The FIA World Rally Championship heads back to the southern hemisphere for Rally New Zealand this weekend, which has a new date, route and base for 2006.

Only four of the 17 fast, flowing gravel stages are identical to those used on last year's rally. Of the other tests, Pirongia West and Te Koraha were last used on the 1998 event and the last time Port Waikato was part of the route was back in 1982.

The new base is the Mystery Creek Events Centre near Hamilton, 120km south of Auckland on New Zealand's North Island. The venue will play host to the rally headquarters, indoor service park, plus a Super Special which is part of the route on Friday and Saturday night. The event will cover a total of 358 competitive kilometres and the winning car will cross the finish ramp in Hamilton on Sunday at 15.00hrs (local time).


Special notes:

It is spring in New Zealand, and the temperature is expected to be between 15 and 20 degrees Celsius much cooler than last year's event, which was held in April. The lower temperatures and long stages will put the onus on tyre choice.

The stunning gravel roads in New Zealand are like rollercoasters that carve through the lush green countryside of the North Island. The stages contain several off-camber corners, and the trick is to find the right set-up and get into a rhythm as soon as possible, in order to make the car 'float' from corner to corner.

After the ceremonial start on Thursday November 16, the opening leg of the rally on Friday will take place in the Pirongia-Waitomo region to the west of Hamilton. The drivers will face two passes through the 43km Te Koraha stage, which is smooth, fast and flowing. One of the highlights of leg two is the return of the dauntingly fast 32km Te Akau South and North stages, while leg three takes the crews onto more familiar roads near Raglan and includes the 29km Whaanga Coast test, which features some of the most spectacular scenery of any rally on the calendar and is a favourite with both drivers and spectators.


FIA World Rally Championship news:

Sebastien Loeb clinched the 2006 FIA World Rally drivers' championship at the end of last month in Australia despite being out injured. He will miss this weekend's event in New Zealand as well, although he will take in the reconnaissance to get experience of the new route for next season.

With the drivers' championship now done and dust, the focus will shift to the manufacturers', where BP Ford now enjoy a 16 point lead, something that means they only need to out score Kronos Citroen by 3 points to sew up the constructors' title.

In other WRC news, Manfred Stohl looks set to remain in a Bozian-run Peugeot 307 in 2007, while Kronos are still pushing ahead with plans to try and run a M2 team in the WRC next season.