Round 6:
No fewer than 24 drivers will take part in the sixth round of the Production WRC in New Zealand, with points leader Andreas Aigner amongst them.
The
Red Bull Rallye team driver missed the last round in Finland earlier this month and saw his points lead cut to eight by Juho Hanninen. Aigner will be taking part in the event for the first time, while Hanninen has already competed on Kiwi soil on a number of occasions in the past.
“That’s certainly a clear advantage for Juho,” Aigner – who will only take in one more event after New Zealand as opposed to two for his rival – said. “But I’ll try to compensate with a way of driving that’s tactically clever and by keeping an eye on him from the very start. The team is keeping us informed about current split times in the car, so we are able to orientate ourselves much better. Two things are for certain: On the one hand I can’t afford to retire, needing to score points without fail, on the other it would be ideal to finish ahead of Hanninen. And to be able to realise this plan, it will also be important to keep a clear head.”
Jari Ketomaa will also hope to build on his Finnish result to improve on his third place in the standings, with the
Subaru man just two points behind Hanninen and ten away from leader Aigner.
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.
