3-year agreement was only talk, says Rally NZ boss

Rally New Zealand continues to push towards a return to the World Rally Championship, despite having been out of the WRC since 2012, and without any certainty that they’ll get their coveted place in the calendar back again.

After the year-on, year-off scheduling was shelved after 2012 because of the difficulties that it brought about, New Zealand has been in the WRC wilderness ever since.

With the emergence of Hayden Paddon as one of the world’s fastest drivers, and with a concerted effort by Rally New Zealand to build a new event from the ground up, their chances of regaining a round of the WRC seem to be increasing.

After their last event in 2012, a so-called three year agreement was supposed to see Australia host a round for three years, before New Zealand took their turn for the following three years. But that hasn’t happened.

“There was never a contract in place, it was simply a gentleman’s agreement between myself, Morrie Chandler and the WRC promoter, Oliver Ciesla,” Rally New Zealand chairman, PJ Johnson, told RallySport Magazine.

Read the full interview with PJ Johnson and learn about the ‘all new’ Rally New Zealand in the June 2016 issue of RallySport Magazine, available by CLICKING HERE.

- Peter Whitten

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