Motorsport: Paddon into early lead after Rally NZ first day

Hayden Paddon finished well ahead yesterday. Photo / Euan Cameron

Hayden Paddon demonstrated his talent during day one of Rally New Zealand 2011 yesterday, establishing a convincing margin over the rest of the field.

As top seed for the two-day rally, Paddon led from the first stage and finished 2 minutes, 17.3 seconds ahead of Richard Mason and a close-chasing pack.

The Geraldine-based Subaru driver, who has recently turned 24, was nearly 13 seconds faster through the opening 32.3km Te Akau stage than former NZ rally champion Chris West. The two-time winner of this event then built on his lead in winning six of the day's eight stages.

"We had some small niggly problems but, apart from that, the car was great, the notes were working well and the roads were in great nick," said Paddon. "There are no roads like home and you couldn't have asked for anything more, really."

Mason finished the day in second, just 10.4 seconds ahead of Emma Gilmour. This pair, along with West and defending champion Dean Sumner, had an intensely competitive day, changing positions on the leaderboard behind Paddon. Gilmour was second until the day's final super special stage but a fuel surge meant she lost time and allowed Mason to take back the runner-up position.

With another six stages today, including the iconic Whaanga Coast stage, Paddon acknowledged it's another big day of competition.

"There is still a long way to go. The Whaanga Coast is certainly a pretty special stage and we have never really nailed it before," Paddon said. "The rhythm is probably the hardest thing from a driver's perspective. The first part is very fast while the second half is twisty and narrow so there are two different mindsets you need for the stage."

Mason, a back-to-back rally champion, said the day was somewhat up and down. "I didn't make the best choice with tyres in the morning, but I was happier with the option we ran in the afternoon. We're a lot closer now and are happy with the car so we'll keep things as they are."

The honour of winning the other two stages went to New Plymouth driver Neil Marshall, who is known as a tarmac specialist. Competitors are required to run regular gravel-spec tyres on their rally cars for the high-speed tarmac sprint around nearly two laps of the Hampton circuit.

The event continues today with six stages taking competitors to Raglan and the Whaanga Coast before returning to Hampton Downs Motorsport Park for the final super special stage.