Super Seb surges Tanak reigns in rain
Eight-time world rally champion Sebastian Ogier has proven his parttime status means nothing at Rally New Zealand.
Ogier led after the fifth and sixth stages yesterday before dropping to third on the first full day in Raglan, with just 7.2 seconds separating the top four drivers.
Estonian Ott Tanak holds the lead after seven of 17 stages, but Britain’s Elfyn Evans is just 0.2s adrift, with Ogier third and series leader Kalle Rovanpera fourth.
With the World Rally Championship in New Zealand after a 10-year absence, Tanak is fighting to stay in the title race, with 21-year-old Rovanpera needing to beat the Hyundai driver by just eight points to become the youngest WRC champion with two rounds to go.
Kiwi Hayden Paddon remains on top of the WRC2 category and ninth overall, with a 1m 37s advantage over Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen.
In just his fourth WRC rally of the season, Ogier finished the morning’s three special stages in fifth, 9.7s off the pace of Tanak.
But the veteran showed his class in the afternoon, with heavy rain periodically belting the Raglan roads.
Ogier swept the field in special stage five on the Whaanga Coast 2 course, ousting Evans by 8.4s and leaving Tanak 17.2s in his wake.
That gave him a 1.3s overall lead which he extended to 5.6s by placing third in stage six.
However, Ogier lost a chunk of his rear spoiler to a tree branch on the Te Akau South 2 track, slowing him in the final stage of the day.
The Frenchman struggled to keep pace with Tanak on the Te Akau North 2 track, with Tanak surging back into the lead, winning the stage by 13.3s.
Ogier said the aero damage on the back of his Toyota badly hampered his efforts to maintain the lead.
“Without wings on such a fast stage — I did what I could but it was not the same,” he said.
Paddon had a typically smooth day on his home track, winning four of the six stages in the WRC2 category to sit ninth overall, ahead of Italian WRC1 driver Lorenzo Bertelli.
But the Hyundai driver was not satisfied, mentioning to co-driver John Kennard he was “driving like nana” on special stage seven.
Paddon said they sustained some damage and repairs were required.
“We’ve got a bad tyre on the right rear and a bad tyre on the left front, so we’re managing it,” said Paddon. “It makes it interesting because sometimes it snaps in when you don’t expect it, so you’ve got to pull yourself back and really stay on the line.”
Van Gisbergen is 12th overall and said his “no expectations” approach was working wonders.
“I’m just having a ball and living my dream. Looking forward to the next two days, hopefully get better and tidy up some mistakes.”
Two-time New Zealand champion Ben Hunt was forced to retire after spinning out on the day’s final stage.
Rallying continues in Puhoi through the Kaipara Hills today, with a return to Jack’s Ridge in Whitford tomorrow.