Paddon ninth

Hayden Paddon is in ninth place after the first stage of the Rally of Finland, raced on Friday morning (NZT). He and co-driver John Kennard were three seconds off the lead in their Hyundai Motorsport car, completing the 2.31km opening stage of the latest round of the World Rally Championship in 1 min, 48.9 sec. Paddon has called the Rally of Finland, which he is racing in for the seventh time, his favourite event, saying it feels like a second home with the similarity to New Zealand conditions.