Motorsport: Mason chases Otago hat-trick

Richard and Sara Mason are 'not concerned' about snowy conditions for this weekend's Rally of Otago. Photo / Greg Bowker

Richard Mason will be looking for his third successive Rally of Otago victory this weekend, the second round of the national championship.

With co-driving wife Sara, the Masterton flyer has won the event for the last two years in his Subaru.

Since winning the opening round of the championship in Hawke's Bay last month, Mason and his team have been fine-tuning the suspension of his car.

He is not too concerned if the current cold snap and accompanying snow and ice linger down south until the weekend.

"We haven't had a real snowy event for a long time," he said.

"It would add a new dimension to things."

Mason will start first on the road on Saturday morning as the leader of the championship, while defending champion Haydon Paddon of Geraldine is second away.

"I enjoy the event," Mason said.

"A lot of the stages are quite fast and there are different surfaces. It's a tricky rally, but we've always gone well down here, even when we haven't won."

Also a threat will be Dunedin-born and raised Emma Gilmour on what she considers her "home" event, even though she is now Hamilton-based.

Gilmour was third in Hawke's Bay and last weekend placed third in a new Subaru at the Australian round of the Asia Pacific Championship in Queensland.

She has led the Otago event in the past and finished runner-up to Mason in 2007.

The Rally of Otago has five stages in the Middlemarch region of Central Otago and will be run over 14 stages totalling 256km over two days.

- NZPA