Motorsport: Unusual format for rally

Leading drivers have mixed feelings about the unusual format of the Rally of Whangarei, the third round of the national rally championship.

For the first time the round will be split between a conventional seven-stage rally in the Waipu and Paparoa area on July 1 and a rallysprint near Paparoa the next day. The points distribution is likely to be the same for both days.

Rally New Zealand is staging the round, which will start and finish in Whangarei, and general manager Paul Mallard sees it as some compensation for the loss of the northern stages from the world championship event in November, forced on the organisers by servicing regulations.

The world championship rally will be based in Hamilton with all special stages south of Auckland.

"We are excited about having top-quality rallying retained in Northland," said Mallard.

"We have a rich tradition of running major rally events there and the roads are some of the very best for rallying in the world. The addition of a rallysprint is very exciting and will be a real spectacle for motorsport fans."

The rallysprint will be run on an elimination format to find the winner and will be staged on the 5.2km stretch of Wearmouth Rd used last year as the shakedown road for elite competitors in Rally New Zealand. Ford driver Roman Kresta crashed during a practice run and missed the main event.

None of the national championship contestants used Wearmouth Rd for a shakedown last year and, while some have doubts about its suitability for a rallysprint, more are dubious about the concept of including a different form of motorsport in the premier rallying championship.

It is rather like playing one half of a rugby game as 15 a side and switching to sevens for the second spell.

The rallysprint allows all competitors four runs over the course, with the fastest eight in three classes qualifying for the knockout competition.

Defending champion and current points leader Richard Mason admits to mixed feelings about the concept, particularly if the rallysprint winner earns the same points as the rally victor.

"I'm a bit of a traditionalist," he said. "I think that when we're doing a rally series we should be doing rallies.

"On the other hand I can see that it will be very good for sponsors and television and we might see some different faces coming to the front. But perhaps there's a place for a national rallysprint championship rather than trying to combine the two."

Former champion Chris West, who won the first round of the championship this season in Otago, is no fan of mixing in a rallysprint.

"There are so many good rally roads up north ... we should be making use of them as much as possible."