Special stage at Domain

The route for this year’s Rally New Zealand has been confirmed, starting with a super special stage at Auckland Domain. The event is back on the WRC calendar for the first time in 10 years and after a number of false starts, caused by Covid-19, all the details for the 17 stages of Rally NZ were announced yesterday. As previously reported by Stuff, the event will begin with a super special stage in the heart of the city on September 29. On Friday, the rally proper gets under way with a bang, starting at the epic Whaanga Coast stage near Raglan, which the drivers will go through twice, as part of the six stages on that day. On Saturday, the rally heads north of Auckland for six more stages. Then on Sunday there will be just four stages, but twice going through the newly built Jacks Stage, near Whitford, with the second time being the power stage, where further championship points will be up for grabs.

Kiwi Sean Marks is in the firing line after Brooklyn Nets superstar Kevin Durant reportedly delivered an ultimatum to team owner Joe Tsai. An unhappy Durant told Tsai he needed to choose between Durant and the pairing of head coach Steve Nash and general manager Marks, according to The Athletic. Durant met with Tsai last weekend and reportedly doesn’t have faith in the direction of the team. Durant, 33, requested a trade in June but remains on the Nets books, just one year into a four-year extension worth US$198m. Marks took over as general manager in 2016 under previous owner Mikhail Prokhorov. He oversaw the acquisition of Durant and Kyrie Irving.