Southland’s motorsports season gets underway at Teretonga Park on Sunday with a programme of races for saloon and sport racing cars.

However, the much anticipated George Begg Classic Speedfest scheduled for February has been postponed for a year, with organisers planning a more traditional classic racing event in February instead.

Sunday’s event will see two classes competing throughout the afternoon in a quickfire programme of races.

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The on-track action starts at 11.00am with a test session for each class, before the qualifying rounds and eight scheduled races.

A varied grid of saloons will contest the Noel McIntyre Drainage Clubman Saloon races.

Two-time NZV8 Champion and seven-time Southland Sports Car Club Champion Liam MacDonald of Invercargill will be racing in a Ford Falcon and is regarded as a favourite.

Competition will come from the club’s current race champion Brent Cross of Winton in a Mitsubishi EVO 3 and Arron Black of Dunedin in a BMW E46.

Leon Hallett of Mosgiel, last season’s 2501cc & over class champion and Flying Farewell Champion, will line up in a 7-litre Ford Galaxie.

Gregory Scott of Dunedin should be a frontrunner in the Sports & Racing Car races in his Tatuus FT40, one of the original chassis’ that introduced the Toyota Racing Series to New Zealand. 

Others in the field are Greg Millane of Cromwell in a Reynard 84F and Dave McKenzie of Invercargill in a Begg FM3. 

Young gun Alex Crosbie of Invercargill, last year’s SSCC Novice Driver of the Year, has made a good start to the South Island Formula 1600 Championship this season and will be driving a Van Diemen RF92 at the event.

Robin Williams of Riverton, runner–up in last year’s Sports & Racing Car Championship plus the Sports & Racing Flying Farewell Championship, will also be driving a Van Diemen RF92.

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Meanwhile, Transport World announced this week that the Covid-19 pandemic has forced organisers to put a pause on the George Begg Classic Speedfest for 2021.

A more traditional classic racing event run by the Southland Sports Car Club and sponsored by Mobil 1 would be held instead.

The George Begg event organisers were eyeing 2022 for the return of a weekend of retro racing, Transport World marketing and tourism manager Hannah Whyte said.

The first-ever George Begg event was held at Teretonga Park in February this year as a tribute to the legendary Southland engineer.

"We know there’s a really loyal motorsport following here in Southland and we encourage people to support the Mobil 1 Classic Speedfest this summer," she said. 

"While it’s not quite what we had planned, the last few months has shown all of us that we need to be adaptable and we’re hopeful we can bring an event that celebrates the achievements of George Begg back to the deep south again – just a little bit later than we expected."

Racing car constructor George Begg built 18 vehicles in his Drummond workshop in the 1960s and 70s. They took on some of the top motorsport names across the globe at the time.

Ms Whyte said the long-term vision for the George Begg event was to attract a broader audience and increase visitor numbers to Invercargill.

“We want the off-track action, including fashion, food and live entertainment, to be as much of a drawcard for people as the racing itself.”

This year had been challenging and the team wanted to deliver a sensational event when it was in a position to do that, she said.

Details about a George Begg event would be confirmed at a later date.