Part 12: Flying Finnish

Oi! So called 'Rally Quest' – I thought this so called blog was supposed to be about rallying?

Who are you, the blog police? Cool your turbos. Well no, it's not actually, it's evolved. It's more about my pursuit and love of motorsport in general. But, I digress. This latest instalment of Rally Quest™ couldn't be more about rallying even if it was coated in mud. 

Oh wait. It was:

The reason? My buddy Dan and I attended the final stages of the WRC's triumphant return to Aotearoa New Zealand after a 10 year absence. For me, it was a case of completing a very large circle. Here I was, where it all started, amongst rainy New Zealand farmland watching the cream of the rallying crop fly around cambered gravel roads. Only now, at long last, it was real.

The antepenultimate and final 'Power Stage' took place at a very muddy – and I'm talking T in the Park 2007 level of very muddy – Jack's Ridge in South Auckland. A purpose built stage in an area of beautiful rolling farmland.

I'd splashed out on 'Gold Pass' tickets, which were presumably named after the colour of the mud, because there didn't seem to be too much else to differentiate it from the rest of the venue. There were a few merchandise stalls, food and drink trucks and a whole lot of mud. They must have been utterly caught off guard by the ultra-rare event of rain in New Zealand spring. The parking situation was an utter shambles and involved about an hour of wading through deep mud, up and down hills to get to... more mud. There was next to no signage, the stewards were clueless and getting out of the venue at the end of the day could be described as 'chaotic' at best. In the most English way possible: I was disappointed in their planning and organisation.

*Heavy breathing*

I'm sorry about using that kind of language, I got a little heated there. Rant over.

Thankfully, the motorsport was not a disaster. The soothing sounds of revs and turbo pops soon soothed my mud-flecked ears:

M-Sport Ford had an all too familiar weekend of pain, but hoo-wee do those purple Pumas look spicy in the flesh:

The soon-to-be World Champion Kalle Rovanperä, and the grand master Seb Ogier preparing to journey to the next stage in their Yaris GRs:

Thierry Neuville in his i20N here, having a 'moment':

Local hero Hayden Paddon made a hugely compelling case to land a seat back at the top table by demolishing his rivals in the WRC 2 class:

During the break between the main events we were entertained by a cavalcade of demonstration cars, including; super-trucks, Hayden Paddon's electric rally concept, quad bikes, hill-climbers and handful of vintage rally cars – like this cute little fella:

The day culminated in flying Fin, Kalle Rovanperä (son of former rally driver Harri), winning not only the event, but also the WRC World Championship at the disgustingly young age of 22. As he's done throughout the season, he combined the fearlessness of youth with a generational talent and composure beyond his years to power to victory. Congratulations Kalle, a well deserved first Championship, and likely not your last.

It was fantastic to finally experienced a WRC event in real life, on home soil and to get so close to today's rally legends and their trusty steeds. More so, to witness a little slice of rally history being made in front of my eyes. But, there was something missing. I missed the rawness of pitching up to some remote lane in the boons and encountering the cars in their true element – the wild. If the WRC comes back to visit again (fingers crossed) that's where you'll find me.