Thursday night will be what WRC fans in New Zealand are looking forward to. This is because the 37th Rally New Zealand will be kicking off Thursday night with a ceremonial start at downtown Hamilton. The kick-off ceremony will officially start the three-day grueling race through the gravel roads of the New Zealand countryside.
The cars are set to go. Arriving in the said country from Europe last Sunday, the cars are now headquartered at Mystery Creek where, no doubt, drivers and mechanics are going through last minute adjustments to the cars. One of the key elements that teams will be looking to get right is the right choice of tire and the suspension setting. For team Subaru, it is of course imperative that they take a good look at their brake assembly including Subaru brake pads. This is also true for other teams like Ford and Citroen.
The actual stage will be held on Friday when 136 competitors from 25 countries participate at the grueling race. Participating at the Rally are famous drivers like world champion Sebastian Loeb and championship leader Marcus Gronholm. Subaru’s Petter Solberg, Chris Atkinson, and Xavier Pons will also be participating in the event. All of them are looking to win the event. Gronholm looks ready to win at the event. The Finn driver has been known to be at his best on gravel roads jut like in his home race where he dominated almost every stage of the event.
The Rally New Zealand will pose a tough challenge for teams since the first driver to have a run will be facing a road with loose gravel on top thus making traction limited. Gronholm said: "I am first needing to concentrate on winning. I have always liked the New Zealand roads. They are very similar to home in Finland. That has always made it enjoyable to drive here." With a win, Gronholm will become the most successful driver at the event. The already has four wins in New Zealand and he is currently tied with Spain’s Carlos Sainz.
Meanwhile, Loeb is trailing by eight points in the leader board and will surely be looking to win at the event. The French driver failed to compete in New Zealand last year due to a broken arm. And now that he is healthy again and is fresh from a victory at the Rally Deutschland, we can surely expect a heated battle between Loeb and Gronholm.