West pips Mason in rally thriller

Auckland driver Chris West yesterday won his second consecutive round of the national motor rally championship when taking out the Hawke's Bay rally by just 0.4 of a second over series leader Richard Mason.
West, the 2004 national champion, won the previous round at Whangarei this month in his Subaru Impreza WRX STI.
It is the second time this season that West and Masterton's Mason have been separated by less than one second.
At the opening round in Dunedin in May, West was victorious by 0.2sec, although he later lost the points for that win due to a technical infringement.
Yesterday, he completed the 12-stage, two-day Hawke's Bay rally in a combined time of two hours 59 minutes 15.5 seconds to pip Mason by the smallest of margins in Napier.
"It was great to get the overall win here," West said.
"After we mucked up the tyre choice for the first three stages yesterday I knew it would be hard work to get the time back."
Mason went into yesterday's second heat of the event with an advantage of 14.7sec over West after winning yesterday's first heat.
Taihape's Brett Martin finished third in his Mitsubishi Lancer to prevent a Subaru trifecta for the first time this season.
Mason retained his lead in the national series on 237 points.
He is 74 points ahead of the second-placed Sam Murray, of Palmerston North, followed by Martin on 156, Dunedin's Emma Gilmour on 150 and West on 123
Leading results and points:-
Heat two: C West/G Cowan (Subaru Impreza WRX STI) 1hr 19min 45.9 sec 1, R Mason/S Randall (Subaru Impreza WRS STI) 1:20.01.0 2, B Martin/R Bennett (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo9) 1:20.31.0 3, G Smith/C Smith (Subaru Impreza WRX STI) 1:20.37.3 4, H Paddon/J Kennard (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo9) 1:21.02.0 5.
Overall (both heats): West/Cowan 2:59.15.5 1, Mason/Randall 2:59.15.9 2, Martin/Bennett 3:00.19.4 3, E Gilmour/C Cobham (Subaru Impreza WRX STI) 3:02.48.0 4, Paddon/Kennard 3:02.51.1 5.
Championship points:-
Drivers: Mason 237 1, Murray 163 2, Martin 156 3, Gilmour 150 4, West 123 5.
Manufacturers: Subaru 319 1, Mitsubishi 193 2. ? NZPA