Hunt, in his Skoda New Zealand Fabia Rally 2, edged the two Stokes brothers – Robbie and Jack – after a thrilling back-and-forth battle that lasted throughout the day at the Central Machine Hire Otago Rally.
Robbie Stokes, debuting his Skoda Fabia Rally 2, was second at the end of the opening leg.
Jack Stokes [Ford Fiesta AP4], in his first ever Open 4WD rally, grabbed the early lead after winning the first stage of the day and finished the day 14 seconds behind Hunt, and 3.5s behind his brother.
Josh Marston made a welcome return to the championship to hold fourth in his Holden Barina while Jack Hawkeswood [Toyota GR Yaris] was fifth and Dunedin’s Emma Gilmour sixth in the Vantage New Zealand Citroen C3.
Hayden Paddon broke the steering in his Ford Escort on the first stage and did not continue for the opening day. He will be back competing tomorrow. It left the way clear for international star Kris Meeke to take a commanding lead in the International Classic Rally.
Bryn Jones fought back from an early deficit to lead in the NZRC 2WD class, 28 seconds ahead of Tim Mackersy in the battle of identical Ford Fiestas.
Dave Strong topped the Open 2WD standings in his Honda Jazz ahead of Paul Cross (Toyota Corolla).
In the historic 2WD class, Dean Buist was first at the end of the day in his Ford Escort in his return to the championship.
Caleb Macdonald took out the one-day Rally Challenge 4WD class in his Mitsubishi Evo 6, beating home Gavin Feast (Subaru WRX) and Ben Huband (Subaru Impreza).
Thomas Paul (Honda Civic) won the Rally Challenge 2WD class – holding off Charlie Evans (Mazda RX7) and Ian Warren (Nissan Pulsar).
Kevin Laird took out the Group A Challenge ahead of Glenn Alcorn and Josh Keighley – all three in Subaru Impreza H6s.
The rally continues tomorrow.
