Motorsport
Richard Mason has yet to discover the reason for the gearbox failure which cost him victory in the third round of the New Zealand Rally Championship, the Daybreaker Rally, in the Manawatu on Saturday.
Two minutes ahead of his nearest rival and with just 4km to go on the ninth and final special stage, Mason's Subaru STI was travelling at between 130km/h and 140km/h when the lever on the gearbox jammed and there was nothing the Masterton ace could do to stop the car from "coasting" to a halt.
"There were absolutely no warning signs, we were going along fine and then all of a sudden this came out of the blue," Mason said. "One minute we have everything under control and the next it's all turned to custard."
Mason said the immediate reaction was to find a quick fix and get the car back on the road but it didn't take long for him, and co-driver wife Sara, to realise that wasn't going to happen.