So, with 23 days left until the rally, I find myself with a slight issue of no service crew. Despite motorsport being thought of as a solo sport, it really isn’t.

In the car, there are two of us, one playing with the knobs and levers and pretending I… I mean they, know what they are doing.  The other being pretty much completely in charge of everything to do with where we are going and where we need to be. The co-drivers being the unsung heros of rallying.  Those voices you hear giving directions and calling the notes, that’s the co-driver.  Behind the scenes they are also dealing with logistics of making sure we are in the right places at the right times to even start the stages with often several hundred km of touring between competitive stages over the course of a rally.

Outside of the car is the service crew.  Also unsung heros of a rally team.  Their jobs include getting the service vehicle and trailer to the service parks on time and set up ready to fix whatever mess the driver manages to make of the car.  Sometimes lots of driving, sometimes lots of sitting around.
Hopefully if I can find a willing service crew, I won’t give them much to actually do.  Pour some fuel in, maybe change some wheels and make sure the crew is fed.

Rally NZ is being based in Tauranga this year but day one is over the other side of the island based out of Raglan.  So day one service is at Raglan itself.  This means a 150km drive each way for both the rally car and the service crew, then just for fun, the service crew have to meet us at the end of the days final stage for a refuel point before we tour back across to Tauranga.
Day two is based nearer to Tauranga, so for the service crew, not really having to go anywhere at all as the service park is at the rally base.

Due to the timings, the service crew would need to be up in Tauranga from Friday evening through to Sunday night as a minimum.  Sarah and I will be up in Tauranga from Wednesday evening through to Monday morning as we also have to do Reconnaissance which is a preview of the stages to check the notes are correct.  So another 1000km or so of driving on Thursday and Friday.
Just as well we like driving.

So, if anyone is interested in being service crew, get in touch and we’ll figure out logistics.