Rally New Zealand proved to be one of the most controversial rallies ever seen, with drivers employing desperate tactics throughout in order to assure that they were not first on the road on any of the stages, leaving the first car on the road to "sweep" the stage.

The drivers' unwillingness to be first on any of the stages meant that many drivers, including Loeb, actually stopped before the finish of each stage in order to have the cars finishing ahead to be first on the following stage. There has even been talk of Loeb's faulty starter (which incurred him a time penalty) being nothing more than a race tactic.

At one stage, Loeb was a stagering 27 seconds behind BP Ford's Hervonen as a result of a spin, but caught up with him, and maintained pressure throughout. Seb was destined to finish third, when both ford cars in first and second, spun at one of the last stages, placing Citroen's Sebastien Loeb and Dani Sordo in poll positions.

The rally proved to be a very fruitfull one for Citroen and Loeb, who is now 8 points ahead in the driver's championship standings.

Ford's Hervonen labeled the rally as one of the biggest dissapointments of his career.