The fast-paced action from last weekend’s Otago Rally saw the opening round of the Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Championship live up to all expectations.
Hayden Paddon’s dominant victory in his Hyundai i20 AP4 may have been predictable, but the speed of some of the other front runners has set the 2022 season up perfectly.
The highlight of Paddon’s start-to-finish win was his record breaking time on the iconic Kuri Bush stage that concluded the rally on Sunday.
Nobody in the world has driven that 15 kilometre piece of gravel faster than the former WRC star, and he knocked another 2.1 seconds off his previous best time.
Surely, only a Rally1 car could traverse it quicker – and I’m sure Hayden would be putting his hand up to be the driver of that too.
Behind him, Ben Hunt took an impressive second place in his new Skoda Fabia R5 evo2, a car that he is no doubt still coming to grips with.
On some stages, both Hunt and Robbie Stokes in his home-grown Ford Fiesta AP4, were less than half a second a kilometre from Paddon’s pace. It proves that New Zealand has the driving talent, and the cars are getting quicker too.
Currently, on raw speed, nobody is going to match Paddon, but his Hyundai had a couple of niggling problems at the Otago Rally that will give the others hope that their time will come.
It was heartening to see Dunedin’s own Emma Gilmour have a relatively trouble free run in her normally cantankerous Suzuki Swift AP4.
On roads she knows well, the 2022 McLaren Extreme E driver would have finished the podium if it had not been for brake issues early on day two. Nevertheless, after the run she has had in previous events, she’ll be grabbing that fifth place with both hands.
In the Classic Rally, Deane Buist again proved that he’s one of the country’s best, and most underrated, drivers.
Buist has now won the rally in three different types of cars. His 2007 win was in an Escort BDA, and this year’s triumph in a Toyota Celica follows his 2021 win in a front-drive Volkswagen Golf GTi. Now that’s versatility for you!
Also worth a mention is drift star, ‘Fanga’ Dan Woolhouse. The guest driver finished an impressive eighth in the classic event in an Escort RS1800, which no doubt surprised many.
The other guest driver, Olympic Gold Medalist Hamish Bond, also did an admirable job in the 4WD Classic Rally, but gearbox problems in his Subaru H6 meant that he failed to complete either day of the rally.
One thing that was clearly evident over the weekend was the popularity of the Otago Rally – and New Zealand rallying in general.
Spectator points were packed, and fans had to walk great distances just to see the action, as shown in the attached photo. It’s a great sign for the year ahead, particularly with Rally New Zealand now only five months away.
The Otago Rally was the ideal opening to the 2022 season, and has set us up for one of the most exciting seasons on record.
Comments