Paddon surprises Ogier

New Zealand driver Hayden Paddon, behind the wheel of a Hyundai, stunned world champion Sebastien Ogier at the Rally of Italy on Friday when he opened up an eight-second lead.

Paddon, 28, Hyundai Motorsport’s third driver, found himself in the lead of a world championship event for the first time. He had only previously captured one stage — on the Rally of Catalunya in 2014. On Friday, he ended up with three more, setting the fastest times on the opening three stages of the day. —