Wairau River action on day four of GODZONE

Early morning action on the Wairau River set the pace for One NZ GODZONE's lead teams on day four of the 613km expedition race in Marlborough.

The race resumed its intensity for the two leading teams, Team Rab and Team Fear Youth, who overnight were neck and neck as they pack-rafted the Wairau River after completing a canyoning section at St Ronan's Well near the Rainbow Ski Field yesterday afternoon.

The teams were forced to sleep on the riverbank when a dark zone kicked in at 8.30pm last night.

"That dark zone was lifted at 5.45am, signalling the restart of the fierce competition that has been brewing between the two teams since the race started on Thursday afternoon," says One NZ GODZONE Race Director Adam Fairmaid.

"There was much intrigue as to which take-out point on the river these teams would choose to start the trek up to checkpoint 11 at Lake Chalice Hut on the Richmond Ranges. They both took completely different routes, and for Fear Youth, this has paid off, who are now tracking approximately 6 – 8kms ahead of Team Rab."

The Wairau – Pelorus packraft and trek stage is a lengthy 129km and expected to take fast teams up to 30 hours to complete.

"There is an abundance of route options available as teams progress from Checkpoint 11 at Lake Chalice to Checkpoint 12 at Middy Creek Hut, and onwards to Checkpoint 13 at Bryants Stream. The variety in possible approaches means strategic decision-making will play a significant role in determining which teams gain an advantage during this stage."

Queenstown's team Tiki Tour is currently in third position. Local team Isabel Marlborough has withdrawn this afternoon leaving the fourth team position wide open for teams AWS Legal, Motueka High, and Nelson Vets Gearshop.

While the leaders forged ahead, the rest of the field steadily made their way over the Acheron Saddle on stage four's mountain biking leg. Teams further back were still arriving at Transition Area 3 (TA3) this morning. As the day draws to a close, the gap between teams is expected to widen, with those at the rear striving to reach the canyoning stage tonight.

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