KEY POINTS:
Rally New Zealand leader Mikko Hirvonen today saw his advantage cut significantly on the second morning of the three-day World Rally Championship event.
The Finn, with the disadvantage of being first out and thus acting as sweeper on the gravel roads for the cars behind him, was ahead by just 6.8 seconds after the day's first three special stages.
Defending world champion Sebastien Loeb, 27.8s down overnight in second place, pulled progressively closer in his Citroen on each leg north-west of Hamilton.
Third overall was Hirvonen's compatriot and Ford team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala, who had closed to 14.0s of the lead.
Fourth was Loeb's Spanish team-mate, Dani Sordo, who is 25.8s behind Hirvonen.
The quartet have pulled clear of the rest of the field, with three further stages to be run this afternoon.
Rally New Zealand is the 11th of the WRC's 15 rounds, and Loeb and Hirvonen are sitting one and two in the driver standings, with Loeb in front by a slim four-point margin.
Meanwhile, Wairarapa driver Richard Mason stayed on track in his bid to become the first New Zealander home for the third successive year.
With wife Sara as co-driver, Mason was the fastest of the local contingent on each of the three stages to be 12th overall at six minutes 32.1 seconds in arrears.
That time also meant Mason's Subaru remained the leading Group N car.
The next best New Zealander was national championship leader Hayden Paddon, the Cantabrian at 16th overall in his Mitsubishi at 8m 57.8s behind.
- NZPA
