Hamilton, located in the Waikato region of the North Island, was where the rally head quarter was set. It is the fourth largest urban area in New Zealand and the main city in the region. It is home to more than 25,000 students and reserchers stadying at its three main institutes; the University of Waikato, Waikato Institute of Technology and Te Wananga o Aotearoa. Aotearoa is another name for New Zealand. Originally, Antearoa refered to only the North Island. That meant the Land of the Long White Cloud in Maori. "Land of the Long Dust Cloud", the copy of the Rally of New Zealand was a parody of the maori name.
Whilst there we walked around the main street in Hamilton. As you can see in the photos, drivers keep to the left side of the road there, just like in GB and Japan. Shops along the street were having a clearance sale on winter wear. Although, it is just the end of summer in countries of the northern hemisphere.
As we came back to the hotel, we found the sign of SX4 WRC!
These photos were taken during the dealer function held in Hamilton during the evening of Monday in the rally week. Our crews were interviewed, and after that, an autograph session was held.
On Thursday, Hood street where the ceremonial start was held in the evening was crowded with thousands of people even at midday. SUZUKI drivers held an autograph session in front of the Shebeen sport pub and grill. We were happy to meet a great many fans! After the session, drivers wrote their autographs on the wall. Why don't you go to the pub when you visit New Zealand?
The service park was set in the Mystery Creek Event Center. Everything was neat and clean there. SUZUKI's yellow tent was really easy to find! Two Kiwi beauties greatly contributed to the promotion of the SX4 WRC. They were wearing the team polo-shirts. On Wednesday, local elementary and junior high school students came to visit us. We gave a short explanation about ourselves and a short question-and-answer session. It was really nice to have cheerful children as our guests! We also had a fan with disability. It was wonderful that the Mystery Creek Event Center has barrier-free facilities!
We borrowed SUZUKI APV 1,600cc van, which is made in Indonesia, for our local transportation.
The competition started from Friday. It was a nice, but cool, day. We saw a balloon in the sky. The temperature was just 11.8 degrees Celsius. Though, we felt warm during the services; a lot of people came to watch the cars! The Mystery Creek Super Special was also crowded with people, because it was easy to approach from the service park.
The 31st August was the final day of the event and it was the birthday of Stefan, the chief mechanic of the SX4 WRC driven by P-G. So, we celebrated his birthday at lunchtime. In the afternoon, some mechanics enjoyed the super special stage on the forks of forklift trucks. By the end of the rally, as you might know, our two SX4 WRCs both won points! We are very happy.
But we are aiming for higher places in the overall standings. Our crews are now eager to get up to 5th place. We will do our best to live up to everyone's expectations at the Rallye de Espana!
Have you ever seen Kiwi chocolate? This is one of the popular souvenirs from the New Zealand. If you are looking for something unique, these chocolates are recommended!
