Paddon flair expected to bring crowds
KIWI rally star Hayden Paddon has confirmed that he will contest the 2019 Otago Rally, on April 13 and 14, in his Hyundai i20 AP4+.
‘‘Having Hayden competing at Otago is exciting for everyone involved. He brings worldclass action for the spectators and a benchmark for the competitors. Hayden is a wonderful ambassador of the sport and does a huge amount to promote it,’’ event spokesman Roger Oakley said.
Paddon has often said the Otago roads are some of his favourites in the world and his attendance is sure to boost crowds at the Dunedinbased opening round of the New Zealand Rally Championship.
While Paddon is not contracted to a World Rally Championship team this year, the season’s opening round, Rallye MonteCarlo begins this weekend.
A winter event with unpredictable conditions, it is one of the toughest challenges faced by the crews.
Sixtime world champions Se´bastien Ogier and codriver Julien Ingrassia have been logging some long testing kilometres in the Citroen Total World Rally Team’s C3 WRC to prepare.
Covering more than 200km per day over three days, the tests were held on slippery, dry and wet tarmac, plus snow and ice; all of which are conditions that MonteCarlo is capable of producing in a single stage.
The winner of the Rallye MonteCarlo for the past five years, Ogier is relying on his experience on this tricky event to get him through.
‘‘I’m going to do what I’ve always done and trust my feeling. This is especially true because MonteCarlo is a rally that you are more likely to win by driving intelligently, rather than on the limit, given how many places there are where you can get caught out,’’ he said.