Adding another rally to the calendar for the 2023 World Rally Championship has raised hopes that Rally New Zealand’s re-emergence could be extended.
It has been revealed that the 2023 calendar will include 14 rallies, one more than the current season.
Rally Mexico organisers announced to the world on Monday that they will return to the WRC for the first time since 2020, when their rally was shortened by a day due to the rapidly spreading COVID-19 virus.
Another rally expected to be reinstated into the WRC is the all-tarmac Rally Germany, which hasn’t run since 2019.
According to reports, the 2023 calendar will contain eight European based rallies, and six ‘fly away’ events. This year’s series only includes three rallies outside Europe: Safari Rally Kenya, New Zealand and Japan.
Rally Australia was supposed to return to the championship in 2023, but that is looking less and less likely, which will give Rally New Zealand an even greater chance of retaining its place.
It is believed that the plan is for ‘all-new’ Rally Australia to run in Bathurst at the beginning of September, followed by a month of motorsport in and around the NSW city, culminating in the Bathurst 1000 Supercars race.
That would leave organisers with just over 12 months to get the new event planned, a timeframe that insiders say isn’t long enough.
Rather than looking too far ahead, however, Rally New Zealand organisers are busy preparing for their first WRC round since 2012, to be run out of Auckland from September 29 to October 2.
Sponsored by parts supplier Repco, the rally will use some of the famous North Island stages, such as Whaanga Coast, and will conclude with a Power Stage at the Jack’s Ridge complex.
It will be round 11 of the 13 round series, with rallies in Spain and Japan to conclude the season.
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Hayden Paddon revealed the all-black livery on his Hyundai i20 N Rally2 earlier this week as he prepares for this weekend’s Rally Estonia.
Decked out in its Hyundai New Zealand colours, the car will be Paddon’s office for three rounds of the World Rally Championship.
The first two rallies, in Estonia and Finland, will provide he and co-driver, John Kennard, with high speed stages and big jumps, before the car is transported down under for their home WRC round at the end of the September.
It is all part of their preparation for the 2023 season, when the pair will contest the full WRC2 title in the car.
Paddon debuted the car at the recent Rally Leipaja in Latvia, but struggled to find a sweet spot in the car.
Since then the Paddon Rallysport team have spent plenty of time getting the car to Paddon’s liking.
Still, this weekend will be more about getting back up to speed and fine-tuning the car, rather than pushing for a podium finish on stages the Kiwi has never competed on before.
Rally Estonia starts with a super special stage on Thursday, before three days of competition. Paddon is seeded 15th in the event, and the fourth WRC2 competitor, behind Teemu Suninen (Hyundai), Andreas Mikklesen (Skoda) and Egon Kaur (Volkswagen).
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