Quote Originally Posted by racerx1979 View Post
Kiwis are hardcore. Just look at the NZ rally series. They have a ton of small manufacturers sponsoring AP4 spec rally machines which are similar to R5 but a bit more open. Mazda, Toyota, Mini, Holden and a few others running that series. Entries are usually close to triple digits. Another reason why we will most likely move out of Sydney for New Zealand. They love Motorsport and they have gravel roads for days which are always open to the public for testing. Rally paradise playground! Kiwis are also the nices most respectful people I've come across in all my travels.
A few points. The current Australian wrc round is held at Coffs Harbour which is 600? kilometres north of Sydney.
NZ has lost some of the classic gravel road stages used in past wrc years, the roads have been tar sealed.
I suspect the 2 day 'candidate' event planned for NZ this year is likely to have a moderate amount of touring distance between the special stages. A three day event would likely have a lengthy touring section (by comparison to most current wrc events) at some point in order to get the quality stages and stage distance and possibly require a remote refuel, service, tyre change. The candidate event is Tauranga based which has not been used since 1979 (overnight rest stop) in a wrc (previously mostly Rotorua was used in the area)
I hope the nz motorsport officials do some more spectator education before the (and if the wrc returns) because the wrc is likely to attract new NZ spectators to the stages who have not rally spectated before. (Spectator incidents in NZ for wrc before - McRae hitting the spectator, Auriol near miss with spectator walking across the road in rain storm etc)