Roads were closed, mud and stones flung into the air and people huddled in groups for safety from flying debris as Raglan experienced the full force of a one in 10-year event recently. And mostly, locals seem to have loved it.
The return to Raglan roads of the World Rally Championship may have inconvenienced some rural dwellers but it was a different story at the official spectator spots and especially downtown, where hundreds of locals and visiting rally fans were able between stages to get up close and almost personal with the cars and drivers.
Bow Street and a short stretch of Wainui Road were transformed for the day into a rally service park extraordinaire, with spectators grabbing a bite at stalls or eateries – or catching the live action on a giant screen directly in front of the Harbour View Hotel – as support crews milled about in marked-out bays stacked with new Pirelli tyres.
The only real crushes appeared to be on the veranda bar and also outside the Raglan library, where people jostled good naturedly for a view or clear photo of the leading drivers as they parked up and emerged from rally cars showing the odd telltale scar of surviving the first pass of the famed Whaanga Coast stage.
International media honed in on Kalle Rovanpera – the 22-year-old Finn who went on to win the rally and to be crowned the WRC’s youngest ever world champion – and on his Toyota teammate and eight times world champ Sebastien Ogier, who ended up second to shut out Hyundai driver Ott Tanak.
There was a parochial cheer from locals and other Kiwis for New Zealand driver Hayden Paddon – who won the WRC2 category and also finished sixth overall – and special interest too in how homegrown racing driver Shane van Gisbergen would handle rallying ahead of competing in the Bathurst endurance race. He didn’t disappoint, going on to nab third in the WRC2 category (and to win Bathurst).
This was the first time the international rally’s truly come to town as previously the Raglan airfield has been used as the service park.
The rally, branded this year as the Repco Rally New Zealand, was first included as a round of the WRC back in 1977. International rally drivers last competed here in 2012, when Citroen driver Sebastien Loeb notched up his third Rally New Zealand win.
Although Rally New Zealand has missed out on a 2023 WRC slot, there are hopes international rallying may return as early as 2024.
But it’s unlikely to be seen here again in successive years, as has been the case in the past, with WRC sources quoted as saying that “every two to three years is more practical in an extremely competitive environment (among countries wanting to host a WRC round)”.
