25 Aug 2008

route adjustment f Rally New Zealannd

5:59 am on 25 August 2008

Storm damage has meant organisers for this week's Rally New Zealand have had to amend the route for one rally special stage which will be twice on Friday.

Clerk of the course Willard Martin says organisers have been working closely with roading engineers in all four districts in which the rally's "rural stages" are run.

The most affected stage is the rally's longest, Waitomo, where 80 metres of road were lost when a when a large area of farm land slumped about 50 metres.

Martin the stage will now be run as two stages, part one up to the landslide - a distance of 25.85 kilometres - and part two starting on the other side for a distance of 17.36 kilometres.

That means aditional start and finish timing control points must be created, detailed road books for competitors updated and the change accommodated in event's results system.

But the two spectator points on this stage are not affected.