From: press{at}motorsport.com

Following Thursday's super special in the city of Manukau, 54 competitors
left Auckland parc ferme at 0530hrs this morning. Leg one, the longest of
the event, comprised 141.92 competitive kilometres and nine stages. Apart
from the super specials, stages were based 140km north of Auckland.

The leg 1 action consisted of five forest stages plus two runs through the
spectator super special at Manukau. The road surfaces were slightly damp in
the morning, before drying out completely for the afternoon's stages. New
Zealand is well-known for its fast and flowing gravel roads, and today's
stages were typical of the Antipodean event. The rally ran to the 'Mille
Pistes' system for the first time -- a style of rallying where the
reconnaissance takes place early in the morning before the stages are
driven competitively later in the day.

[...]

For the full story, visit
http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=150397&F=N


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