Rally New Zealand


The Rally New Zealand is an annual rally race in New Zealand. It was first held in Taupo in 1969, and was subsequently staged in Canterbury, before moving back to the North Island in 1971.
The rally was first included as a round of the World Rally Championship in 1977. Auckland has hosted the majority of Rally New Zealand events, however since 2006 the event has been based in Hamilton, with the service park, parc ferme and the super special stage all being located at the Mystery Creek Events Centre. Rally New Zealand is famous for its fast flowing gravel roads which carry the competitors through forests and alongside the impressive New Zealand coastline.
The WRC teams voted Propecia Rally New Zealand "Rally of the Year" in 2001. The 2007 Rally New Zealand ended with the closest-ever finish in the history of the World Rally Championship. After over 350 competitive kilometres, only 0.3 seconds separated the winner Marcus Grönholm and second-placed Sébastien Loeb.
No event was held between 2013 and 2016. As of 2020, the event is a part of the World Rally Championship.

Past winners

*, denotes years when Rally New Zealand was not part of the World Rally Championship

Multiple Winners

NumberDriverYears
5 Marcus Grönholm2000, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007
4 Carlos Sainz1990, 1991, 1992, 1998
3 Sébastien Loeb2005, 2008, 2012
3 Colin McRae1993, 1994, 1995
3 Hayden Paddon2011, 2017, 2018
2 Andrew Cowan1972, 1976
2 Hannu Mikkola1973, 1979
2 Timo Salonen1980, 1985
2 Richard Burns1996, 2001