Rally NZ to return in 2022

Rally New Zealand is set to make its 32nd appearance on the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) calendar when it returns to Auckland in 2022.

Organisers have confirmed the event will come a decade after it was last staged in the city, with the Covid-19 pandemic preventing plans for its comeback in the past two years.

It is scheduled to run September 29 to October 2 and will be the 11th round of the 2022 world championship.

Peter Johnston, Rally NZ chairman, says the announcement is “terrific news for rally fans and the wider community” as the country works its way towards opening its borders.

“We have worked so hard and waited so long for this moment. We got agonisingly close to having the WRC return last year before Covid interrupted and so this feels so rewarding knowing we will get to run one of the country’s most iconic sporting events once again,” he adds.

Johnston notes Auckland Unlimited and MotorSport New Zealand have also been instrumental in securing the international action.

Jona Siebel, WRC managing director, says the championship is looking forward to making its way back to New Zealand.

“Next year marks the WRC’s 50th season and I’m delighted to welcome back New Zealand, a rally which first appeared on the calendar in 1977,” he explains.

“The gravel roads there are a drivers’ delight and, although our plans to return in 2020 were unfortunately derailed by Covid-19, it’s fantastic we can now push through with those.”

Kiwi driver Hayden Paddon, the only driver from the southern hemisphere to win a WRC event, is also delighted at the news and has been made Rally NZ’s official ambassador.

“It is so satisfying knowing New Zealand will get to host a round of the WRC again, especially after the disappointment of missing out last year,” he says.

“It has long been a dream of mine to compete against the world’s best here in my own backyard. It is a great day for Kiwi rally fans, and I am so thrilled to have a role to play.”