Paddon hits back after rolling car
HAYDEN Paddon was left reflecting on what could have been after bouncing back from a low-speed roll to record two stage wins on the first full day at Rally Argentina.
The defending champion at the latest round on the WRC calendar, Kiwi driver Paddon lost almost three minutes on the 19.95km opening stage yesterday when his Hyundai i20 got caught in a rut on a left-hand hairpin and slowly rolled over.
Although the car suffered only minor damage and both Paddon and co-driver John Kennard were uninjured, the incident was a setback in their quest for a podium to turn around their struggling start to the season.
It meant that, despite their impressive pace throughout most of the afternoon, the Kiwi duo could only pull their way up as far as seventh.
‘‘It’s still a bit puzzling why it did roll in the middle of the road,’’ Paddon said.
‘‘We just got caught in a rut and tipped it over, so we lost about three minutes getting it back on its wheels and with the damage. The guys did a great job fixing the car at midday and we went back out, so to win a couple of stages this afternoon is nice to show a bit of speed, but it also shows what could have been.
‘‘Nevertheless there’s still a long way to go. The conditions here are very rough, very hard. Tomorrow’s a little bit easier, but still, we’re confident we can try and climb up the leaderboard if some of the guys in front are having problems.’’
Starting the day in seventh after the rally-opening super special stage on Friday, Paddon and Kennard soon found themselves way down in 19th and already two minutes and 42 seconds behind the leader, Elfyn Evans, of Wales.
A pair of seventh fastest times and an eighth allowed Paddon to move back inside the top 10 at the midday service point, where he was disappointed but doing his best to remain upbeat.
That optimism was well founded, as he proved with his speed in the afternoon.
After another seventh on stage six, the Geraldine product bagged an equal top time with Evans on stage seven before impressively taking out stage eight by four seconds.
‘‘Feeling much better this afternoon, could still improve but I’m more comfortable,’’ Paddon said after his stage eight triumph.
The two wins moved the Kiwi up into seventh, where he stayed after finishing eighth quickest through the 6.04km ninth stage to complete the day.
Paddon was 3min 41sec behind Evans in his D-Mack Ford Fiesta and a little more than two minutes behind sixth-placed Finnish driver Jari-Matti Latvala in his Toyota. ....
He also wasn’t the only driver to suffer at the hands of the Argentinian roads, Hyundai team-mate Dani Sordo losing 11 minutes in stage three after hitting a stone and breaking a steering arm and Citroen duo Kris Meeke and Craig Breen both suffering significant damage on the morning’s stages.
Something of a surprise leader after winning six of the days eighth stages, Evans held a 55sec buffer from M-Sport team-mate Mads Ostberg. Paddon’s other team-mate, Belgian Thierry Neuville, was a further 5sec back in third.