Preview: Propecia Rally New Zealand.

The 34th Propecia Rally New Zealand takes place this coming weekend - the fourth round out of sixteen in the 2004 FIA World Rally Championship.

NZ will also play host to the third round in the 2004 FIA Production Car WRC.

Rally teams will have travelled cross the globe this week in preparation for this event.

Starting tomorrow [Thursday 15 April] competitors will complete two sprints around the Super Special stage at Manukau, the three day event will see the world's top rally drivers battle it out on some of the best gravel stages in the series.

Billed as a drivers' rally the event's smooth and flowing roads that run through luscious green countryside place few mechanical pressures on cars, instead the emphasis is on driver performance, flat out speed and nerves of steel.


Special notes:

Previously run on stages in both the North and South Islands, Rally New Zealand now follows a more compact route based around Auckland in the North Island.

Maintaining its April slot at the beginning of the New Zealand autumn, the 2004 event will see a return to stages south west of Auckland, including the famous 29km Whangaa Coast stage, arguably one of the most scenic stretches of road in the Championship.

Also of particular interest this year are changes to the pre-event reconnaissance system. For the first time in the history of the WRC the familiar two-day two-pass recce will be replaced by another format known as Mille Pistes. The new system splits the recce, so that stages are driven once on Wednesday and Thursday, and for a second time on the mornings of each Leg before being tackled competitively in the afternoon. Rally New Zealand will be the only WRC rally in 2004 to adopt this format.


FIA World Rally Championship news:

Sebastien Loeb and Markko Martin jointly lead the World Rally drivers' championship following the opening three events, both having scored 20 points. Ford meanwhile head the constructors' - ten points ahead of Citroen.


News from the Manufacturers' teams:
555 Subaru World Rally Team:

[Petter Solberg, car #1 and Mikko Hirvonen, car #2.]

Subaru debuted their new Impreza 2004WRC last time out in Mexico, and despite, the fact Petter Solberg lost five minutes and 40 seconds at the end of leg 1 - due to a penalty - he managed to fight back to take fourth, winning nine of the 15 special stages. Such performance bodes well for NZ.

"We were pleased with the debut of the car in Mexico and its performance and reliability were all we had hoped for - it could so easily have been a winning debut," noted team boss, David Lapworth, "The specification of the Subaru Impreza WRC2004 for New Zealand will be very similar to that of the Mexico cars and having completed the North American event, we go to New Zealand with far less questions."

Citroen Total:

[Sebastien Loeb, car #3 and Carlos Sainz, car #4]

Citroen will debut their 2004 specification Xsara WRC in NZ, which was homologated by the FIA on April 1st. How does it differ from the 2003 version? Carlos Sainz explains...

"It's a step, but not a very big one. There are some improvements to the engine, but I would say that they were useful rather than dramatic. There are also some changes to the bodywork, as the new rules allow, but this is not something you notice a lot when you are driving. The car was already very good anyway, so there was no need to do anything revolutionary. It is more about making a little series of improvements in a few areas, rather than making big changes to one particular bit. This evolution is good to have, but it's not such a big deal. The car feels very similar to how it always did, which is a good thing."

Marlboro Peugeot Total:

[Marcus Gronholm, car #5 and Harri Rovanpera, car #6].

Peugeot have recently admitted that they might have introduced the 307WRC too soon, following a series' of mechanical gremlins in the opening three events. Despite this though, Marcus Gronholm, reckons he still stands a good chance.

"Our car has already shown it is quick and, after all the work we have just put in, we should be competitive in New Zealand. I am looking forward to the start very much," enthused the Finn, whose record boasts three wins in Auckland from four starts! "It goes without saying that I enjoy this rally and I think we have a real chance again this year."

Ford Motor Company:

[Markko Martin, car #7 and Francois Duval, car #8.]

Like Citroen, Ford will debut the new version of the Focus, the RS WRC 04 in NZ. The car was officially unveiled to the public on April 2. Markko Martin and Francois Duval completed a four-day test with it on the gravel roads near Ponte de Lima in northern Portugal last month. The team concentrated on general research and development work as well as specific work in advance of July's Rally Argentina. Martin tackled the opening three days, covering almost 450km before Duval took over for the last day. The Belgian completed another 140km.

Mitsubishi Motor Sports:

[Gilles Panizzi, car #9 and Kristian Sohlberg, car #10.]

Mitsubishi have had a mixed start to 2004, and despite scoring points at Monte Carlo and in Mexico, have suffered a series of mechanical woes, that has led to four separate retirements. They will be hoping to have turned the corner this coming weekend, when Kristian Sohlberg will return, piloting the second Mitsubishi, following his debut outing in Sweden. Neither he nor Panizzi though have much experience in NZ, so it is likely to be a tough event.


Production Car WRC:

Jani Paasonen won the opening round of the PCWRC in Sweden, while Daniel Sola took the honours in Mexico, to lead the series' by 5 points going into NZ [he finished third in Sweden].

Toshi Arai is second overall on 11 points, while Paasonen has 10 and Alister McRae 8.

Who will win in NZ? McRae reckons it is difficult to predict: "It's going to be very competitive again. After the first two events I guess you would have to look to Jani Paasonen, Toshi Arai and Dani Sola to provide the main opposition. Niall McShea was setting some very competitive times by the end of Mexico, too, so he is looking good.

"The only certainty is that it is going to be very competitive again. There will be five or six drivers up there fighting for the win and, although it is never easy, this championship is definitely turning out to be harder than most to get an advantage in."


Schedule:

Organisers have stayed faithful to last year's format with two days based at the Paparoa service park in the Northland region, almost 150km north of Auckland, and a final day south of the city. However, they have scrapped the final leg stages around Te Akau and in Maramarua Forest in favour of a return to the classic tests south of Raglan, last used in 2002.

The action begins on Thursday evening with two runs at the floodlit Manukau super special stage on the edge of Auckland. The first full day covers roads used in the opposite direction to last year, ending with two more tests at Manukau, and is the longest leg of the event. The second leg, in the same area, uses identical roads to 2003 before the shorter final day, which includes two passes over the classic Whaanga Coast, rated by many as the best stage in the entire championship. Drivers face 395.50km of competition over 23 stages in a route of 1398.36km.

Hot tip:

Subaru and Petter Solberg to notch up first win of 2004... Why? Ford and Citroen both using 'new' cars - so may suffer some mechanical gremlins, while the Peugeot 307 WRC has proved unreliable at best since its debut in Monaco.