Paddon sitting fifth in Mexico after clean run

Hayden Paddon completed his goal of a clean run on the short opening leg of the latest stop on the World Rally Championship in Mexico to sit fifth.

The 29-year-old Kiwi sits 3.2 seconds behind the leader Juho Hanninen from Finland as drivers battled it out over two runs of the 1.57km inner-city Mexico City super special stage.

Paddon was third after the first run (1:52.7), but was ninth fastest his second round (1:47.7).

The Hyundai driver was pleased to stay out of trouble on the opening day. ‘‘We knew it would be a special start to the rally but this atmosphere was something else,’’ Paddon said.

‘‘It was an amazing feeling to drive in front of these crowds and in such a fantastic venue. Bring on the gravel stages.’’

Hanninen (Toyota) was the fastest in the first run (1:51.1), but fifth in the second (1:46.1). Sebastien Ogier (Ford) was the quickest in the second running (1:44.8), but that was only enough to lift him to sixth overall.

The field remains tight with Estonian Ott Tanak (Ford) and British driver Kris Meeke (Citroen) tied for second 1.6 seconds behind Hanninen.

British driver Elfyn Evans’ (Ford) chances of winning are likely gone already with him carrying a fiveminute penalty into the day. The penalty came after and engine fault forced his team to replace the engine after the shakedown for the World Rally Championship’s third round, a move that is not allowed.