It ’ s not the news many had hoped for after last year ’ s Cold Kiwi was cancelled , but following the move into the current Alert Level due to Delta variant outbreak , the Ruapehu Motorcycle Club has been forced to officially postpone the annual Cold Kiwi Motorcycle Rally . Announced on the event ’ s official Facebook page after the New Zealand Government announced the extension of Level 4 Covid alert levels , the postponement comes after last years Rally was cancelled due to the Auckland August outbreak with the Rally only able to run in Alert Level 1 due to the number of riders involved . “ The 2021 Cold Kiwi has officially been POSTPONED due to the community outbreak of Covid19 ,” the announcement read . ” We MUST be in level 1 to be allowed to hold the rally and as that is extremely unlikely by the time of the rally , it has basically been taken out of our hands and we cannot go ahead for the time being . Please bear with us as we work with the farm owner to organise a new date .” While a new date for the rally is likely some time away due to the nature of the outbreak , the club advised those who had already prepaid for tickets and wish to get a refund to contact the club via the coldkiwi . co . nz website . Thankfully , unlike last year , the 2021 running of the Cold Kiwi could still go ahead once alert levels drop to Level 1 when large gatherings are once again allowed .
LEADFOOT FESTIVAL CANCELLED , AGAIN
While the next scheduled Cold Kiwi might still happen , it has been confirmed that the 2022 running of the Leadfoot Festival has officially been scrapped . Held annually since 2011 on Kiwi Motorsport Legend Rod Millen ’ s Leadfoot Ranch in Hahei , the 2022 Leadfoot Festival was scheduled to run the weekend of June 5th and 6th 2022 . A Hillclimb race up Millen ’ s spectacular driveway , the festival has seen some of the world ’ s top racers head to New Zealand to try and take the overall win . Motorcycles have been a regular feature , with Kawasaki debuting the Z900RS at the event in 2018 . However , despite the next event scheduled to run in 10 months time , with the announcement of our most recent lockdown the Millen ’ s have decided the risk of having to cancel the complex event at short notice was too high . “ It saddens Rod and Shelly to have to announce again the cancellation of the 2022 Leadfoot Festival ”, they announced . “ We will wait until the country is open and the risk of lockdown is gone . We are unwilling to take the risk of planning an event of Leadfoot ’ s magnitude only to be cancelled at a moments notice . We can ’ t wait for these challenges [ to ] be behind us so we can all share our motorsport passions . All the best .” The cancellation of the event follows the same fate of the 2021 Leadfoot Festival which was also cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic .