Otago shines, but Hawkeswood stars on day one down under

Surrounded by stars at this week’s Otago Rally, it was Kiwi Jack Hawkeswood who shone the brightest at the end of the opening day’s action on the Dunedin-based event.

The 23-year-old charged out of the blocks at a blistering pace, winning the first two stages to lay the foundations for a lead he wouldn’t surrender through Saturday’s eight stages and 90 miles of competition.

The Toyota GR Yaris AP4 driver holds a 19.4-second lead over Robbie Stokes (Ford Fiesta Rally2) with Gaurav Gill a further 11 back in third.

But what of the superstars? Kris Meeke sits eighth overall, with a commanding lead in the Classic event while Brandon Semenuk was slowed by a puncture, but sets the pace among the Subaru H6 runners.

Back to the top and Hawkeswood demonstrated plenty of pace, but also the patience to control proceedings through the afternoon.

“The plan was to come out and push hard in the first stage,” he told DirtFish. “We’ve done a bit of engine work on the car recently and that’s helped things. We were only 0.45 seconds per kilometre off Hayden’s [Paddon] stage record in that first one. I’m pleased with that, then again, I did get up early and watched the onboard four times before we went in!

“Once we made that time first thing, it was about driving sensibly to try to manage the risk through the afternoon. Honestly, I didn’t expect to be leading at the end of day one. Now, let’s see what comes tomorrow.”

Ordinarily, there’s only one person who expects to lead in this part of the world – but Paddon was out of town, beginning the defence of his European Rally Championship in Hungary.

While the 10-time Otago Rally winner was missed by the fans lining the South Island roads, his fellow New Zealand Rally Championship competitors were enjoying a fascinating tussle in his absence.

Second places Stokes’ only minor gripes through Saturday were a soft brake pedal and a gear position sensor issue aboard his Fiesta. While Paddon might not have been here, his car was – in the hands of the Asia Pacific Championship-chasing Gill. The Indian’s event hadn’t started well, with a test day shunt which made the front cover of the Otago Daily Times. There was another minor indiscretion on stage five, but elsewhere, he belied his lack of seat time in New Zealand’s fastest Hyundai i20 Rally2 to post three fastest times.

Ben Hunt had been tipped as the man to make the most of Paddon’s no-show, but the Škoda driver struggled to match the pace up front and ended Saturday more than a minute down in fourth. Mike Young (Toyota GR Yaris AP4) and Todd Bawden (Ford Fiesta Rally2) rounded out the top six. Dunedin star Emma Gilmour’s hopes of a home win were dashed when she damaged a steering arm on her Citroën on the second stage.

Running inside the top 10 overall, Meeke’s New Zealand debut was as impressive as it was popular. For once, the Northern Irishman wasn’t overly fussed about the results. He was just having a ball.

“I’m absolutely loving it,” he said. “The car’s just fantastic, such a nice Escort to drive. I was a wee bit steady first thing, just feeling my way in and not wanting to do anything silly. The test stage was fairly twisty without much quick stuff, so in a couple of places this morning I was sitting in fourth and wondering if she’d take fifth… She would have done! It’s been a great day, fantastic atmosphere about the place and these really are some roads!”

Deane Buist is Meeke’s closest Classic challenger a minute and a half down on him in another RS1800.

Semenuk confirmed Meeke’s thoughts on the roads, but the Canadian’s day was spoiled by stopping to change a third-stage puncture.

“The vacation got busy,” smiled Subaru’s defending American champion. “It’s a shame, but we’re still having fun. The roads are just awesome. While it’s nice to have so many new stages, it would be nice to come back around and have a go at some of these stages for a second time – just to commit a little bit more.”

Mitsubishi driver Andrew Graves heads the Classic 4WD category.