International Rally of Whangarei returns for 2020

Rally of New Zealand are excited to announce that the International Rally of Whangarei (IROW) will return in 2020, running from 8-10 May (date subject to FIA approval). With the excitement building for Rally New Zealand 2020, recently confirmed as a round of the FIA World Rally Championship in September next year, the IROW will provide a great dress rehearsal for volunteers, teams and spectators alike.

The 2020 event will include the popular Clubmans event (ROW), the Classic 2wd class run to the popular Otago Classic rules as well as the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship event, to cater to all teams and spectators. The recent changes to the FIA APRC again provide the New Zealand crews a huge opportunity to do the first two rounds of the Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Championship and qualify for the final (likely to be held in Australia, pending FIA approval), where the overall winner of the  2020 FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship will be crowned.

The 2019 IROW event will kick off on Thursday 7th / Friday 8th May with the traditional two pass reconnaissance.  Then the teams head to the amazing Te Matau a Pohe Bridge (Pohe Island) for the Ceremonial Start, which is then followed by the Super Special stage in the evening. The popular jump will again feature this year, making another great spectacle in front of Te Matau a Pohe Bridge.

Saturday will see the crews tackle the demanding stages north of Whangarei, while Sunday will be based on the roads to the south of Whangarei and although the regions used will be familiar, some changes will be made to the route from last year. The ceremonial finish for the IROW will be held in Whangarei’s town basin on Sunday afternoon, while the one-day event finish will be held on Saturday evening. Headquarters will be at the newly re-named Semenoff Stadium, Okara Drive, with the service park just down the road on the corner of Okara Drive and Port Road.

IROW organisers are working on the finer details for release in the new year. Keep an eye out for more information in the new year about this iconic event, including early bird entry deals.

For more information, please contact the International Rally of Whangarei: info@rallynz.org.nz

       

Rally of Whangarei

 

The FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) is one of the premier regional championships in world rallying and is contested by teams from New Zealand, Australia, China, Czech Republic, Japan, Malaysia, India, and New Caledonia running primarily Super2000, Group N, or production, rally cars.