Hayden Paddon is currently leading the first of the Friday stages in WRC2 while Shane van Gisbergen has dropped to third.
On what is the longest day in terms of distance on the WRC calendar so far, Paddon is leading Polish driver Kajetan Kajetanowicz by 33.8 seconds with a total time of 51:52.0.
Fellow Kiwi van Gisbergen currently sits third in the same class as he dropped from the second place spot in stage three. Overall, van Gisbergen sits 28 seconds behind Kajetanowicz.
Australian Harry Bates follows behind in fourth while Ben Hunt rounds out the top five.
In the WRC1 camp, Hyundai Motorsport driver Ott Tänak currently leads the timing charts with an overall time of 49:22.3.
Craig Breen led the first two Friday stages but dropped down to third after the third stage. Taking his place was Elfyn Evans in his who sits just 2.6 seconds behind leader Tänak.
Gus Greensmith who is currently placed fourth scored his first ever gravel stage win on the Whaanga Coast stage by 0.4 seconds this morning.
Rounding out the top five WRC1 contenders is Sébastien Ogier who sits just 9.7 seconds behind the leader.
WRC points leader Kalle Rovanperä who could secure the championship this weekend is currently down in sixth, 10.7 seconds off the top spot.
The three remaining afternoon stages will get underway shortly for the second run of the 29.27km Whaanga Coast at 2:22pm. The second Te Akau South stage gets underway at 4pm while the second running of the Te Akau North stage starts at 5:03pm.
Check out our full Rally New Zealand guide here.
Main image: Paddon Rallysport Facebook
