Ayson and Greg Scott won six of the day's eight stages in their Nissan-powered Ford Escort and are on course for their second consecutive victory.
Regan Ross is second in his BDA-engined Escort and looks to be Ayson's only challenger. He is over three minutes ahead of the third placegetter, Jeff Judd in a Vauxhall Chevette.
Judd is driving the Vauxhall for the first time, and has regular NZRC driver Mark Tapper calling the pacenotes for him.
Italian star, Piero Liatti, finished in the top three placings in all but one of the day's stages, but dropped nearly three minutes when his Escort RS1800 died in a water crossing on stage four.
Liatti and co-driver Fabrizia Pons recovered well, and are still a big chance of finishing on the podium after the eight stages of day two.
Shane Murland is fifth in another Escort, while Stewart Reid, on his Otago Rally debut, is the first Australian in sixth place, driving a Datsun 1600.
Darryn Snooks is the next best Aussie in tenth place, but countrymen John Spencer (Datsun 1600), Keith Callinan (Escort RS1800 - engine) and Mike Conway (Escort) all retired during the day.
Others not to make the end of day one included local favourite Duncan McCrostie who suffered gearbox failure in his turbo Bluebird, and Deborah Kibble, with engine failure in her Lancer Turbo.
Day two starts tomorrow morning with a further eight stages, before the finish back in Dunedin on Sunday afternoon.
2010 Dunlop International Rally of Otago
Results after Day 1
1. Derek Ayson / Greg Scott, Ford Escort FJ2000, 1h28m47.4s
2. Regan Ross / Darren Galbraith, Ford Escort RS1800, +21.1s
3. Jeff Judd / Mark Tapper, Vauxhall Chevette HSR, +3m46.9s
4. Piero Liatti / Fabrizi Pons, Ford Escort RS1800, +3m50.3s
5. Shane Murland / John Benton, Ford Escort RS1800, +5m28.4s
6. Stewart Reid / Iain Stewart, Datsun 1600, +6m32.2s
More news to follow
CHECK OUT DAY ONE'S OTAGO RALLY PHOTOS
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