Richard Mason had to settle for second place on the Rally of Otago , round two of New Zealand Rally Championship which was taken place from 16-17 May, after a last stage puncture blunted his charge for victory. Mason and co-driver wife Sara in their Subaru Impreza WRX STI went into the final 40 kms forestry stage just 0.8 of a second behind eventual winner Hayden Paddon, confident of a winning run.
"We beat Hayden by a good amount on that stage on first day," said Mason, "so I thought the win was still on." But 12 kms from the end of the stage the right rear tyre punctured and Mason had to reduce his pace relatively and drive to the end of the stage.
However, Mason who won opening round and heat 1 on this event still leads on title hunt with 141 points followed by Paddon with 131 points.
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Emma Gilmour in another Subaru finished fourth the weekend in her Subaru Impreza WRX STI, despite being slowed somewhat by a differential problem. Now she is keeping to standing 3rd on the series with 104 points.
The next round o NZRC, round 3 "Rally of Whangarei"(also round 3 of FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship) will be taken place from 6-7 June.
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