Luck, or a lack of it, important part of motoring

‘‘ICAN’T buy luck at the moment, it seems,’’ was a frustrated Hayden Paddon’s verdict after an electrical gremlin thwarted him after a very strong start at last weekend’s Portuguese round of the World Rally Championship. Worse was to follow, with a power steering failure in the second stage of the event.

Even so, there were some positives to take out of the event. Firstly, when his Hyundai i20 WRC car was behaving itself mechanically, Paddon showed stagewinning speed. Indeed, his tally of four special stage wins was his best in a WRC event since he won five stages and took victory in the 2016 Argentine Rally. Secondly, Paddon showed that stagewinning pace with his future codriver Seb Marshall alongside, rather than his established accomplice John Kennard.

As close followers of the sport will know, Kennard was scheduled to step down from his codriving role permanently following the Finnish round of the WRC at the end of July, but was forced to sit out the Portuguese event due to a hip injury. Kennard is now expected to miss the next WRC round, the June 911 Sardinia Rally, with Marshall again taking his place.

Paddon has already said that the seamless manner in which Marshall has slotted in alongside him is prompting a rethink on the changeover timeline: I am sure that both he and Kennard will cast all sentimentality aside in considering the best course of action after Sardinia.

Before then, Kiwi motorsport fans have an even bigger event to savour: Monday’s (NZ time) Indianapolis 500. Scott Dixon will be starting in pole position in his quest for a second Indy 500 win. A little luck is always required to win at The Brickyard, so I’ll have my fingers crossed.

Luck is something I have been thankful for in respect of this week’s Drivesouth cover car, the MercedesAMG C63 S cabriolet: when the chance to drive this potent convertible performance machine came, I was offered the choice of two weekend time slots. The one I said yes to was the weekend of May 1314 which, as the photo on the cover shows, was marked by glorious autumn weather. The one I turned down was last weekend, when cold, rain and snow would have rendered a decent test of the C63 impossible.

It certainly feels like winter really has arrived, and I would urge all motorists to pause and consider what that means in terms of how they should drive.

A particular gripe from last weekend was the large number of vehicles, many of them SUVs and utes, out and about in lowlight conditions with their lights off. If everyone remembers that vehicles have lights so they can be seen, as well as to enable the driver to see, life on our streets and roads will be a whole lot easier and safer over the months ahead. David Thomson

Editor

Drivesouth