Reigning Production Car World Rally champion Nasser Al Attiyah was due to compete in NZ but has had to pull out after he rolled his car during filming for a promotional video.
Al Attiyah was behind the wheel of a road car while making the video for a sponsor when he crashed.
"He suffered head injuries which, although not serious, will not heal in time for the rally," confirmed team manager Ken Skidmore, of British-based preparation company Autotek, to official event website for the Rally NZ.
Fellow Qatari Misfer Almari will replace Al Attiyah in the
Subaru Impreza which is already on its way to New Zealand.
For the record, while Arai is looking dominant in the PWRC standings at the moment, he will miss the final two events in Ireland and GB, as those are the two he has opted not to nominate.
Other significant entries:
Around 68 crews are due to start.
All the manufacturer teams will attend the Rally NZ and in total there will be 14 drivers at the wheel of World Rally Cars.
Only one is entered by a privateer however, namely Junior RC runner,
Urmo Aava, who will be competing in a Mitsubishi Lancer WRC05 for the third time in the WRC. He should be a contender for points’ too, if his seventh place finish in Finland is anything to go by.
In addition to the 22 drivers’ who will be able to score points in the
FIA Production Car World Rally Championship category, there are a further 32 entered, almost all of them in Group N cars.
Amongst them are Britain’s Alister McRae, brother of 1995 world rally champion Colin and daredevil American Ken Block.
Route:
The itinerary is virtually identical to 2006 with only a few minor changes to some stages. It is again based at Hamilton, 130km south of Auckland and close to North Island's west coast, with a single service park at the Mystery Creek Events Centre, a few kilometres to the south.
