KEY POINTS:
Organisers were yesterday forced to cancel the second day of the Rally of Hawkes Bay after heavy overnight rain and slips closed State Highway 2 between Napier and Wairoa.
"The road had that many slips on it, the police were struggling to maintain some order along there with traffic," said clerk of the course Steve Foster.
Saturday's opening day results for the rally, the fourth round of the New Zealand Rally Championship, have been declared final.
Despite the heavy overnight rain, the east coast region suffered lightly from the storm passing over the country. The gravel stages proposed for the day's competition remained in good condition, with highway access being the hampering factor.
Geraldine's Hayden Paddon and co-driver John Kennard led the field after the first day, with Chris West and Garry Cowan (Christchurch) 47s behind after the six gravel stages in the Wairoa region.
Paddon extends his lead in the series to 28 points over West, with Hawkes Bay local Stewart Taylor elevated to third following the retirement of Subaru's Richard and Sara Mason when they suffered transmission failure in the fifth stage.
"It would have been nice to be able to compete today and maybe extend our [championship] lead," Paddon said.
"Now we have unfinished business with the upcoming Rally New Zealand and I think we're further developing the standard of myself and the car for the event." Second after winning the previous championship round, West said Saturday's plan had been to try to catch Paddon's overnight lead.
"It's unfortunate the rally has been cut short but we can't do anything about the weather. Full credit to Hayden - he dominated. Today was to have been our chance to put some pressure on him.
"I don't think we had the pace to beat him, but we could be there and take what was left."
Third out of five Mitsubishi Lancer EVO 9s that dominated the top placings, Masterton's Brett Martin and co-driver Grant Marra said the podium result would be their last appearance until the final round at Nelson in September.
Former Hastings resident Patrick Malley and co-driver Raymond Bennett led Malley's parents Dermott and Linzi home, as one of only two Kiwi2 and Group N 2WD cars to finish the day.
Palmerston North's Bert Murray said the cutting short of the event placed real pressure on his championship, with only one round left to complete in the classic category after winning on Saturday.
"We needed today to get the points and go to Rally New Zealand with a serious chance of winning the title. Mathematically it is going to be tough."
The fifth and penultimate round of the championship moves to Hamilton, to be held over the first two days of Rally New Zealand on August 29-30.
- NZPA
