Patrick Sandell and Fumio Nutahara meanwhile will continue their private battle for fourth in the standings, with the pair currently sharing the position on 14 points going into the weekend.

Other significant entries:

65 crews set to start

65 crews are due to start Rally New Zealand, with 14 in WRC cars. Aside from the 'works' entries – which includes the Munchi's Ford team for the eighth round of its ten rally programme – Conrad Rautenbach and Urmo Aava will both be in action in their PH Sport-run Citroen C4 WRCs.

No fewer than 24 cars from the Production World Rally Championship will also be in action with the remainder of the entry mainly made up of Mitsubishi Evos and Subaru Imprezas. There will however be five Fiesta STs taking the start.

Route:

The scheduled itinerary was virtually identical to 2007, with only minor alterations to two stages on the opening day and the removal of a short test from the final leg. However, landslides have forced organisers to split the monster 43.98km Waitomo test into two parts on the first day. After a ceremonial start in Hamilton on Thursday evening, the opening leg heads south-west. The second leg is based north-west before the spectacular final day which hugs the Tasman Sea coastline and includes a remote service zone at Raglan. The highlight is two passes over the classic Whaanga Coast test, with dramatic views over the ocean. Each leg includes a short test at Mystery Creek, in view of the service park. There are 18 stages in total, covering 353.04km in a route of 1218.20km.

Last year:

After a three-day long battle, Marcus Gronholm took victory in New Zealand last year by the closest margin in WRC history – finishing just 0.3 seconds ahead of Sebatien Loeb. Although unaware at the time, it would also be the final win of Gronholm's illustrious career, as he went on to retire at the end of the year.

Mikko Hirvonen completed the podium while Chris Atkinson, Jari-Matti Latvala, Dani Sordo, Petter Solberg and Urmo Aava all brought home points.