Australian rally officials "want to ensure the Australian leg of the FIA World Rally Championship race remains an annual fixture on the WRC calendar," which makes a return to event-sharing with its New Zealand counterparts "unlikely," according to the AAP. New Zealand has not hosted a WRC event since '12, "when a year-to-year cycle agreement with Australia was ended." New Zealand has again "been left off the provisional calendar for next year, and Kiwi driver Hayden Paddon believes the only way the event will return to his homeland is if Australia and NZ collaborate to once again share hosting rights." But Rally Australia Sporting Dir Adrian Stafford said that "he could not see that happening." Stafford: "We’re quite determined to still put a solid case forward for Australia to retain its spot, irrespective of what might not happen with New Zealand. This event has developed incredibly in the few years it’s been in Coffs Harbour and you cannot do that if you’re on a rotational-type system." New Zealand first hosted a round in '77, and held an event every year between '82 and '08 with the exception of '96. It then returned to the schedule in '10 and '12 "as part of the agreement with Australia," which has also been hosting rounds since '88. Paddon said that he could not "see the vents being held side by side at any point in the future." He said, "We'll never have a New Zealand and an Australian rally in the same year. It's a matter of New Zealand and Australia actually working together" (AAP, 11/18).
