The defending champion and world champion New Zealand team of Nathan Fa'avae, Sophie Hart, Chris Forne and Trevor Voyce are about 2km ahead of Team Harraways Oats - but overall the 35 teams are spread out over a 200km radius.
Late yesterday race directors received confirmation Thule Adventure Team, made up of French and New Zealand racers, had pulled out.
Godzone media liaison Margo Berryman said the high calibre team had been ''neck and neck'' with Team Macpac for third place.
The team had phoned organisers from the Hawea service station. The reason for its withdrawal was still unclear last night.
With icebergs a feature of day one, yesterday teams were dealing with searing heat.
Race co-director Warren Bates said temperatures were ''very hot and dry'', forcing Team Seagate's leader, Nathan Fa'avae, to tie his shirt around his head ''like he was in the desert''.
''They will be looking for any shelter they can find,'' Bates said.
Due to the navigational expertise of Chris Forne - who led a faultless expedition during the first night - Seagate is well ahead of schedule.
When spoken to yesterday, Bates said Team Seagate was traversing the alpine trek and was expected to take about 17 hours, which is quicker than anticipated.
Conversely, race organisers now predict the slower teams could take up to two days.
Team Seagate managed the first stage from Mt Cook in under six hours, while others battled it in 14, which Bates said displayed the speed at which Seagate was moving.
Seagate is chased by Team Harraways Oats, also from New Zealand, which Bates said had been at the heels of the defending champions, but slipped back with a bike derailleur problem near the Clay Cliffs on Sunday night.
Aside from the Thule Adventure Team, all teams which started the race on Sunday morning are still in the race, though the short coursers join in on Thursday.
With five racing days to go, Godzone's live tracking website can be deceiving in that it shows leading teams to be close to half way - but viewers need to factor in fatigue and terrain.
''The last two stages may be the toughest,'' Bates said, noting that by this stage teams would be suffering from accumulated fatigue due to sleep deprivation.
