Paddon back on favourite surface
Kiwi Hayden Paddon is hoping a return to gravel in the Wales Rally GB will propel him up the drivers’ standings.
The 29-year-old from Geraldine still has a shot at an overall top three finish with two rallies left in the World Rally Championship.
Sebastien Ogier has already wrapped up the 2017 crown, but Paddon is only 13 points adrift of team-mate Thierry Neuville and Andreas Mikkelsen, who are tied second equal.
He will, however, have to keep an eye in the rear vision mirror with his other team-mate, Dani Sordo, just three points in arrears.
Neuville and Sordo have been picked as the Hyundai’s top team pairing chasing manufacturers’ points while Paddon will compete for the Hyundai Mobis World Rally team.
Paddon said he was looking forward to tackling the gravel stages.
‘‘I have always enjoyed Wales Rally GB a lot. It reminds me a lot of some of the forestry roads we get in New Zealand.
‘‘Traditionally it’s always a wet, muddy rally, but this year – being run a little earlier than usual – could be a little different.’’
The 29-year-old said testing had gone well. ‘‘I really feel like we are in a good place with this year’s car on gravel now.
‘‘It’s just a pity we couldn’t show that at the last event in Spain during Friday’s gravel stages, due to technical issues.’’
It will be the sixth time Paddon and co-driver John Kennard have tackled the rally.
The long-range forecast for the weekend is showing warmer and dryer weather than normal in Wales, but the unpredictable early winter weather will almost certainly play a part with soft compound tyres needed if conditions turn cold and wet.
Paddon said how the warm weather will affect the rally and stages is an unknown.
‘‘So we will assess as the rally progresses.
‘‘Not only do we have to be fast in Wales, but we must also look after the car as there is no mid-leg service on any of the three days, just a tyre regroup.
Paddon said he and co-driver John Kennard want to be challenging near the front again.
‘‘This is a rally I have always enjoyed, but we have never been able to put together a good result here, something we would definitely like to change this year.’’
Last year Paddon finished fifth, while he was 10th in 2014.
The 22-stage Wales Rally GB will be run over a total of 332.87km with a huge 962.87km of touring stages which sees competitors travel south from the Deeside service park on the northern coast to stages in the middle of Wales and back each day.
The rally gets underway on Friday with an itinerary that comprises over half of the total distance with 178km of challenging gravel stages.
Stage names like Hafren and Sweet Lamb are familiar to rally aficionados; however, they’ll be run in reverse direction this year.
Saturday also features stages that have not appeared on the rally since 1997.
The rally also includes the championship’s first stage in England since 1999.