Rally New Zealand 2012

**J4MIE** · 20th Feb 12, 00:38

Rally Guide 1 has been released.

Competitors - Rally New Zealand

I was desperately hoping to be going this year but am having to give it a miss

I cling to the hope that it will go back to running every year but guess it's unlikely to do so anytime soon

**6789** · 20th Feb 12, 02:10

Awesome! I'll be there from the Sunday before, its an awesome rally J4MIE, you will have to do it one day

If anyone finds out where the PWRC testing for Monday is can they please let me know

**J4MIE** · 20th Feb 12, 02:37

Originally Posted by 6789

Awesome! I'll be there from the Sunday before, its an awesome rally J4MIE, you will have to do it one day

It's top of my list... Can't make it this year it's just a wee bit soon for my finances. I will be at the Silver Fern in November though, WRC will have to wait until 2014

**WRCfan** · 20th Feb 12, 04:32

Will be going. Looking forward to seeing the rally again. Alternating years are a pain in the a** but can't be helped. Roll on rally time!

**Camelopard** · 20th Feb 12, 05:32

I've booked my flights, but haven't organised anything else yet.

**6789** · 20th Feb 12, 07:40

Originally Posted by WRCfan

Will be going. Looking forward to seeing the rally again. Alternating years are a pain in the a** but can't be helped. Roll on rally time!

I would rather NZ every year or Aus and NZ 2 weeks apart

**cosmicpanda** · 20th Feb 12, 10:14

That's an interesting route. Shame they've not yet published an itinerary so we can see the distance. I also think it's a shame that we won't be seeing the Whaanga Coast on the final day - it's provided some drama in the past few years. I'm curious to see how well the stages near Warkworth turn out.

Girl's High School and Mititai haven't been run in the WRC for a while - juwra has Mititai last being used in 2002, and if they've used Girl's High School Rd before it was under a different name or much further back in time. The international rally of Whangarei has used it in the past, and from what I saw of it when I spectated there it's a good stage. I recall that the spot we arrived at wasn't so good, but after some hiking through the paddocks and falling down a small cliff (yikes) we found a nice hairpin with a good view. Mititai has some fantastic spectator spots.

**rallyfiend** · 20th Feb 12, 10:47

Originally Posted by cosmicpanda

That's an interesting route. Shame they've not yet published an itinerary so we can see the distance. I also think it's a shame that we won't be seeing the Whaanga Coast on the final day - it's provided some drama in the past few years. I'm curious to see how well the stages near Warkworth turn out.

Total Distance: 1542.18km No. of Stages: 22
Stage Distance: 420.64km Stage Surface: Tarmac & Gravel
Longest Stage: SS10/14 Mititai 32.88km Shortest Stage: SS18/19 Auckland Domain 3.00km

**6789** · 20th Feb 12, 13:09

Hopefully Shakedown isn't at the Auckland Domain

**Rally Hokkaido** · 20th Feb 12, 13:23

Originally Posted by 6789

Hopefully Shakedown isn't at the Auckland Domain

yes, using a mickey mouse tarmac stage as qualifying stage for a (mostly) gravel rally would be ......ah...unusual

**6789** · 20th Feb 12, 13:28

Originally Posted by Rally Hokkaido

yes, using a mickey mouse tarmac stage as qualifying stage for a (mostly) gravel rally would be ......ah...unusual

Especially when its the qualifying stage now as well. Did Japan use that stadium stage as Shakedown? I can't quite remember

**Rally Hokkaido** · 20th Feb 12, 13:44

Originally Posted by 6789

Especially when its the qualifying stage now as well. Did Japan use that stadium stage as Shakedown? I can't quite remember

Is there an echo on here???..................Yes, 2010 Rally Japan used the stadium SSS for shakedown

**6789** · 20th Feb 12, 13:48

Originally Posted by Rally Hokkaido

Is there an echo on here???..................Yes, 2010 Rally Japan used the stadium SSS for shakedown

Sorry misread your post, hopefully that didn't upset you too much

**Rally Hokkaido** · 20th Feb 12, 14:32

Originally Posted by 6789

Sorry misread your post, hopefully that didn't upset you too much

upset? moi? Slipping on ice and falling on to a jack last Friday, now that's something that did get me a little peeved...lol

**tfp** · 20th Feb 12, 18:53

Originally Posted by 6789

I would rather NZ every year or Aus and NZ 2 weeks apart

I cant understand why they dont do this - the teams travel half way around the world to compete in NZ one year and Aus the next year....They might aswel have 2 competitions while they are there

Originally Posted by Rally Hokkaido

upset? moi? Slipping on ice and falling on to a jack last Friday, now that's something that did get me a little peeved...lol

Ah but what kind of jack? A trolley jack? Or a Jack black? Or maybe a bottle of Jack daniels? For your sake, I hope it was the latter

**spiderem** · 21st Feb 12, 03:08

Hi Guys,
I am planning to go this year from Australia, its not such a long journey.
Do you know if the organisation will release a spectator guide with the access to the special and the best part to look like in GB?
Or is it just anarchia as per the Monte and everybody goes everywhere?
Im planning to rent a camper van for few days and just travel around auckland and see as many stages as possible... the thing is, I need to motivate the miss and that will be very difficult!
Cheers

**pino** · 21st Feb 12, 17:09

Originally Posted by J4MIE

It's top of my list... Can't make it this year it's just a wee bit soon for my finances. I will be at the Silver Fern in November though, WRC will have to wait until 2014

On top of my list too...2014 then

**Plan9** · 21st Feb 12, 20:40

Does anyone know if Ken will bring the gymkhana world tour to nz? it was a success in oz.

**anstis** · 21st Feb 12, 20:48

Originally Posted by spiderem

Hi Guys,
I am planning to go this year from Australia, its not such a long journey.
Do you know if the organisation will release a spectator guide with the access to the special and the best part to look like in GB?
Or is it just anarchia as per the Monte and everybody goes everywhere?
Im planning to rent a camper van for few days and just travel around auckland and see as many stages as possible... the thing is, I need to motivate the miss and that will be very difficult!
Cheers

Normally they'll release a programme with maps/itinerary etc well in advance. In the past they have classified spectator points as being either 'prime spectator points' or just 'spectator points'. in my opinion, the word prime does not always mean it's the place to go for the best viewing, it usually means it's the easiest to access. Generally I think the best places are the lesser spectator points or the ones that are a bit more out of the way on the map and then you can often walk down the stage for a bit to find a good spot. But I don't think you can go wrong - these are NZ gravel roads, every corner is choice :-)

**sollitt** · 21st Feb 12, 23:54

Not necessarily. One of the problems with our fantastic NZ gravel roads is they generally start on long straights and finish on long straights. And often the mid stage junctions similarly are in the middle of long straights. So if a bit of sideways is your thing, these spots are not where you want to be.