Paddon leads rally, provisional championship winner

Saturday’s half of the two-day 0800 Boxman Rally of Nelson has seen Geraldine’s Hayden Paddon take an overall lead, securing enough points for the Vantage New Zealand Rally Championship title.

Using six gravel stages in the Golden Downs forest region south of Nelson, Paddon and co-driver John Kennard (Mitsubishi) have a 25 second lead over arch rival Richard Mason and co-driver Hamish Fenemor (Subaru).

Returning to four-wheel-drive competition, Auckland’s Patrick Malley and co-driver Malcolm Read hold third after taking an early lead in the rally.

Perfect weather conditions quickly dried the roads of overnight rain, creating dust issues for many of the 38 cars who managed to complete the day. While punctures affected most, the leading trio, using Dunlop tyres, triumphed in the conditions.

Results: Overall - day one 0800 Boxman Rally of Nelson (top-ten)

1 Hayden Paddon/John Kennard (Geraldine) Mitsubishi 1:28:36.3
2 Richard Mason/Hamish Fenemor (Masterton) Subaru +25.1
3 Patrick Malley/Malcolm Read (Auckland) Mitsubishi +1:06.2
4 Glenn Smith/Campbell Ward (Hawera) Mitsubishi +1:20.4
5 Stephen Barker/Brett Lightfoot (Hamilton) Mitsubishi +1:32.8
6 Matt Jansen/Jason Farmer (Christchurch) Subaru +1:57.6
7 Regan Ross/Nigel Ross (Kaikora) Mitsubishi +2:14.5
8 Josh Marston/Raymond Bennett (Christchurch) Mitsubishi +3:09.2
9 Chris West/Chris Cobham (Christchurch) Mitsubishi +4:29.7
10 Piran Pigneguy/Ric Chalmers (Hutt Valley) Mitsubishi +4:54.5

Live results will be available from the website http://www.chrissport.co.nz/resultsDetail.php?id_event=83