"It was so slippery in some places today," said Nutahara. "It would have been easy to go off the road again I have had to remain concentrating very hard! The car and the tyres have worked well. The rain makes the stages very slippery, but at the same time, I think that is the condition which is best for us and our tyres. I have enjoyed this rally very much. I am very disappointed with what happened yesterday, but these things happen in the sport. Nasser Al-Attiyah has driven well this season and he is a good champion. Second place in the championship and three wins in the Production race is good for me."
Al-Attiyah was seventh at the finish after he was forced to retire from the third leg in SS13, when his engine gave up the ghost. As he had a six point lead coming into the event though he was always the favourite to take the title and was extremely happy to have pulled it off, even if he did have to watch the final four stages from the sidelines.
“We had a very strange day today as we stopped with problems and then we just had to sit and watch! Our plan was to score good points and to finish so it really didn't go according to plan, but Nutahara had problems too,” he stated. “I feel sorry for Nutahara – he's a good driver with a nice approach and we've had a good fight this year. But this was the third year of my three year plan and we achieved our goal – to become PCWRC champions!”
Of the rest only two other drivers' were classified, Nigel Heath taking the final PCWRC point in eighth. Heath chose to contest the rally in a Mitsubishi, the first time he has driven one since 1998, and he ran on Michelin tyres, also a first. But the self confessed ‘gentleman driver' enjoyed his rally, despite being sidelined temporarily on leg two after a small accident and the Brit took the last available point.
![Propecia Rally New Zealand, 17 - 19 Novembre 2006Nasser Al-Attiya (qa) Chris Patterson (gbr) subaru impreza wrx [PCWRC]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/280986.jpg)
