Makinen leads rally after first day

The Mitsubishi Ralliart driver made the best of bad weather conditions, with heavy rain making the stages near Raglan very muddy and slippery.

'It's very good. We are in a fantastic position,' Makinen said afterwards. 'It seems my luck is changing on this rally.

'I don't need to make any more fastest times now, but of course we still have to go quickly.

'There has been so much mud and water that sometimes there is no grip at all.'

The Finn emerged over a minute clear of his closest title rival, Toyota's Didier Auriol, with 10 stages gone.

Auriol claimed Makinen's advantage was down to tyres. 'We lost a lot of time to Tommi [Makinen] in the opening section this morning due to a difference in tyre choice.

'After that everything was going well and I was happy with my times. We had a puncture in stage 6 and Michelin's anti-deflation mousse ensured we didn't lose too much time.

'But the repeated stages later this afternoon, especially 8 and 9, were difficult because they were cut up, muddy and very slippery.'

Juha Kankkunen upholds Subaru honour in third while British Championship contender Toni Gardemeister lies an incredible fourth on his first drive on the SEAT Cordoba WRC.

In Formula 2, Alister McRae holds almost a minute's lead over his Hyundai team-mate Kenneth Eriksson, the Swede celebrating his 100th World Rally start.

Uruguay's triple World Group N Champion Gustavo Trelles is currently leading the production class in his Lancer Evolution, and is in ninth place overall.

The second leg is the longest of the rally, heading north of Auckland. It includes 10 stages totalling 174 kilometres.