He and co-driver Tony Rawstorn led the event from start to finish in their Subaru WRX Impreza STi with a commanding display of fast and measured driving, which enabled them to set the quickest time of 41min 3sec over the 46.6km Motu stage.
''That was my first time at racing the Motu and I'm glad we only do it once a year. After 47km and over 41 minutes in the car you know you've been working,'' Hunt said at the end of the monster stage.
Te Aroha Subaru driver Lance Williams secured second overall, 2min 54sec behind Hunt after fending off a last-stage challenge by Auckland's Andrew Hawkeswood to hold second by 9.4sec.
It was Hawkeswood's first podium finish for his new-generation Mazda 2 rally car and a great reward after showing impressive speed in previous rounds of the championship but retiring due to technical issues.
Rangiora brother and sister team Matt and Nicole Summerfield stole fourth position on the final stage of the rally from Dunedin's Emma Gilmour in her Suzuki Swift.
Gilmour said her car performed admirably over the event which, despite the small number of stages, led to nearly two hours of competitive driving for the top competitors.
''Our Suzuki started strongly finishing the opening stage in second place and ran well all day with no issues aside from some loss of brakes after overheating them on the last stage.''
The final two, short, tarmac stages were cancelled but Gilmour felt she had information to take away that will help the team improve the Suzuki further for the final two NZRC rounds.
Hunt now takes a 42-point lead in the championship over Tauranga's Phil Campbell, who was sidelined after the opening stage with a centre diff' failure.
Williams moves into third place, ahead of Summerfield and then Historic Class leader Van Klink in fifth.
The next NZRC round is the Rally of Coromandel on August 22.
