The ‘power stage’
is a new feature for the five-round 2012 Brian Green Property Group New
Zealand Rally Championship, powered by Brother. Competitors have the
chance to score bonus points toward whichever championship category they
are contesting as well as earn themselves some great prizes courtesy of
Genuine Vehicle Imports and Gull Petroleum.
Being used
for the first time at Brother International Rally of Whangarei, the NZRC
power stage draws on a similar concept which has been used in the FIA
World Rally Championship since the beginning of the 2011 season. In the
WRC, the power stage is the final special stage of each event and offers
valuable bonus championship points for the three fastest drivers.
 
In
New Zealand, the power stage for each of the five rounds will be
nominated by each event organiser with the intention of offering the
most exciting viewing for the post-event highlights television package
produced by the contracted provider, Volt TV.
 
For the opening
event of this year’s NZRC in Whangarei, the final stage of the rally,
the 21.19-kilometre ‘Waipu Caves’, has been specified as the power
stage.
 
The bonus point system sees the fastest three crews in
each category through the power stage awarded points on a three-two-one
basis to add to their overall round total. The five NZRC categories are
Group N four-wheel-drive (4WD), Group N two-wheel-drive (2WD), open 4WD,
open 2WD and historic.
 
“Already our five championship rallies
deliver competitors the exciting challenge of finishing in the fastest
time against their category competitors and for overall positions across
a range of fantastic roads around New Zealand,” says co-championship
coordinator Paul Burborough. “This new power stage initiative ups the
ante for competitors to strive even harder for the bonus points. Not
only do competitors have to balance outright speed with making sure they
get to the finish on both days of each NZRC event – or all three days,
in the case of Brother Rally New Zealand in June – in order to secure
championship points, they also have the opportunity to secure valuable
points by being one of the three quickest in their class through the
power stage.”
 
Burborough and fellow directors from Rally of New
Zealand Ltd, which organises and promotes the NZRC, have organised
significant prizes for power stage winners in each category.
 
Burborough
says: “Our chairman Peter (‘PJ’) Johnston is putting up $500 for the
fastest driver through the power stage at all five events, whichever
category they’re competing in. Gull Petroleum has also kindly donated
fuel vouchers to contribute to the prize pool.”
 
Alongside the
power stage prizes, the new Ralliart Mitsubishi representative in New
Zealand, Shannon Chambers has promised a $1,000 voucher for Ralliart
parts for the driver of any Mitsubishi who wins an NZRC round.
 
Following
the opening round in Whangarei, the championship moves to the lower
North Island for the Trusthouse Racetech Rally Wairarapa from 28 to 29
April. The competition then heads south for the only South Island event
this season, Drivesouth Rally Otago from 25 to 27 May. The second
international event is Brother Rally New Zealand, again a round of the
FIA World Rally Championship this year and taking place from 21 to 24
June. This year’s NZRC wraps up with a new two-day event on the North
Island’s east coast with Rally Gisborne running from 25 to 26 August.