After their defeat in Greece, Audi Sport's Roland Gumpert decided that he must try and increase his odds for New Zealand. With the entry list officially closed he asked if it would be possible to field a third Quattro. Fourteen days after the closing date he received a telex from the organisers saying this would be acceptable. Blomqvist would be welcome.
Lancia were none no pleased when they heard the news, particularly as they'd withdrawn a third car when they couldn't nominate a crew by the closing date. Under the circumstances they had then been happy enough to pit the two 037s of Rohrl and Attilio Bettega against the Quattros of Mikkola and Mouton. Blomqvist's late call-up added another dimension.
First FISA stepped in. They contacted MANZ, the governing body of motorsport in New Zealand, and told them that Blomqvist's entry was too late. Therefore the rally organisers shouldn't have accepted it. Under this pressure the Rally Organisers Association of New Zealand had no alternative but to change its mind and turn down Blomqvist.
By now however Gumpert had set the wheels in motion. The car had already been air freighted around the world, and Blomqvist was flying in from Sweden. Blomqvist and co-driver Bjorn Cederberg arrived in Auckland three days before the start (they couldn't arrive earlier due to prior commitments), and despite the not inconsiderable jet lag set off on a very brief practice session. In a growing storm they had time to look at just eight of the rally's 33 special stages. For the most part they were going to have to rely on borrowed pace notes from team-mates Hannu Mikkola/ Arne Hertz, but these would have to be translated from English into Swedish as they went along.
Although everyone had a good idea who had stirred FISA into action, the Blomqvist issue didn't finally come to a head until scrutineering. Gumpert appealed to the highest motor sporting judicial body in New Zealand, the National Court of Appeal deciding that car number four should be allowed to start, subject to Appeal. This wouldn't be heard until the day after the finish of the four-day 1,632 mile rally. It seemed a sensible course of action, and one which wouldn't prejudice any decisions by the Court. At least this way Blomqvist would get a run, and if it was decided that his entry was invalid then he could be disqualified from the results, if he finished. Certainly the rally couldn't be run again if he was barred from starting and the National Court subsequently decided that he should have been allowed to take part. This way justice would be seen to be done, but unfortunately Lancia didn't see it that way.
So began a series of protests and appeals which meant that final permission for the third Audi to start wasn't actually given until 45 minutes before the first car left the ramp. Blomqvist was now running subject to three Appeals, all on the same subject, but Lancia were still not prepared to let justice take its course. Team co-ordinator Nini Russo protested yet again, and although his protest was on the same topic, amazingly it was given a hearing. Not surprisingly the stewards again decreed that Blomqvist should not take part, but this time the decision was taken at such an hour to make it virtually impossible for any counter-action to be taken.
Perhaps Gumpert was by now tiring of the whole matter. Certainly Blomqvist was. Despite his lack of practice, those stages he'd visited hadn't included any in the first leg, he finished the first day in second place, a mere four seconds behind Mouton. He'd been leading at one point, and had been fastest on two stages, but as darkness fell his lack of familiarity with the stages did show. Still it did leave one wondering what weeks of pace noting proves!
The stewards' decision that Blomqvist should be barred from going any further had been given verbally at 06.29, too late to stop him from leaving the overnight parc ferme. He was however held at the start of the ninth special stage (the first of the second leg), and his time cards were confiscated. He could go no further. The whole matter was now virtually at an end, the final act coming when the Court of Appeal met after the finish. It wasn't a surprise when Chairman Mr Justice Coates and his three colleagues decided that Audi Sport's entry for Blomqvist should not have been accepted, but he did make it plain they were not impressed by the steward's decision to exclude him once the rally had started. He said that they had "frustrated justice" and their action had been "high handed".
