David Taylor is taking the classic weekend drive with his grandson to a new level.
When he and Arthur Broughan get into his Honda Civic, it will be to race around Otago’s back roads as fast as possible.
They are set to become the first grandparent-grandchild duo in New Zealand Rally Championship history at this weekend’s Otago Rally.
Arthur (13) will make his debut on the rally scene, co-driving for Taylor (67), as they look to become accustomed to one another.
"We had an eye to doing the WRC [World Rally Championship] round in Auckland and we thought we better do something else first," Taylor said.
"So he’s just gone through all the stuff to do his rally licence. He’s done a couple of sprints with me, to make sure he’s comfortable enough in the car.
"It’ll be a learning experience for us both. We need to learn as we go.
"We’re both new to each other, listening to his notes and for him to be able to interpret and read them as well.
"It’s not often a grandchild and grandparent get to do something like this."
Taylor grew up in Scotland and had been involved in motorsport clubs there, although never in a driving capacity.
After a stint in Australia, he moved to Blenheim in 2012 and decided to get involved.
"I went down to the local car club and I thought ‘it’s time to give it a go’," Taylor said.
"I did some local car club events and in 2016 I thought ‘let’s have a crack at doing a rally’. I’d never done one and I’d always wanted to do one all my life.
"So yeah, I was pretty late to start, but it didn’t really hold us back."
He has since done several rallies and this will be his fourth Otago Rally.
It will be his first with Arthur, though, who has won South Island and national schools go-karting championships.
Co-driving will be a different experience for the youngster.
Taylor said it would be a case of Arthur becoming used to interpreting and reading his notes, and Taylor also developing confidence in what he was being told.
That was the main aim of this weekend.
"The goal is to finish and to learn about how the youngster reads notes to me and how I interpret what he tells me.
"It’s a learning journey for us. We want to finish obviously.
"Other than that, just keep the car on the road and to learn a lot. There’s a lot of confidence needed between a driver and a co-driver."
- Jeff Cheshire. Photo: Supplied
