Of the many domestic championships contested at the New Zealand round of the WRC championships, the most significant was the fifth round of the New Zealand Rally Championships.
Richard Mason put the cat among the pigeons after two dismal rounds and scorched his way over two days to
win the fifth round of the NZRC.
Mason brought his Subaru home 1.14.8s ahead of Hayden Paddon to claim 67 points and move into second. But Paddon has clinched the series without having to contest the single-day final round in Nelson this month.
Stewart Taylor, who like Chris West on Friday had steering dramas when his steering column collapsed, finished the round third with a much-improved Emma Gilmour in fourth.
Hard luck story has to go to West, who scored a P-WRC drive as a Rally NZ Scholarship winner. Not only did his steering wheel come off in his hands early in the rally but he also rolled his car on Saturday during the Franklin stage.
Mason not only dominated the other Kiwi drivers, he comprehensively beat all the visiting P-WRC drivers and was the leading Group N car.
However, like many of the top WRC drivers, Mason saw his chance to win a third consecutive Woolf-Whittaker Trophy as the first Kiwi home after three days disappear on the Whaanga Coast stage yesterday.
That honour went to Haydon Paddon.
The two-wheel-drive Group N competition was dominated by Australian Brendan Reeves, who held off the two-car challenge of father and son team Dermott (third) and Patrick (second) Malley.
The one-day Kiwi-2 and classic battle followed behind the WRC cars and made up the Possum Bourne Memorial Rally.
A depleted field in the Kiwi-2 class gained championship momentum when class leader Aaron Cook damaged the rear suspension of his Honda Jazz. That opens up the title race with 17 points separating a chasing Patrick Malley in a Ford Fiesta with one round to go.
Rob Wylie won his first rally championship by retaining his lead in the classic category - finishing second to Bert Murray on the day.
The sixth and final round in the NZRC is in Nelson on September 22.
