much a Cantabrian and Christchurch-based Van Klink’s Universal Bathroom business has an Auckland branch and he is expecting a number of people to come out and support him.
“We have our business in Auckland as well and we employee 15 staff up there so this is a good opportunity to bring people out and to see us and the car in action.”
The Repco Battle of Jacks Ridge will be broadcast live on Sky Sport. VIP tickets have sold out while the general admission sales are nearly at three quarter capacity.
Fans are urged to get in now and secure tickets via Ticket Fairy before it is too late.
