Round 9 of WRC 1998 saw the teams take their longest trip of the season down south to Auckland for Rally New Zealand after a 6 week summer break. Going into this one Tommi Makinen was back under pressure after another DNF last time out on the Acropolis but his record in New Zealand made grim reading 2 DNFs from his last 2 trips down south. Could the Finn stop the rot or could Colin McRae having won last time out and won this rally back in 1995 hammer home the advantage.