International Rally of Whangarei

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The International Rally of Whangārei is a rallying event held in Whangārei, New Zealand. The first event was run in 2007 replacing the International Rally of Rotorua as New Zealand's round of the Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC).^[1] With the World Rally Championship's move to a rotational calendar means that the International Rally of Whangārei becomes in the years Rally New Zealand is not held, New Zealand largest rally event. The rally also hosts a round of the New Zealand Rally Championship. While originally being a late season event, today it is held in May and is the season opening event in the APRC. The rally has been sponsored by automotive lighting manufacturer Hella for most of the events history^[2] but is now unsponsored.

The Whangārei area, in the northernmost part of New Zealand's North Island, is a former host of Rally New Zealand.^[1] The event has had remarkably few winners over its history with local driver Hayden Paddon having won seven editions, whereas Indian Gaurav Gill has won three times and Australian Chris Atkinson has won twice.

The first event saw Paddon take victory after a rally-long battle with Cody Crocker. The following year former New Zealand champion Chris West took victory over Paddon and Crocker. Paddon defeated Crocker again in 2009 and took his third victory in 2010 over Emma Gilmour. 2011 was the first time the rally was won by a non-local with Chris Atkinson winning over Paddon. Atkinson won again in 2012 ahead of Per-Gunnar Andersson. 2013 saw Paddon take his fourth win ahead of Esapekka Lappi.^[1]

Winners

Year	Driver	Co-Driver	Car
2007	Hayden Paddon	John Kennard	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII
2008	Chris West	Garry Cowan	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
2009	Hayden Paddon	John Kennard	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
2010	Hayden Paddon	John Kennard	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
2011	Chris Atkinson	Stephane Prevot	Proton Satria Neo S2000
2012	Chris Atkinson	Stephane Prevot	Škoda Fabia S2000
2013	Hayden Paddon	John Kennard	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
2014	Gaurav Gill	Glenn Macneall	Škoda Fabia S2000
2015	Ken Block	Alex Gelsomino	Ford Fiesta S2000
2016	Gaurav Gill	Glenn Macneall	Škoda Fabia R5
2017	Gaurav Gill	Glenn Macneall	Škoda Fabia R5
2018	Hayden Paddon	Mal Peden	Hyundai i20 AP4+
2019	Hayden Paddon	Samantha Gray	Hyundai i20 AP4+
2020	Cancelled
2021	Hayden Paddon	John Kennard	Hyundai i20 AP4+

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "The History of Rally Whangarei". rallywhangarei.co.nz. Archived from the original on 2013-02-06. Retrieved 2013-07-09.
^ "Motor Sport". Hella New Zealand. Archived from the original on 2013-08-16. Retrieved 2013-07-09.

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