Paddon ninth in Argentina opener
New Zealand rally driver Hayden Paddon swept the road for the big boys but still put in a solid showing in the opening stage of Rally Argentina.
Paddon finished ninth in the 2.68-kilometre special stage through the town of Merlo, 2.8 seconds behind stage winner and series leader Sebastian Ogier.
The Geraldine driver, who celebrated his 27th birthday on Monday, is aiming for a consistent showing with co-driver John Kennard and his Hyundai Mobis Team on the famous El Condor roads this weekend.
He had a career-best fifth-place finish in the Rally of Sweden before a nightmare run of luck in Mexico saw him finish 17th, out of the points, and slip to 10th in the championship race.
Paddon’s draw meant he was first on the road, where traditionally the roads are at their slowest, for the slippery mixed-surface stage on Friday morning (NZ time).
Running two cars at a time, starting 15sec apart, Paddon went up against Martin Prokop and beat him by 0.7 seconds around the two laps of a 1.34km-loop of jumps, tight hairpins and fast straights.
Paddon said the smoothest stage of the rally was enjoyable but the coming days would be ‘‘tough’’ on rough roads that have been made worse by heavy rain. One of Saturday’s special stages has already been shortened because thick mud made it impassable.
Competitors have a drive of 233km back to the rally base in Villa Carlos Paz, before tomorrow’s 149km of competition – two identical loops of two stages and a super special stage near the town.