A little bit sideways Rallying in New Zealand, where we like to get A Little Bit Sideways! Up to date Rally News from teams around the country together with event reports.
The organisers of the Battery Town Rally Bay of Plenty have been assessing the impacts of the continued Covid19 travel restrictions and the recent elevation to Alert Level 3 for the greater Waikato over the past few days. Combined with these factors, the decision to end the NZRC effective immediately, while disappointing, is entirely understandable and has been made with the best intentions in the face of continued uncertainty.
In the face of these factors, which are entirely beyond our control, MotorSport Bay of Plenty have taken the difficult decision to reschedule the Battery Town Rally Bay of Plenty to a new date of 20/21 November. This decision has been made to give both the organising team, local community, and our fantastic sponsors the best chance of delivering a high-quality event that benefits the local community and that competitors will enjoy.
We understand this will impact the plans of you, our competitors, however the sevenweek window should be long enough for most to make new plans to attend, roll over travel and accommodation bookings and give our health system a fair chance of taming the current Covid19 Delta outbreak. Competitors can be assured we are working with the local community to make the rescheduling as seamless as possible.
I would like to acknowledge the support of my organising committee, volunteer officials, sponsors, competitors and the Whakatane, Rotorua and Western Bay of Plenty District Councils. Competitors who have entered and those who have indicated an intention to enter are encouraged to contact the Event Secretary by email with any queries at rally@mbop.org.nz
If you know of anyone who has been holding off entering, please encourage them to get their entries in as soon as possible now we have a clear plan forward.
There are plans to include this event in next year’s NZRC, and with this in mind we will retain the Saturday recce, so that NZRC competitors have an opportunity to have some experience at the rally prior to its inclusion in the Championship.
Please note, those NZRC competitors who have paid the Championship fees, will receive a refund of the difference between that and the normal rally entry fee.
Anyone who withdraws will receive a full refund of course. And if, in the worst case, COVID 19 interferes with the revised date, all competitors will receive full refunds.
David Loughlin
Rally Chairman
