In May Auckland AREC assisted Rally New Zealand by providing safety radio communications at 5km intervals along the the 18 special stages of the rally. Using a mixture of fixed and portable VHF repeaters AREC operators kept track of the passing rally cars, relaying details of each car as it passed the checkpoint back to rally control in Whangarei. Operators acted as flag marshalls, and in the event of a closure of a stage due to an accident or other event were prepared to stop rally traffic by displaying Red warning flags.

One of the key features of the rally - Dust, and lots of it.