Rally New Zealand celebrates 40 years in 2010

The 2010 running of Rally New Zealand will be the event’s 40th year and organisers are asking Kiwi rally fans to help celebrate the event’s rich history.

“The very first Rally New Zealand, then called the Shell Silver Fern Rally, was run in 1969,” says Rally New Zealand’s chairman Chris Carr. “That event, a marathon multi-day event compared to the current three-day event structure – was organised by the Wellington Car Club and was won by Grady Thomson and Rick Rimmer in a Holden Monaro.”

International status came in 1971 with the Heatway International Rally of New Zealand. Of the 67 entries, 15 were international teams with factory support from British Leyland, Hillman and Skoda. An Australian crew, Bruce Hodgson and Mike Mitchell, won that year in a Ford Lotus Cortina.

“Rally New Zealand was included as a round of the FIA World Rally Championship for the first time in 1977, which also marked the first WRC event ever run in the Pacific,” says Carr.

“Other than 1974 with the fuel shortages and 2009 when the FIA adopted a rotation policy between New Zealand and Australia, Rally New Zealand has run every year since.

“We know Rally New Zealand is hugely popular with both local and international rally fans – there may even be a few fans who have watched every one of those 40 years of top class rally action! We’d love fans to break out their oldest Rally New Zealand memorabilia and come down to the ceremonial start on Auckland’s Viaduct Harbour to help us celebrate the heritage of this fantastic event.”

The person wearing the oldest item of Rally New Zealand memorabilia at the ceremonial start will win a brand-new 2010 Rally New Zealand 40th anniversary jacket.

“If you’re at the ceremonial start, listen to the announcers on the PA system who will call you to gather beside the start ramp before 6pm,” says Carr.

Rally New Zealand also celebrates the heritage of local rally sport by inviting all living New Zealand rally champions to the ceremonial start.

“There’s no doubt that our home-grown drivers have competed at the very highest level in this competitive and financially-demanding sport. Fans can expect to see local heroes like Neil Allport (champion 1986, 1989, 1992), Richard Mason (2005, 2006), Brian Stokes (1985, 1988), Joe McAndrew (1993, 1994, 1996) and Hayden Paddon (2008, 2009).

“In fact, all 16 living New Zealand rally champions and the families of former champions Possum Bourne and Malcolm Stewart are being invited to celebrate Rally New Zealand’s fantastic heritage at this year’s ceremonial start. Add in all the Rally New Zealand winners who live in New Zealand plus a special international guest, and we’re going to have a truly celebratory opening to the 40th Rally New Zealand.”

Many Kiwi drivers have contested the event numerous times, the international rally providing a high point in their rally season.

“We were deeply saddened when long-time competitor Malcolm Stewart passed away in 2009 after contesting Rally New Zealand 29 times, his first when just 26 years old. We know he’d have been looking forward to this year’s event with his trademark enthusiasm if he was still with us,” says Carr.

Palmerston North’s Brian Green is now the next most active Rally New Zealand competitor with close to 29 runs since his first appearance in 1970 in a Ford Escort GT. Green, who has also contested the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship numerous times, isn’t sure exactly how many times he’s contested Rally New Zealand, but he’s back again this year in his Mitsubishi Lancer EVO X with co-driver Fleur Pedersen.

New Caledonia’s Jean Louis Leyraud is the event’s most frequent international competitor who first competed in the 1972 Heatway International Rally of New Zealand in a BMW 2002 Ti, finishing eighth. Leyraud, with Australian co-driver Ben Searcy, is entered in this year’s event in a Subaru Impreza WRX STI.

There is also tremendous heritage within the present Rally New Zealand organising committee with Willard Martin, the present clerk of the course, a competitor in the original 1969 event where he paired up with John Stuart-Masters to finish eighth.

Celebrating the event’s heritage at the ceremonial start will be one of many elements of this year’s Rally New Zealand free to spectators to enjoy, adds Carr.

“The pre-start activities and the start ceremony offer a very family-friendly and fun way to feel part of the rally action. From 4pm on Thursday 6 May, all teams have their cars on display on the Eastern Viaduct, which is normally the paid parking area just past the Auckland Maritime Museum.

“Selected restaurants around the Viaduct Basin are hosting driver autograph signing sessions between 4pm and 6pm, so it’s a great opportunity to stroll around the cars and collect autographs from your favourite drivers,” says Carr. “Rally teams have also been invited to participate in a service crew raft race, building rafts from whatever materials they have in their shipping containers to race across the Viaduct Basin.”

From 6pm, the official Rally New Zealand welcome sees invited WRC stars accept the traditional Maori challenge. As the skies over Auckland darken, a light show greets each of the competitors as they drive their car the start ramp. With the field in reverse order from at 6:30pm, the top WRC drivers are the last to be welcomed at approximately 7:30pm. Rally New Zealand’s commentary crew provides great factual information and interviews drivers on the start ramp, adding to a fantastic evening for all involved.

More details about Rally New Zealand and all spectator options can be found on the event website, www.rallynz.org.nz on the spectator page.
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A few of many interesting facts about Rally New Zealand
§ The last New Zealanders to win Rally New Zealand were Jim Donald and Kevin Lancaster who in a Ford Escort RS in 1981.
§ Three drivers have won the event on three or more occasions.
First were Spaniards Carlos Sainz and co-driver Luis Moya who won in 1990, 1991 and 1992, their hat-trick of wins all in a Toyota Celica GT-4. Sainz won again in 1998 in a Toyota.
The late Colin McRae and co-driver Derek Ringer won in a Subaru in 1993, 1994 and 1995.
Finns Marcus Grönholm and co-driver Timo Rautiainen started their winning streak in 2000 in a Peugeot, then won again in 2002 and 2003.
§ Changing to Ford, Grönholm matched Sainz’s record of four wins in 2006, then took the crown as the most successful driver in Rally New Zealand history in 2007 with his fifth victory when he beat Sébastien Loeb by 0.3 seconds. This was also the closest winning margin in WRC history.
§ Five drivers have won the New Zealand Rally on two occasions. Great Britain's Richard Burns (1996, 2001), France's Sébastien Loeb (2005, 2008), Finland's Hannu Mikkola (1973, 1979), his countryman, Timo Salonen (1980, 1985), and Scotsman Andrew Cowan (1972, 1976) who was accompanied by New Zealander Jim Scott, a well-known competitor and administrator, on both occasions.
§ The Rally New Zealand board has been chaired by only two people: Morrie Chandler, who now chairs the FIA World Rally Championship Commission, and present chairman Chris Carr.
§ By marque, Rally New Zealand has been won by:
- Ford eight times
- Subaru six times
- Peugeot five times
- Toyota five times
- Citroën twice
- Lancia twice
- Mitsubishi twice
- Audi once
- BMW once
- British Leyland once
- Datsun once
- Fiat once
- Hillman once
- Holden once
- Mazda once
- Opel once