KEY POINTS:
Right from the first stage of the first day of the International Rally of Whangarei, former New Zealand Rally champion Chris West showed the field the way home.
West grabbed the rally by the scruff of the neck, dominating the opening stage by eight seconds, and was never really troubled over the ensuing 15 stages. As much as last year's overall winner Hayden Paddon and Asia Pacific champion Australian Cody Crocker tried, they could not bridge the gap West established early in the rally.
"We set out to get some top stage times from the beginning, which we did, and I couldn't be happier. At the end of the day we pressed on and did what we had to do," said West.
Although kept out of the top spot yet again by a Kiwi driver, Crocker achieved his main aim coming into the rally and now leads the Asia Pacific Rally Championship, two points ahead of Katsu Taguchi with Dean Herridge dropping back to third.
"Our plan was to get into the lead in the championship, which we did, and we've only done two rounds whereas the others have done three," said Crocker.
By finishing second, Paddon proved his surprise win last year was no fluke, holding off Crocker's challenge by keeping his composure.
"Obviously we would've preferred to have won the rally," said Paddon. "We lost the rally on the first day but it was satisfying to win the second day's rallying."
Day one was West's, as he won seven of the eight stages to be the overnight leader by just over 20 seconds, ahead of Paddon. Top seed Crocker started Saturday seventh fastest but improved to finish third overall.
Day one was a war of attrition for many of the drivers, including Richard Mason, Kirsty Nelson and Satoru Ito, who all rolled, and Mark Tapper who parked his car in a field and eventually retired from the rally. New Zealand rally points leader Mason started well and was handily placed until his altercation with a bank damaged the car too much to continue.
"There was something wrong with the brakes and I was playing around with them," said Mason. "I wasn't concentrating and the next thing I knew I was up a bank and then rolled a couple of times."
Of the original 31 starters in the international and national classes, only 27 started day two of the rally.
West continued his good form Sunday increasing his lead to 27 seconds by the service break. In the afternoon he dropped a few seconds but was never really going to be troubled and won at a canter.
The main casualty of the day was young Sloane Cox who rolled his car, destroying any chance he had of being one of the Pirelli star drivers to go to Malaysia. By finishing second overall, Paddon secured the first of the two places to go to Malaysia as part of the star driver programme, with Brad Ayling clinching the second spot.
Leading New Zealand woman driver Emma Gilmour put last year's catastrophe behind her with a gutsy 12th finish overall and 11th in the domestic championship. Mason's 29-point lead in the NZRC has evaporated and Paddon now has the lead from West and Mason.
