Together with various items of support equipment, a number of them were also later flown back to the UK after the rally.

According to Air New Zealand Cargo, many months of planning with freight agent Delivered-on-Time went into the operations, which involved a total of four B777 freighter flights routeing through Los Angeles on the US West Coast and Hong Kong.

Finlay McArthur, regional cargo manager UK & Europe for Air New Zealand, said: “This is our second movement of rally cars this year... the whole project went like clockwork in both directions.

“Our dedicated teams at either end of the process were able to ensure that the customer’s demands were met and the drivers had everything they needed to compete in this exciting round of the championship,” he added.