“I’m really excited to do it. It doesn’t make me feel too nervous. It’s an amazing event, has a big following. The big feeling for me comes from doing an event that my Dad loved and he was successful at.”
The rally sprint event was first contested in 1979, with Possum Bourne winning it three times before his death in 2003. He suffered fatal injuries in a crash while preparing for the Race to the Sky hill climb at Cardrona, near Wānaka.
The opportunity came about after top New Zealand rally driver Hayden Paddon reached out to Spencer Bourne and offered to mentor him, with Ashley Forest the first step towards plans for Bourne to compete in next year’s Otago Rally.
“It was just really out of the blue,” Bourne said. “I was just at home on the couch watching some TV and just all of a sudden got a call from Hayden and he was like, ‘Hey, I’ve got this opportunity for you, would you want to do it?’”
Bourne immediately called his mother, Peggy Bourne, who he said had remained supportive of rallying despite losing her husband following the 2003 crash.
“Despite what happened to her and how long it’s been, she’s always appreciated the sport and she’s really happy that Hayden is giving me the kind of opportunity that Dad would have given me if he was still here,” Bourne said.
Spencer Bourne in action in the car with the iconic numberplate.
While the significance of following his father’s path is not lost on Bourne, he said the chance to drive a rally car also carries a deeper personal meaning.
“If I had to put it in one word, honestly, vindication, I guess,” Bourne said.
“Like this would have been my whole life if Dad was still around, so it kind of feels a bit like what should have been.”
Bourne has already had the chance to work through some of his nerves during a testing day with Paddon last weekend, but expects the prospect of a big crowd could bring them back.
“Generally I’m just really humbled and honoured to be given this opportunity that Hayden’s given me,” Bourne said. “I was able to work out a lot of the nerves that I had from when he offered it to me when we had our testing day last weekend.
“So I’m feeling really good, but once I see the big crowds, maybe some nerves will start to show again.”
Bourne will have several runs at Ashley Forest and, rather than setting himself a target time, is determined to savour the experience.
“Honestly, the time doesn’t matter,” he said. “I’m there to enjoy it and experience it and just give it my best shot.
“The only goal that I have is to enjoy myself and have fun, and that’s the only goal that Hayden gave for me as well, so as long as I’m doing that then I’m winning.”
The two-day Ashley Forest Rallysprint will also feature Paddon, who has won the last five editions of the event, in action in his Hyundai i20 AP4++.
Paddon is chasing a new record on the 1.7km course, having set the current benchmark of 52s in 2023.
Ben Francis is an Auckland-based reporter for the New Zealand Herald who covers breaking sports news.