Hayden Paddon has taken his ninth Otago Rally victory, taking a number of stage wins in the process.
On the Kuri Bush stage, Paddon broke his own stage record, driving alongside John Kennard, as the pair attempt to take a sixth national championship.
Ben Hunt ended the Rally in second in his new Skoda Fabia R5 Evo. This was the first event for Hunt in his new car, while he couldn’t match Paddon, he was clear of the rest of the feild.
Hunt ended the weekend five and a half minutes down on Paddon’s time, though his times on Sunday showed he was getting closer to the times set by the former WRC driver.
Raana Horan put together a strong weekend, consistently finishing stages inside the top five. The consistency meant he was rewarded with a podium result, taking third for the weekend.
Robbie Stokeswas attempting to chase down Horan for a podium result on Sunday, with the weekend ending with just 10.1 seconds between the two.
Stokes had a mixed weekend in his Ford Fiesta AP4, matching the pace of Horan when the car was running well, though he had issues that hampered the weekend.
Emma Gilmour started Sunday in third, though found her Suzuki Swift AP4 had brake issues before the day even began.
Gilmour had to change a brake calliper, as well as being late leaving the morning service, receiving a minutes worth of penalties.
Despite the early set back she fought back attempting to chase down a podium result, though would ultimately end the weekend in fifth.
Todd Bawden had a strong weekend finishing sixth ahead of Ari Pettigrew, both of whom were learning new cars.
Dylan Turner finished eighth in the first NZRC event since his Audi was rebuilt after a big crash. Mike Young kicked off his 2022 season with a ninth-place, while Phil Campbell rounded out the top 10 in his Ford Fiesta AP4.
Dylan Thomson was the first two-wheel drive car ahead of John Silcock in his Mazda RX7
Regan Ross dominated The Leviathan Hotel Allcomers Rally in his Ford Fiesta R5, ahead of Jeff Ward.
The next NZRC event will be the Rally of Whangarei held May 13-15.
Main image: Geoff Ridder
