Paddon back in the points in Sardinia
Kiwi WRC ace Hayden Paddon and co-driver Seb Marshall were back in the points at Rally Italia Sardegna (Sardinia), in early June, bringing their Hyundai i20 WRC coupe home in fourth place.
The result is the best so far for the pair in the 2018 World Rally Championship season and was Paddon’s highest finish in Sardinia since he and John Kennard scored a then career-best second place in 2015.
Paddon said he’d hoped for more, but importantly, the Geraldine-born driver put together a clean run to finish the event, and now takes confidence from a strong result to push on for the rest of the season.
The event was won in dramatic fashion by Paddon’s Hyundai team-mate Thierry Neuville who pulled off a stunning victory in the last stage to head off Ford’s Sebastian Ogier by just 0.7 of a second.
Though Paddon said that he was disappointed he wasn’t able to replicate the positive feeling he had from the shakedown sessions before the event: “it was nice to finish (Sardinia) for the first time in three years, and to score important points for the team in the manufacturers’ championship.”
The result moves Paddon from 15th in the WRC drivers’ championship to 13th. He and Marshall continue their WRC campaign at the next round Rally Finland at the end of July.
Paddon and Hayden Paddon RallySport Global (HPRG) Ltd appreciate the support of their exclusive partners, Hyundai New Zealand, Pak’nSave, Winmax Brake Pads and Z Energy.