Masterton ace Richard Mason may not have finished the Rally of Gisborne over the weekend but he still did well enough to ensure himself a fourth national rally championship title.
In fact he had all of 45 points to spare, aggregating 145 points over the five rounds compared to the100 points tallied by runner-up Emma Gilmour of Dunedin, whose challenge for the major spoils ended when she was forced to withdraw on the first day of the Gisborne event.
Then followed Matt Jensen (Christchurch) 82pts, Chris West (Timaru) 60, Alex Kelsey (Coromandel) 51, Brian Green (Palmerston North) 38, Ben Hunt (Nelson) 34, Matt Summerfield (Rangiora) 29, Sloan Fox (Rotorua) 22, Kingsley Thompson (Auckland) 21 and Marcus van Klink (Kaiapoi) 21. Mason, with wife Sara in the co-driver's seat, led the Gisborne rally at the end of the first day and further extended his lead after the first two special stages on Sunday morning, before being forced to retire in the third.
Brian Green took first place in Gisborne. His pace through Sunday's five special stages in the Tolaga Bay area saw him slowly climb the standings. Joining the rally veteran on the podium was Nelson's Ben Hunt in second, and non-championship competitor Brent Taylor from Cambridge in third. Auckland's Ron Davey completed the championship podium.
There was a nail-biting finish for the historic national title, with Kaiapoi's Marcus van Klink hanging on after retiring and giving his rivals a reasonable chance at leap-frogging his advantage.
