RALLY OF OTAGO

The Otago Rally skidded and slid its way around the province over the weekend. Otago Daily Times photographers went out and captured some of the action.

RECORDS were smashed and benchmarks set as Hayden Paddon showed his star class, powering to an emphatic victory on the Otago Rally at the weekend.

The Cromwellbased rally professional broke all but one stage record as he steered his Hyundai i20 AP4+ to a massive 7min 16sec win over fellow Kiwi drivers Ben Hunt and Dylan Turner.

While expected, Paddon’s win — his seventh at Otago — was anything but dull for the hundreds of fans who turned out to watch as drivers headed south of Dunedin on Saturday, and then into North Otago yesterday.

Instead, the absolute commit ment of Paddon and codriver John Kennard as they powered flatout over the event’s most difficult crests and through its most challenging bends drew gasps of awe and admiration in equal measure; where others lifted off, if only for a fraction of a second, Paddon was hard on the gas, and even when he did not look the most spectacular, he was still quickest by far.

His final tally stood at 14 special stage wins, nine of which set record times for the stage concerned, and five of which set benchmarks for stages being used for the first time.

All that stood between Paddon and a clean sweep of special stage wins was a puncture on the Anzac Ave superspecial late on Saturday.

While the 26 seconds lost was inconsequential in the context of his lead, Paddon’s misfortune left the way clear for former national champion Hunt to top that stage’s times in his Subaru Impreza.

By the rally finish, Hunt was standing one step below Paddon on the podium, rally runnerup after a dingdong battle with fellow Aucklander Turner (Audi A2 AP4) and Australian visitor Brendan Reeves (Ford Fiesta AP4).

Early on, Reeves was the quickest of the trio, but he dropped out of contention when his car’s alternator failed late on Saturday. Turner then came to the fore, ending the rally’s opening leg 11.5sec clear of Hunt after driving particularly well on the final two gravel stages of the day.

The advantage swung back to Hunt yesterday, as he charged hard on the opening five North Otago stages to move over half a minute clear, and then he consolidated that edge on the final stages.

‘‘The gap between us was pretty narrow at the end of Saturday, so my plan for Sunday was to come out hard,’’ Hunt said.

Turner was, by his own admission, ‘‘caught a little asleep’’ by his rival’s early pace yesterday. Feeling by late morning that he could not really fight back without taking silly risks, he decided to drive more conservatively to ensure he secured a good haul of national championship points.

Fourth place went to Tauranga’s Phil Campbell, who was consistently quick in his Ford Fiesta AP4. Andrew Hawkeswood (Auckland, Mazda 2 AP4) and Cantabrian Josh Marston (Holden Barina AP4) completed the overall top six, with classic rally winner Mads Ostberg seventh overall.

The battle for podium honours should also have featured Rangiora’s Matt Summerfield, whose stage times were consistently quick . However he was forced to play catchup after a puncture on Saturday morning. His comeback from outside the top 50 after the flat tyre to eighth was one of the sensations of the event.

Mazda RX8 driver Marcus van Klink (Christchurch) and Gorebased Derek Ayson (codriven by Dunedin’s Nikita Gibson) completed the overall top 10, with Ayson also runnerup in the classic section.

Among the other fancied starters, Emma Gilmour, David Holder, and Raana Horan failed to finish. Gilmour and Horan struck trouble early, with Horan damaging his Skoda in a crash on the first special stage and Gilmour forced to withdraw her Suzuki Swift with an overheating issue after showing good pace. Holder’s problems included a driveshaft failure then a fuel pump failure yesterday.

In all, 75 of the rally’s 127 starters completed the full event.

Paddon’s dominance: 14 special stage wins, nine of which set record times for the stage concerned, and five of which set benchmarks for stages being used

for the first time.

PHOTO: JOHN COSGROVE Aucklanders Dylan Turner and Malcolm Read race an Audi S1 AP4.

PHOTO: GREGOR RICHARDSON Hayden Paddon and codriver John Kennard had a puncture in the Dunedin special stage on Saturday afternoon.

PHOTO: GREGOR RICHARDSON A crowd of spectators look on as a vehicle races along McIntosh Rd on Saturday.

PHOTO: GREGOR RICHARDSON Brendon Mitchell, of Winton, and Ross Taylor, of Invercargill, in special stage 5 above Brighton on Saturday.

PHOTO: GREGOR RICHARDSON Norwegians Mads Ostberg and Torstein Eriksen handle a Ford Escort RS1800 in the Dunedin special stage on Saturday afternoon.

PHOTO: JOHN COSGROVE Rob McConachie and Shaun Turner, both of Dunedin, get close to the bank in their Toyota Starlet 1600.

PHOTO: GREGOR RICHARDSON Emma Gilmour, of Dunedin, flies around the Dunedin special stage on Saturday afternoon.

PHOTO: JOHN COSGROVE Australians Grant Walker and Tracey Dewhurst get airborne in their Ford Escort RS1800 on Saturday.

PHOTO: GERARD O’BRIEN Tough at the top . . Otago Rally winners Hayden Paddon and John Kennard are sprayed by Ben Hunt and Tony Rawstorn (left) and Dylan Turner and Malcolm Read on the podium outside the Dunedin Railway Station yesterday.