Repco Rally New Zealand

Posted by Ray

Posted on October 4, 2008

Having spent a few weeks in the south island, the Repco Rally New Zealand gave us a good break from the Kiwi Experience and the chance to witness one of the world's toughest and enduring motorsports in some amazing settings around the Hamilton area and along the west coastline.

We flew from Christchurch into Auckland and picked up our four berth Maui campervan. The price worked out fairly reasonable for the five days we had planned to see all the rally action. The year old campervan had everything we needed from comfy beds, good cooking facilities, toilet/shower and ample living space. With all our gear onboard we set off for Hamilton 130km south.

That evening we made it down to Hamilton's city centre to take in the ceremonial pre rally start on Hood's street. There was a good mix of young and old rally enthusiast's eager for the bi-annual event to begin. The organisers had transformed the whole street into a rally carnival with the pubs along the street teaming with colourful supporters enjoying beers in the late evening sun. Lined through the centre of the street were the WRC cars namely Citreon, Ford, Subaru and Suzuki. Side by side the cars were an awesome sight with each manufacturer's vibrant colours standing out from the dark grey asphalt.

Just before light faded the drivers from their respected teams lined up outside different pubs for autographs and photo's. We got our programs and posters signed by all the drivers except Citroen who attracted the largest crowds and who just left as we reached the top of the queue. The night came to a climatic close with all the drivers/co-drivers in their respected cars taking to the Repco stage to be introduced to the crowd and wished good luck. This turned out to be a fairly funny process with most drivers barely speaking English and some stalling their engines when leaving down the ramp. Definitely worth a mention that night were the hot 'Repco Rally Girls' who for allot of the lads truly stole the show. Nice work girls. We spent our first night parked up on Hamilton's main street saving money on the campsite fee. Our flashpacking days were well and truly over.

(Day 1) The following morning we drove to the Mystery Creek Events Centre just outside Hamilton. All the teams were based here to carry out repairs during service time and monitor the drivers during the different stages. Everyday there was a Mystery Creek Super Special stage around the venue too, great for all the fans. Inside the large events centre one could witness the service team in action, watch the rally and Fox Sports show live, view old rally cars and buy rally merchandise. That afternoon we caught action from the Castrol Waitomo 2 stage. The organisers setup special spectator areas to view the rally from. Even though you only got a glimpse of a car for only a couple of seconds, it was something spectacular. The deafing noise from the WRC car along with it's spitting of gravel chips as it goes by shows just how hard these drivers are pushing to gain that extra tenth of a second. You can get some idea from the two video clips below. We made it back to Mystery Creek late that afternoon to catch the end of the Super Special Stage. Even though we missed the lead WRC's the others didn't disappoint.

(Day 2) We decided to mainly stay around Mystery Creek for Saturdays action. From the previous day of driving, for the big Maui campervan, short distances took double the time to travel. It wasn't just Dec's bad driving or my map reading skills, I swear. After taking in the 2nd Super Special Stage we hit the road in search of a campsite close to the action on Day 3. Most of the stages on Day 3 were on the west coast about an hour and a half from Hamilton. To see these stages we had to be in the vicinity that morning. Just before dark we found an ideal campsite in Raglan already full of rally fans. We parked up there that night, chilled and had a few beers before the last day of rallying.

(Day 3) The night in Raglan really paid off. Up early on Sunday morning we were able to get in two stages, Te Hutewai 1 and Whaanga Coast 1. These stages were situated in some amazing rugged landscape. The Maui van just about managed the windy mountainous roads, slowly but surely. Driving between stages threw up some nice surprises aswell. We drove past all the leading cars and some rally cars even passed us out, which was cool.

We set off again to make it back for the final Mystery Creek Super Stage. The competition was fierce at this stage with Ford's Jari-Matti Latvala leading and clearing the road for team-mate Mikko Hirvonen. Citroen's Sebastien Loeb and Dani Sordo were 3rd and fourth and hot on their heels coming to the final three stages. Drama unfolded on the second last stage in Whannga Coast 2 when Latvala spun out and leader at the time Hirvonen suffered a costly puncture handing the lead to Loeb. We witnessed all the mayhem of the final stages at the events centre. The final super stage didn't have much relevance as Loeb opened up a big enough lead and was supported by his team mate Sordo in second.

After over 350 km of competitive rallying in the wider Waikato region, Loeb came home the victor 17.5 seconds ahead of team-mate Dani Sordo. A very disappointed Hirvoven came third with Petter Solberg finishing the best of the Subaru drivers in fourth place. We stayed for the ceremonial finish and applauded the the winner Loeb a four time WRC champion, who on current form is unstoppable. Possibility the greatest driver ever in the WRC, a true master. While writing this post Loeb won the next rally in Spain on tarmac, his favourite surface. This victory pretty much wraps up the championship making it number five.

Next year sees the rally move to Australia. Usually the event is held around Perth. For the first time it is in Northern Rivers, NSW in early September. A definite must if your around that time.

The Big Maui

The Top Three Cars

Ford Focus WRC

Subaru Impreza WRC

Suzuki SX4 WRC

Ray On Hood Street

Ford's Jari-Matti Latvala

Fitz With The Subaru Team

The Citroen Team

Introducing The Drivers

Mystery Creek

Some Classic WRC Motors

A Cool Brough Mod Car

Dec Practicing His Driving Skills

The Citroen Service Crew Working Under The Clock

Working On Hirvonen's Ford

Passing Out The Big Maui

Action From The Castrol Waitomo 2 Stage

Action From The Castrol Waitomo 2 Stage

One Of The Production Subarus

Taking A Hard Corner On The Mystery Creek Super Special Stage

Press Conference At The End Of Day 1

Latvala Pushing Hard

Cool Remote Cars

The Lads Sporting The Hamilton Beanies

Stobart Ford On Te Hutewai 1 Stage

All The Rally Fans Taking In The Action

Gardemeister At The Checkpoint

Dec Thumbin A Lift

Stobart On The Whaanga Coast 1 Stage

One Of The Production Cars Handbraking Nicely

Hirvonen Nearly Losing It On The Super Special Stage

Sordo Making The Jump

Henning Solberg Pushing Hard On The Last Stage

Mikko Hirvonen In Third

Dani Sordo In Second

Sebastien Loeb In First

Celebration Time

Citroen Team Enjoying The Win

Loeb Over The Moon

On The Way To Kaikoura

Filed under Dubs Down Under, New Zealand >< 8 Comments