Rally New
Zealand

New Zealand is a true highlight of the season. The landscape is beautiful and the action on the fast, flowing gravel stages tends to be open and unpredictable. The challenging terrain really rewards the drivers with the very best car control. If you can win here, titles will follow.

Again this year's event will be based in the Waikato region with its headquarters at Mystery Creek Events Centre in the city of Hamilton. This is adrenaline territory. If it drops, jumps, slides, bounces or goes just plain quickly, then this is the best place in the world to try it out. The locals are exceptionally welcoming and love rallying, and the new city has a diverse culture in which to spend the week in the run-up to the rally. In fact, it's worth making this a two-week trip to really benefit from everything that the area has to offer.

When it's sunny, the stages can be glorious, but, when it rains, they can turn as slippery as any on the schedule. Blind crests, fast jumps, flat-out kinks and huge cambers make the roads more challenging than most, but the drivers love them. You need to be brave to do well, but the slightest mistake is punished severely as a result.

Recent Winners

2007 Marcus Gronholm (Ford Focus RS)
2006 Marcus Gronholm (Ford Focus RS)
2005 Sebastien Loeb (Citroen Xsara)
2004 Petter Solberg (Subaru Impreza)
2003 Marcus Gronholm (Peugeot 206)
2002 Marcus Gronholm (Peugeot 206)
2001 Richard Burns (Subaru Impreza)
2000 Marcus Gronholm (Peugeot 206)
1999 Tommi Makinen (Mitsubishi Lancer)
1998 Carlos Sainz (Toyota Corolla)
1997 Kenneth Eriksson (Subaru Impreza)
1996 Richard Burns (Mitsubishi Lancer)