KEY POINTS:
It's not often you get the chance to be driven around the streets of Auckland by the undisputed No 1 rally driver in the world, Sebastien Loeb, and his Citroen teammate Dani Sordo.
Loeb and Sordo had decided to take a spin in a road car just before a press meet-and-greet, so I thought it would be churlish not to join them. Rest assured nothing untoward happened but it was interesting listening to series leader Loeb and third-placed Sordo discuss the merits of a road-going saloon car.
I don't think they were that impressed: a lot of horsepower but no real get up and go, unlike their purpose-built rally cars about to be unleashed on the roads around Hamilton and its environs.
This weekend New Zealand rally fans will be able to watch the world's best getting to grips with our own unique roads.
Four-time world champion Loeb won the last round, Rallye Deutschland, for the seventh consecutive time and is the only man to win the event.
He'll be keen to win in New Zealand, especially after he was pipped at the post by 0.03s by the now retired Marcus Gronholm last year.
"For me the last stage was a really good memory even if I finished second," said Loeb.
"It was such an exciting fight I have fond thoughts about it."
New Zealand has been deluged with rain for past two months, but Loeb, as first driver, said the wet roads would not necessarily be a bad thing.
"I am happy when I have to go first," said Loeb. "Because it means I am leading the championship.
"If it's wet and muddy it's not so much of a problem to go first but if it is dry and heavy with gravel it can be difficult, we'll just have to wait and see what the weather is like."
This year the Frenchman has been as comfortable on the dirt as he has been on the tarmac and he enjoys the roads that make up the Kiwi event.
"The roads are really nice and interesting here. Most of the roads are wide and very fast so you have some big slides at very high speed. It's really fun to drive," said Loeb.
"I have always been fighting the others on gravel and for me it's been a bit more easy to win on tarmac."
The flying Frenchman has managed to win only once in New Zealand.
A man who might push Loeb all the way is Jari-Matti Latvala, who has had success in New Zealand, winning in the Production World Rally Championship (P-WRC) in 2006 and finishing fifth in the main game last year.
The Subaru World Rally Team fields regular drivers Petter Solberg and Chris Atkinson in the new-shape Subaru Impreza WRC2008 car - the first time Kiwi rally fans have seen the hatchback in WRC form.
