Rally History

HISTORY OF RALLY NEW ZEALAND

The first international event, the Shell Silver Fern Rally, was organised by the Wellington Car Club in 1969 and was won by Grady Thompson and co-driver Rick Rimmer in a V8 powered Holden Monaro. Of the 33 starters in Taupo, 22 were classed as finishers.

In 1970 the Silver Fern Rally was organised by the Canterbury Car Club and run in the South Island with a total of 67 entries.

The Heatway International Rally in 1971 was the first to be accorded international status and attracted 67 entries, with 15 from outside New Zealand. There was franchise support from New Zealand Motor Corporation, Todd Motors and New Zealand Motor Lines. For the first time an overseas team, Australia's Bruce Hodgson and co-driver Mike Mitchell, scored a narrow victory in their Lotus Cortina from the Holden Torana GTR XU1 of New Zealand's Ralph Emson and co-driver Wayne Jones.

Rally New Zealand was first included as a round of the World Rally Championship in 1977, making it the longest running world championship event in both New Zealand and the Southern Hemisphere. Its status has grown internationally, with the 2001 event being awarded the WRC Rally of the Year award.

The current iteration of Rally New Zealand is the product of an event that started in 1969 as a marathon of endurance for everyone involved. What was a long and involved rally in the 1980s with time to rest, repair and develop tactics on a variety of road surfaces has changed to a sprint event of approximately 350km.

Three drivers have won Rally New Zealand on three or more occasions. The first was Carlos Sainz, and co-driver Luis Moya, of Spain who won for the first time in 1990. Sainz was the first driver to successfully defend his title in 1991 and went on to grab a hat-trick in 1992. All three titles were at the wheel of the Toyota Celica GT-4. The likeable Spaniard became the most successful driver in Rally New Zealand history when he gained his fourth victory in 1998.

Next came the reign of Scotsman the late Colin McRae and co-driver Derek Ringer, and the rise of Subaru. McRae won in 1993 and 1994 before emulating Sainz with a third successive win in 1995.

In 2007, Finns Marcus Gronholm and co-driver Timo Rautiainen, took Sainz's crown as the most successful driver in Rally New Zealand history when he beat Sebastién Loeb by 0.3 seconds to claim an exciting victory with the closest winning margin in the history of the WRC.

Five drivers have won the New Zealand Rally on two occasions. Great Britain's Richard Burns (1996 &  2001), France's Sebastien Loeb (2005 & 2008), Finland's Hannu Mikkola (1973 & 1979), his countryman, Timo Salonen (1980 & 1985), and the internationally-regarded Scotsman, Andrew Cowan (1972 & 1976). New Zealand's Jim Scott, a well-known competitor and administrator, stood on the winners' rostrum on both occasions with Cowan.

New Zealand's international rallies have earned a number of other distinctive firsts, including:

The first time a round of the World Rally Championship had been held in the Pacific region;
The first time British Leyland scored World Rally Championship points for some 20 years;
The first time Toyota won both the Group A and N awards on the same event, and;
The first time the Russian Lada team competed outside Europe.

The closest finish in the history of the WRC in 2007
 

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