The International Rally of Whangārei was part of the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC), one of the premier regional championships in world rallying and is contested by teams from New Zealand, Australia, China, Japan, Malaysia, New Caledonia and Sweden running primarily Super2000, Group N, or production, rally cars.
The International Rally of Whangārei is organised by Rally of New Zealand.
The event for 2025 will commence with an opening ceremony commencing on Friday 7th November. Eighteen (18) Special Stages over 285 kilometres on what are widely regarded as the world’s best gravel rally roads await competitors in the 2024 International Rally of Whangārei. The fast cambered roads of the Whangārei and Kaipara districts to the north of Whangārei will host the event in 2025. For 2024, it was the 15th consecutive year a round of the FIA Asia Pacific Rally championship, the eight round series also visiting India, China and Japan with the finale in Indonesia.
The International Rally of Whangārei incorporates a round of the MotorSport New Zealand-sanctioned New Zealand Rally Championship (NZRC) where local teams can compete internally for NZRC points. Run as a subsidiary event it includes clubmans competitors, to incorporate those cars not compliant with the NZRC or APRC international regulations. The Clubmans event also gives competitors with lower specification or older cars a way to compete in their own overall and class battles and be part of an international event without the cost of full international competition.