The Southern Lights Rally will not be held this year.
The Invercargill-based rally made a return to the New Zealand Rally Championship calendar last year for the first time in 20 years.
But the city has missed out on the calendar for this year’s six events, with two of the three events in the South Island being based in Canterbury. The other is the Otago Rally.
Southern Lights Rally organiser Paul Fallon said last year’s event was well received by drivers and supporters.
"When you’re going to the most southern place in New Zealand to run a championship event, you need to draw on its point of difference," he said.
"The point of difference was the fact that we ran on the shortest day of the year, and we’re right at the bottom of the country."
The June date is expected to deliver the toughest of winter conditions along with prime aurora australis (southern lights) viewing. For 2025, changes to the calendar meant the rally would not return to Invercargill.
"We want to be part of the New Zealand championship, but just the way the calendar aligns for 2025, it doesn’t work for us running it again [this] year."
He said it was not the end for the rally, and the next time it was raced in Invercargill it would go up another level.
