Rallying: Martin stamps world class on Otago gravel roads

Markko Martin showed the class that carried him to five career wins in the WRC as he dominated the classic component of the Otago Rally.

The Estonian ace ran out winner by more than two minutes in his Ford Escort, leading from start to finish, and setting fastest classic time through 13 of the rally's 17 special stages.

"It's great to come here and do a good job, and great to have such good fun doing it,'' Martin said at the finish, as he reflected on becoming the first European guest to win the event since 2008.

Kaikoura driver Regan Ross was the best of the rest for much of the way, but had to settle for an eventual fourth place after crashing through a fence and into a paddock near the end of a stage yesterday morning.

While the incident left Ross's Escort relatively unscathed, he was delayed when he tried to regain the road by driving to the nearest gate, only to find it padlocked.

Ross's drama opened the way for former classic rally winner Markus van Klink (Christchurch) to take runner-up honours after a solid effort in his potent Mazda RX-7.

Third place went to Tony Gosling (Christchurch, Escort), whose event-long focus on having a clean run paid dividends as he turned on one of the best drives of his career.

Australians Ben Barker (BMW) and Stewart Reid (Escort) claimed fifth and six places. Barker might have pushed for a podium position, but was penalised for completing one lap too few at Saturday's Anzac Avenue Superspecial.

Reid stormed back well from brake problems on the Saturday.

Both were beneficiaries of Jeff Judd's last-stage altercation with a tree, which dropped the popular Christchurch driver from fourth place to seventh.

Allan Dippie also lost time of the final stage, after rolling his Porsche, but survived to claim first resident Otago driver honours and 13th overall.

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