DAVID EVANS

“Paddon didn’t deserve to lose Hyundai seat”

Rubbish week that last one. Glad to be rid of it. Heard the news that Steve Bagnall and Maurice Nagle had passed, two fellas for whom I had the greatest of respect. Can’t move on here without mentioning the fear factor with Baggers as well, he scared me rigid through the early part of my career.

And so it remained, right up until my first trip to the Essen Motor Show with him. After that, everything was simpler, more straightforward. Largely because I remained comprehensively anaesthetised from the amount of Guinness consumed.

Maurice, I met much more recently, but what a genuinely lovely bloke and so rightly and justifiably proud of Paul and his entire family. Both will be much missed.

I hope it doesn’t sound trite to move on to another person who will be missed, if not in the ultimate sense, but Hayden Paddon’s demise was another source of despondency for me last week.

The news that Sebastien Loeb had signed for Hyundai was, of course, fantastic from a rally journalist’s perspective. But once the deal was announced, the more I talked and the more I thought about it, the more confused I became. What does this say about the South Korean firm’s WRC ambitions?

Short-term, there’s no doubt he will raise the potential for seeing an i20 Coupe WRC on the podium more regularly. But longer-term? Is Loeb the answer, I’m not so sure.

I’ve rarely felt so conflicted on such a question. I sympathise hugely with the view that Loeb and Dani Sordo have had their go and they need to move on and let lads like Paddon get a fair go.

But then, when it comes to Monte, I’ll be at the front of the queue to see how Loeb’s shakedown time compares. He will, undoubtedly, offer another fascinating angle to what’s shaping up to be a classic 2019 story.

Loeb brings massive potential and a very safe pair of hands. So maybe keep him and ditch Dani. But then Sordo had his best season in years while the guillotine hung over his neck through 2018. The same could be said for Paddon, Hyundai’s second best scorer in terms of returning points per rally.

Hayden did absolutely nothing wrong last year. He followed team instructions to the letter and delivered. And this is the thanks he gets.

Before I’m done with this column for this year, maybe we should tackle the elephant that’s popped in and out of the room over the last 12 months. Andreas Mikkelsen.

I’m baffled at how Paddon’s shown the door after what’s been a shocking season for the Norwegian. Sure, we can look up fastest times here or great splits there, but, on the results of 2018, Mikkelsen doesn’t deserve his seat next year. There are a few in the team who genuinely fear that he’ll ever come to terms with the i20 Coupe WRC.

That said, nobody will want to turn things around more than Mikkelsen. And he doesn’t have to look too far back in history to remember the pain of rejection. If those two elements don’t serve to carry him back to the podium’s top step then he must go.

And if he does, feel free to call me Michel Nandan: I’ve got the number of a Kiwi who can fly.