Broadcaster and ex F1 McLaren, Brabham, and Lotus man Tony Jardine (UK), will realise his long held ambition of competing in the world-renowned New Zealand endurance special stage rally, the Silver Fern Rally, when he starts the rally in Christchurch on 19 November 2022.
Running in the Bryce Biggs team Toyota Corolla with Kiwi Warwick Martin as co-driver, the Anglo-New Zealand team face a long, hard event with 46 fast special stages over seven days, the longest day being a whopping 188 competitive kilometres on Leg five across the glorious South Island of New Zealand.
Known as the most challenging global historic endurance rally, the classic fast flowing stages though some of the world’s best scenery, attract competitors from around the world as the event has achieved cult status. Appropriately, the NZ Team Bryce Biggs Toyota AE86 Corolla will be carbon neutral via the NET-HERO carbon offset programme as it makes its 2,829 km high speed journey.
The Jardine/Martin 1985 Toyota 1600 cc Twin Cam has been built by specialists in New Zealand to take the punishment. Similarly, the finest Pirelli rally tyres for the job have been specially shipped over from Australia for the team to use on this relentless event, where the average high speed heats up the tyres. Such will be the pounding that the team will be using a ‘mechanical’ chase car.
International Silver Fern Rally winners over the years include Hannu Mikkola, Andrew Cowan, Jimmy McRae, with Welshman Meirion Evans and Englishman Matthew Robinson recent victors. This year, although with a reduced field post pandemic, the quality entry still boasts Englishman Phil Squires with top Welsh codriver Alun Cook alongside him. Jeff Judd has WRC star co-driver Belgian Stephane Prevot calling the notes, as Stephane did so successfully with Bruno Thiry and Francois Duval in his world rally career.
Tony Jardine has been rallying for over forty years, competing in 26 WRC RAC rallies, 3 WRC Sweden, 7 Arctic Rallies and one WRC Norway. From his multiple class wins, his finest result was winning the Group N production class on WRC Wales Rally GB in 2013, finishing 26th overall with Olympic gold medal ‘Skeleton Bob’ winner Amy Williams MBE alongside him. He also races, having won the St Mary’s touring car race at the famous Goodwood Revival in an Austin A35.
Jardine has spent a life in motor sport including time as Assistant Team Manager at McLaren working with Teddy Mayer and Tyler Alexander. He lived in a ‘Kiwi house’ full of McLaren team members such as James Hunt’s chief mechanic Ray ‘Razor’ Grant and non-McLaren New Zealander and lifelong friend Dick Bennetts, who famously mentored Ayrton Senna. Jardine was at Brabham where he worked with designer Gordan Murray and then took charge of communications at the Lotus F1 team.
Work with European and UK F3 teams brought Jardine into contact with long term chum Murray Taylor from Christchurch. Murray moved from the top of European motor sport to the top of world sailing with Sir Peter Blake KBE and then onto the Americas Cup. Murray is currently supporting Jardine in New Zealand with his Silver Fern rally team efforts.
Also providing invaluable assistance for Tony and his team with logistics and accommodation is Michael Patterson of the Commodore Hotel in Christchurch. The city is the start and finish venue of the Ultimate Rally Group’s Silver Fern Rally.
Tony Jardine, who has worked for the BBC, ITV, Sky Sports, BeIn TV and talkSPORT UK in F1 for over 30 years, commented on the realisation of his long-held ambition; “Rallying is my passion, even beyond racing, so I vowed over ten years ago that I would compete in what I consider to be the very best historic endurance rally in the world, the Silver Fern. My appreciation of the glorious South Island means I will get to see some of the best landscapes in the world again, but it is thanks to my friends and connections in New Zealand that it is about to happen, to all of them a big thanks, I am beyond excited!”
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