On Your Marks, Get Set, Go!

Dunedin (Monday, 14 January 2013) – It will be a case of fast and slow when two Dunedin Summer Festival favourites return to the Octagon on Saturday 19 January.

The annual New Zealand Shop Timebuster race and the popular Dunedin to Brighton veteran car rally always draw good crowds, Dunedin City Council Community Events Co-ordinator Marilyn Anderson says.

The rally is organised by the Otago Branch of the Vintage Car Club, which is the oldest club of its type in the Southern Hemisphere, and in 2013 is celebrating 59 continuous years of this event.

More than 25 veteran cars, built before 1919, will make their way into the Octagon carriageway and wait while Dunedin’s top athletes warm up for the Timebuster race. This year’s field of 12 runners is the strongest yet, each having qualified in the October 2012 track season. All will be eager to beat the 10 o’clock chimes of “Tick”, the Municipal Chambers clock. “Tick” has only been beaten three times in the 20-year history of the event – proving a formidable opponent.

At the completion of the Timebuster race, the veteran cars will stutter off through the Octagon to a live commentary by well-known broadcaster Dougal Stevenson. Mr Stevenson will give full pedigree details of each car as it heads off to Brighton for the club’s annual time trials.

Cruise ship visitors will add to the bustle of the day. Three cruise ships, the Dawn Princess, Diamond Princess and Oceanic Discoverer, collectively carrying more than 4500 passengers plus crew, will visit the city on the 19th. The Dunedin City Jazz Quartet will entertain from the Upper Octagon from 9.30am.

Brighton will host its Gala Day on Sunday 27 January – a day full of family fun, entertainment.

ENDS

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