Hayden Paddon has built a commanding lead in the WRC2 class of Rally New Zealand after the first full day of competition, the gap the second-placed Katetan Kajetanowicz currently sitting at just over one minute with two full days to come.
Paddon, along with co-driver John Kennard, claimed four of the days six stages whist Kajetanowicz took the remaining two.
Shane van Gisbergen, has proved his talent extends to anything with four wheels as he sits third, 1:37 behind Paddon. Second place overall is well within reach for the Kiwi, only 36.5 seconds the difference between himself and Kajetanowicz.
Running for half of the day with no front bumper due to a SS4 spin and crash, van Gisbergen and co-driver Glen Weston remained unfazed after the incident to sit near the top of a field full of more experienced rally drivers.
Ben Hunt, with Tony Rawstorn as co-driver, was running as the third best Kiwi all day, and showing great pace until a spin led to heavy contact with an embankment on the days final stage.
As a result, he was unable to finish the day, a 10 minute time loss the consequence.
The team now have a busy night ahead as they attempt to repair the car once it got back to the service zone, having until 2.22am to do so within regulation.
Instead, it’s now Todd Bawden as the third-best placed Kiwi, sitting sixth in WRC2, ahead of Kingsley Jones and Andy Martin respectively.
Australian Rally champion Harry Bates also had a difficult day, a spin and a right rear puncture hampering his efforts. He sits fourth overall in the class, nearly three minutes behind van Gisbergen.
In the WRC, Elfyn Evans will head into Day 3 with the lead over Ott Tänak, a five-second penalty awarded to the latter this evening after the hybrid boost on his car breached the permitted level in yesterday’s Super Special Stage.
Tanak had held the lead by the slimmest of margins, .2 of a second, over Evans after the day’s events.The penalty now means he sits second, Sebastien Ogier right behind.
The top four of the field are all in close proximity, championship leader Kalle Rovenpara sitting in fourth just 7 seconds off Evans.
The wet conditions caused challenges throughout the day, Craig Breen one of several to have incidents requiring retirement from the remaining days stages.
Coincidentally, Breen went off on SS5 at the same corner Colin McRae did in 2002, the rear of his car hitting wet grass and sliding off the short embankment, the rest of the car in tow.
It took a collective effort from the spectators to return him to the stage, a damaged clutch, however, removing him from the rest of the days stages, a massive time loss for the Irishman.
Day 3 of Rally New Zealand gets underway at 8am with SS 8 & 9 as the field heads just north of Auckland.
All stages are shown live on Spark Sport, with any other information you need available here.
A stage-by-stage recap can be found at the bottom of this article.
WRC Standings
| Driver | Time/Gap | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | E. Evans | 1:36:48.8 |
| 2nd | O. Tanak | +4.8 |
| 3rd | S. Ogier | +6.7 |
| 4th | K. Rovenpara | +7.2 |
| 5th | G. Greensmith | +43.8 |
| 6th | T. Neuville | +45.6 |
| 7th | O. Solberg | +1:28.3 |
| 8th | T. Katsuta | +1:42.0 |
WRC2 Standings
| Driver | Time/Gap | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | H. Paddon | 1:42:30.0 |
| 2nd | K. Kajetanowicz | +1:01.5 |
| 3rd | S. van Gisbergen | +1:37.0 |
| 4th | H. Bates | +4:30.6 |
| 5th | A. Kremer | +6:21.6 |
| 6th | T. Bawden | +7:41.3 |
| 7th | K. Jones | +8:35.3 |
| 8th | L.Anear | +9:23.8 |
Stage-by-Stage
SS2: Whaanga Coast 1– 29.27km
Championship leader Rovanpera got the days racing underway on a drizzly, overcast morning on the first pass of the breathtaking Whaanga Coast stage, setting a 20:17.6. Although quick, the time was only enough to see Rovanpera finish sixth fastest.
It was Greensmith who claimed the stage with a 20:04.04, his first ever stage win on gravel, .04 of a second faster than that of Ogier. Breen rounded out the top three, Tanak and Evans rounding out the top five. There was no significant time lost for any of the WRC field, only 17.6 seconds separating Greensmith from ninth-placed Katsuta.
Breen’s third saw him retain the lead in the rally by .4 of a second over Greensmith.
Hayden Paddon and co-driver John Kennard were the first of the WRC2 runners to go, immediately setting the benchmark of a 20:51.9, a time good enough to see him claim the stage over Australian Rally Champion Bates and Kajetanowicz.
Van Gisbergen was a respectable fourth, some 21.5 seconds off Paddon, Hunt the third best Kiwi in sixth overall, 1:04.5 back.
SS3: Te Akau South 1– 31.48km
Evans was the fastest WRC runner over the longest stage of Rally New Zealand, his 17:33.0 enough to pip Tanak, Rovanpera and Breen by 1.3 seconds, the trio all remarkably setting a 17:34.3.
Neuville was the first of the WRC cars to come into grief in the rally, a spin with four corners remaining seeing him hit a bank and return facing the right direction, only 15.4 seconds lost on the stage.
Katsuta also ran into trouble at the same place as Neuville, the tough left-right-left combination seeing him spin in the turn.
Breen maintained the lead of the rally with Tanak moving up to second and Evans to third after the stage win.
Paddon made it three from three in WRC2, an 18:32.5 enough to top Kajetanowicz by 8.8 seconds. Van Gisbergen managed to come home third fastest, Bates in fourth with Hunt fifth.
SS4: Te Akau North 1- 18.53km
Tanak was the fastest on SS4 at Te Akau North with a 9:52 promoting him to the overall lead of Rally New Zealand. Championship leader Rovanpera was .7 seconds back, Evans a further .1 behind.
Neuville found more trouble midway through the stage, over-drifting a long right and spinning 90 degrees, leaving him teetering dangerously over the hillside. He managed to return to action immediately, again a loss of only 15 seconds.
Kajetanowicz finally got the better of Paddon to take his first stage of the rally in WRC2, a 10:34.6 enough to pip the Kiwi by .6 of a second.
Bates also got the better of van Gisbergen by 7.1 seconds to take third on the stage, the Kiwi hurt by a “mammoth spin” in which he admitted he was lucky to survive. His front bumper, however, was not as lucky after contact with an embankment, completely detaching itself from the car.
Hunt rounded out the top five once again, just 4.8 off the Supercars championship leader.
SS5: Whaanga Coast 2- 29.27km
A massive stage from Ogier saw him claim the second passing of Whaanga Coast by 8.4 seconds over Evans, the 19:40.2 also promoting him to the overall lead of the rally.
Second on the stage was also enough to move Evans to second overall, only 1.3 seconds off top spot, Tanak a further 6.2 seconds behind in third.
There was drama for Breen two-thirds of the way through the stage, the car veering too far wide around the medium right which notoriously claimed Colin McRae in 2002.
The rear of Breen’s Ford drifted onto wet grass, the rest of the car following, sliding down a short yet steep embankment, through a fence and coming to rest amongst some trees.
A group of spectators came to the rescue, assisting in retrieving the vehicle in a good show of old-fashioned brute strength with a rope. The damage was done, however, 18 minutes lost and Breen retiring from the rest of the days proceedings with clutch damage.
The rain started to come down as the WRC2 drivers came through the second half of the stage, Bates an unlucky casualty after a slip to the right on a sharp left seeing him hit the embankment and lose time with minimal damage.
Paddon was back to winning ways in the class, 8.9 seconds the gap to Kajetanowicz in second and 10.6 to van Gisbergen in third.
Hunt’s performance continued to improve as he came home fourth, 35.8 seconds off Paddon.
SS6: Te Akau South 2- 31.48km
Luck was on Rovanpera’s side as the first runner for the long stage, a dry track quickly changing after his run commenced when a strong downpour hit. He used this to his advantage, a 17:35.8 eclipsing the time of Tanak by 5.6 seconds.
Ogier came home one second further back, enough for him to head into the days final stage with the lead of Rally New Zealand over Evans, 5.6 seconds the buffer.
Despite the strong performance, a low-hanging tree branch claimed the rear wing of Ogier’s car, leaving him to complete the final stage without it.
It was a Kiwi 1-2 in WRC2, Paddon’s 18:52.3 an impressive 16.9 seconds faster than van Gisbergen in second. Hunt was once again fourth fastest, 36.9 seconds off the pace.
The rain made for a treacherous time for the later running cars, Kajetanowicz losing 23.1 seconds to Paddon as the stage evolved into mud.
Bates was unlucky with right rear puncture earlier in his run, a loss of 2:27.7 the result.
SS7:Te Akau North 2- 18.53km
Tanak returned to his stage-winning ways on the final stage of the day, a 9:47.5 pipping the time of Evans by 1.2 seconds and Rovanpera by 2.1.
Despite running without half a rear wing, Ogier was only 13.3 seconds off the pace, a deficit which dropped him to third overall at the end of the day.
Tanak’s stage win was enough to see him head into Day 3 with the lead over Evans, the gap a minimal 0.2 seconds. Rovanpera also remains in contention, only 7.2 seconds off top spot.
Kajetanowicz claimed his second stage of the day in WRC2, 10:26.7 enough to top Paddon by 4.3 seconds.
Van Gisbergen rounded out a great day with the third fastest time on the stage, 12 seconds off top spot.
Bates was also back near the front of the field after his issues on the previous stage, 14.6 seconds off van Gisbergen for fourth.
It was an unfortunate conclusion to the day for Hunt, a slide left on a long left turn seeing him hit the embankment and spin two and a half times before resting in a fence across the road.
The result for Hunt, a 10 minute time loss and a busy night for the mechanics who have until 2.22am to return the car to Parc Ferme condition.
Banner Image: Geoff Ridder
