For the first time in more than a decade, a car other than a Ford Escort has won the classic component of the Drivesouth Rally of Otago.

It was a Mazda RX-7 driven by Cantabrian Marcus van Klink that broke the Escort's dominance of the classic event, though only after two other drivers - both of them in Escorts - struck trouble at times when victory appeared to be theirs for the taking.

The first fall by the wayside in the victory race was world production class rally champion Hayden Paddon, who looked unstoppable on the opening leg of the rally.

However, a downhill hairpin bend just north of Waikouaiti proved his undoing.

Sliding through it with just a little too much commitment, Paddon popped his Escort BDA's right rear tyre off its rim.

What would normally have been a two-minute wheel-change job then turned into a seven-minute headache, when Paddon and co-driver John Kennard found that they did not have the correct tools in their car to make the change.

Instead, they were forced to limp out to the end of the stage on the flat tyre and then, when that disintegrated, on the wheel rim.

The lead then passed to South Otago driver Derek Ayson, who completed a hat trick of Otago classic wins at last year's event.

A fourth crown seemed his for the taking until a puncture on the penultimate stage of the rally dropped him down the order, and handed van Klink the lead.

To be fair, van Klink had been keeping the pressure on Ayson throughout the rally, taking a number of stage wins along the way before gaining the lead.

Second place in the classic rally went to Geoff Portman.

The former Australian rally champion was spectacular in his Escort throughout, setting top-six stage times all the way.

The final classic podium position went to Kaitangata farmer Duncan McCrostie (Nissan Bluebird), who, like Portman, was consistently quick throughout the event.

Paddon, meantime, fought his way back to finish fourth in the classic section of the rally and tenth overall.

His dominance in terms of outright pace was underscored by his setting fastest classic rally time through eight stages, and second fastest through five more.

"I certainly enjoyed myself, and learnt quite a few things," said Paddon, who contested the classic rally during a break in his 2012 world championship programme.

Asked about the challenge of adapting to a car so different from the Skoda Fabia he drives in the WRC, Paddon reckoned power steering was the thing he missed most.

"At the end of the day it's a car with a steering wheel, a gear lever, and four wheels on the outside, just like any other," he said.

"You have to learn what it is capable of and drive it accordingly."

Ayson recovered to finish fifth in the classic rally and Australian Toyota Corolla driver Mike Townshend rounded out the classic top six.

International guest driver Gwyndaf Evans had a challenging weekend, his Escort suffering from a number of problems including an electrical fault that forced him to miss three stages on Saturday.

The former British champion showed his best on the first and last stages of the rally, securing second-fastest classic time on both.

Rhys Gardner, of Balclutha, secured victory ahead of fellow Mitsubishi driver Paul Dickson (Timaru) in the allcomers division of the rally.

Gardner, who also took eighth place overall in the main event, gained the lead when top allcomers seed Kieran Hall (Nelson) crashed his Subaru on Saturday afternoon.

Hall had been the fastest allcomers driver through every stage before his crash.