Masons take early lead in Otago

Today’s first day in the 2009 Southern Cross Hotel Rally of Otago has seen a close battle between defending series champion Hayden Paddon and current leader Richard Mason swing the way of the challenger late in the afternoon.

The second of five rounds in the Vantage New Zealand Rally Championship (NZRC), the two-day rally uses a mixture of forest and county roads around Dunedin in central Otago.

Geraldine based driver Hayden Paddon and co-driver John Kennard (Mitsubishi) held the lead for most of today, until the slender eight second lead swung away from the defending champion in the 42.30 kilometre Glenburnie stage.
Scalped by Masterton based Richard and Sara Mason (Subaru), they extended their championship points advantage after taking a 15.8 second lead having completed today’s eight tests.

“We were fairly slow off the mark for the first half of the day and spent the whole afternoon gather pace with the long stage pretty good to us. We gathered it all together and that’s what it all came down to,” said Mason after the final stage, collecting a further 32 points to his tally, while Paddon earned 27.

“We’ve been working on a little extra handling; Hayden (Paddon) has stepped it up a bit, his switch to Dunlop tyres too has probably helped him. So it outlines we had a problem with the suspension earlier in the day and now we’ve got a quick car again.”
Graced by unseasonably mild weather following snow and wet conditions in the days’ leading up to the event, today’s clear skies treated spectators at each of the eight tests, providing a home-coming treat to former Dunedin residents Emma Gilmour and Glenn Macneall. Finishing third for the day, the Subaru team are 36 seconds behind Mason after 132km of competition.

“We’re happy with our day, even after making a wrong tyre choice later in the afternoon. The pace is just so hot at the front; it’s great to be where we are heading in to tomorrow. But I definitely want to be keeping the pressure on those front two,” said Gilmour.

Whangarei’s Ben Jagger and co-driver Ben Hawkins head the two-wheel drive field, bringing the Ford Fiesta home directly ahead of Nelson’s Daniel Harris and co-driver Darryn Green after series leader Patrick Malley and co-driver Malcolm Read rolled their Fiesta on the third test. On his 21st birthday, Nelson’s Ben Hunt and co-driver Jeff Cress are third in the Rally New Zealand Rising Stars Ford Fiesta.

Mixed in to the Dunlop International Classic Rally, Auckland’s Rob Wylie and co-driver Paul Turner (Nissan 240RS) head the championship points for the weekend.

Other retirements for the day included Glenn Inkster and Glenn Goldring (Mitsubishi) with brake failure after the first test, while Kingsley Thompson and co-driver Richard Ellis rolled their Mitsubishi EVO X in the sixth stage.

Tomorrow’s final six stages turn the crews northward before a repeat of the 42.3 kilometre Glenburnie stage south of Dunedin completes the competition. Returning to Dunedin’s octagon, a ceremonial finish presentation starts at 2:30pm.

Ends.

Results: Southern Cross Hotel Rally of Otago - day one (of two) - top eight overall*

*provisional

Pos
Car
No.
Driver
Co-Driver
Vehicle
Time
1
(+1)
1
Richard Mason
Sara Mason
Subaru
Impreza WRX
1:16:43.4
2
(-1)
2
Hayden Paddon
John Kennard
Mitsubishi
Lancer EVO 9
+14.5
+14.5
3
(=)
4
Emma Gilmour
Glenn Macneall
Subaru
Impreza WRX
+36.2
4
(=)
7
Dean Sumner
Paul Fallon
Mitsubishi
Lancer EVO 9
+41.9
5
(=)
3
Andrew Hawkeswood
Rocky Hudson
Mitsubishi
Lancer
+52.0
6
(=)
6
Geof Argyle
Tarryn Cox
Mitsubishi
Lancer EVO 7
+1:36.0
7
(=)
5
Chris West
Chris Cobham
Mitsubishi
Lancer
+1:59.4
8
(=)
8
Kieran Hall
Peter Hart
Subaru
Impreza WRX
+2:28.2

 

 

 

 

 

For full results: http://www.chrissport.co.nz/resultsDetail.php?id_event=76 - results are still being processed before being declared final for the day and are subject to technical clearance - provisional only.