Familiar feel to new-look Rally NZ

International drivers will face a steep learning curve and local fans will be able to rekindle old memories at the new-look Rally New Zealand in November.

The switch to a Hamilton base, which had become inevitable through pressure from world championship officials for a single service centre, changed from an open secret to a concrete decision this week.

Gone are special stages north of Auckland, the central city base and the super-special at Manukau. In their place will be a headquarters at Mystery Creek with potential for an on-site stage and a vastly changed itinerary of special stages.

Rally NZ chairman Morrie Chandler has felt the heat for change through his position on the world rallying body. He has made it clear in Paris that the November 17-19 Propecia-sponsored event is not at an ideal time for New Zealand but he is positive about the change of venue.

"By moving to Hamilton we are able to focus all of our energies and promotion on one service park, something seen as vital by the visiting international teams and the International Federation of Automobiles (FIA).

"It also reduces the amount of time spent touring between stages.

"Hamilton is also seen as being accessible for the Auckland-based followers of the event while bringing it closer to the rest of the North Island.

"If anything, we are making it easier for the public to follow as we will remove the big miles necessary to track the event from up north in Paparoa to the south in Raglan, as was the case when based in Auckland."

A plus for the spectators will be the use of stages in the Waitomo and southern Franklin areas, some of which have not been used since the days of the powerful Group B cars when the rally covered much more ground.

It was noticeable last year that the stages up north drew fewer spectators as the novelty wore off after several years of repetition and the reduction in variety as some were repeated twice.

At one stage world championship rounds could introduce only 20 per cent of new stages each year, but that rule seems to have been dropped and the current crop of stars will have only a couple of reconnaissance runs to learn such stages as the 44km monster out of Otorohanga that destroyed the tyres of contenders 10 years ago.

New clerk of the course Willard Martin said the stages had still to be confirmed, but the first day would see the cars spend all day in the Otorohanga area, with a midday service break at Mystery Creek.

The second day would be mostly in the Franklin area and the final day would follow the traditional pattern around Raglan, including two runs on the Whaanga Coast stage.

The finish was likely to be at Mystery Creek.

Mystery Creek will offer covered service areas for everyone, rally headquarters, a media centre and the potential for a special stage, the first world rally stage there since 1994.