25 November, 2011 2:59PM AEDT

Drivers won't let the dust settle

The second oldest motor car rally in the world starts in Lakes Entrance today.

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Alpine Rally of East GippslandAlpine Rally of East GippslandAlpine Rally of East GippslandAlpine Rally of East GippslandAlpine Rally of East Gippsland

More than 100 competitors will line up for the Alpine Rally which is raced on forest tracks around East Gippsland.

Driver John Hadden described the event as the pinnacle of gravel rallying.

"Anyone who has a competitive bone in their body and wanted to fill their silver cabinet that's the one they want in there," he said.

The rally has been around since 1923 and is pipped at the post as being the oldest rally in the world, by an event in Monte Carlo.

John Hadden, whose navigator is his wife Helen, has never won the event and claims he's never likely to, even though he has a $200,000 Ford Escort at his disposal.

He told ABC Gippsland's Gerard Callinan he was simply looking forward to being a part of the carnival atmosphere.

"Lakes Entrance is abuzz. You walk into a hotel where everyone's supposed to meet and it's literally standing room only and an hour's wait to get a meal," John said.

"The difference between a lot of motor racing and rallying is everyone gets on, it's very friendly."

Another husband and wife team, David and Kate Officer, has been on the podium twice, in 1984 and 1986.

So who's the boss in the car?

"We're a pair, we're a team," Kate said.

The exception is when there's a bingle during a race. That's never the navigator's fault, laughs Kate.

And the Officers have had their fair share of bingles. Take the Himalayan rally for example.

"Unfortunately I made a mess of the first section on top of a levy bank about 30 feet on top of the ground on bitumen," David said.

"We flipped the car off the bank and rolled it into a ball down the bottom.

"We were both fine but the car was fairly ordinary."

Today's Alpine Rally action is in the vicinity of the Forestech facility west of Lakes Entrance.

Tomorrow, teams will battle forest roads north of Lakes Entrance, Orbost and Cann River while roads near Nowa Nowa will pose a challenge on Sunday.