A near-capacity field of 86 drivers will line up for the 33rd Rally New of Zealand next month.
A near-capacity field of 86 drivers will line up for the 33rd Rally New of Zealand next month. Organisers now wait for official ratification from the FIA for driver seedings.
“We are thrilled with the support from the WRC teams,” said rally chairman, Morrie Chandler. “Peugeot, Ford, Hyundai and Citroën are sending three cars each. In the case of Ford, they are sending a fourth car and in all there are 21 WRC cars in the rally.”
Other names on the entry list include Kristian Sohlberg and Alister McRae, who will be contesting the New Zealand event in Lancer Evo World Rally Championship cars.
And in the Production Car World Rally Championship, Hamed Al Wahaibi has Klaus Wicha reading the notes. Wicha was co-driver to Achim Mortl during his selected outings for Subaru last year.
Meanwhile, Austrian driver Manfred Stohl looks set for an outing in a Peugeot 206 WRC, after being included on the provisional entry list of the Rally of New Zealand.
Stohl’s deal to run in the fourth round of the World Rally Championship has yet to be sealed, but the former Group N world champ is hoping to perform well on New Zealand’s gravel roads.
“We stil need the agreement of Corrado Provera,” Stohl told . “We assume that the shakedown will be our first time to test the car. We just want to have a good rally.”