Heat on Paddon, Marshall in Sardinia
KEEPING cool will be one of the main obstacles facing Kiwi driver Hayden Paddon and the World Rally Championship teams as they take to the scorching Sardinian stages from tomorrow.
With the mercury soaring past 30degC, not only will it be hot in the cars for the drivers, but extra stress will also be put on both the engine and transmission of their vehicles.
In fact, Paddon believes Sardinia is one of the toughest European rallies in the WRC.
‘‘It’s rough, it’s hot and you have to pay really special attention to the car as well,’’ he said.
Nevertheless, he has fond memories of this Italian Mediterranean island round, which was the scene of his WRC debut for Hyundai Motorsport and also where he secured his first podium — a secondplace finish in 2015, as part of a double podium for the team.
Recent news that Englishman Seb Marshall will remain in the codriver’s seat, replacing longtime Kiwi codriver John Kennard who was due to conclude his WRC codriving duties in July’s Rally Finland, is bittersweet for Paddon.
‘‘The decision for John to step down early was not an easy one, but we all felt it was best in the difficult circumstances. He will continue to play an important role in our WRC programme. Seb did a great job in Portugal, so we are looking forward to continuing the partnership in Sardinia, with John’s support and backing,’’ he said.
The previous round in Portugal was frustrating. Paddon and Marshall achieved four stage wins but ultimately had technical issues hamper their overall result. They are ‘‘hoping to just have a nice clean rally’’, Paddon said.
‘‘We saw some signs of genuine encouragement on the final day in Portugal, so I’d like to pick up from there.’’
This is Paddon’s fourth tilt at this event and Marshall will contest Rally Italia Sardegna for the third time, having previously rallied there in 2010 and 2016.
He achieved his first WRC stage win as a codriver there, along with a second place on the power stage with Kevin Abbring last year, but is wary of the toll this 19stage, 312km rally can take.
‘‘There are always early starts and late finishes with long road sections from the service park to the stages, so you have to manage energy levels in Sardinia well. Combined with usually hot and dry weather on rough, rocky stages, it’s a very demanding event from a physical perspective, with the technical, twisty nature of the roads meaning there’s always plenty of notes for me to fire out,’’ Marshall said.