ROTHMANS RALLY

NEW ZEALAND

1994

24° Rally New Zealand Auckland
July 29-31 1994

Pilot Car Time
Pilot
1. McRae Colin – Ringer Derek
Car
Subaru Impreza 555
Time
5.39:56
Pilot
2. Kankkunen Juha – Grist Nicky
Car
Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD
Time
5.42:10
Pilot
3. Schwarz Armin – Wicha Klaus
Car
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo II
Time
5.45:27

Overall Classification

Pilots Car Time
Pilots
4. Eriksson Kenneth – Parmander Staffan
Car
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo II
Time
5.49:38
Pilots
5. Auriol Didier – Occelli Bernard
Car
Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD
Time
5.51:52
Pilots
6. McAndrew Joe – Haldane Bob
Car
Subaru Legacy RS
Time
5.59:40
Pilots
7. Fujimoto Yoshio – Hertz Arne
Car
Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD
Time
6.05:11
Pilots
8. Stokes Brian – Judd Jeff
Car
Ford Escort RS Cosworth
Time
6.06:05
Pilots
9. Ordynski Ed – Stacey Mark
Car
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo II
Time
6.08:50
Pilots
10. Inoue Kiyoshi – Nakahara Yoshimasa
Car
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo II
Time
6.11:55

I feel at home

“As I got towards the end of the rally, finding myself with more than two minutes of an advantage was something that I was amazed at at first. To get a victory in the most difficult and demanding special stages really is something". Twelve months later, after his first victory in a World Championship race, Colin McRae returns to win. This time, at the wheel of the Subaru Impreza 555 group A. On the gravels of New Zealand, 1994, on the same roads that had seen him triumphant a year earlier, it happened once more. A victory won as a champion, leaving no room for the opponents who damned themselves to try to keep up with the unstoppable Scot. Colin McRae and Derek Ringer took the lead on the short special stage that started the race. They gave it up briefly in the first leg but then took it back and kept it until the end, always increasing the advantage.

Three days of competition without making mistakes, three days of spectacular driving. "I like New Zealand a lot because, in some respects, it reminds me of Scotland" confessed Colin at the end of the rally. The special stage of Motu, he chose as his favourite: "The surface is not damaged but it is difficult to drive well and the road has characteristics that are not found anywhere else. It is said that those who go fast at Motu can win the rally and this year we have been the fastest ... ". In fact, McRae had flown over the 32 kilometers of that special stage, finishing with a lead of 25”. That, in New Zealand between the 29th and 31st of July 1994, was the second victory of the Scottish driver in the World Rally Championship and the first at the wheel of the Subaru Impreza 555 group A.