One can only imagine Hayden Paddon’s thoughts as he watched the Monte Carlo Rally action unfold last weekend.
Without a drive this year after Hyundai Motorsport took on Sebastien Loeb for a six-event program, Paddon has been left as an interested spectator while his WRC career is put on hold.
In Monte Carlo, keen fans watched as Hyundai’s under-performing Andreas Mikkelsen tore a rear wheel off his i20 WRC on the opening stage on Saturday, ending his rally.
Over at Ford M-Sport, both their drivers, Teemu Suninen and Elfyn Evans, crashed out and cost themselves any chance of a good result.
While Paddon has only contested the French event on two occasions, it must have been frustrating watching from afar as drivers crashed cars that, on 2018 performances at least, he perhaps deserved to be driving.
Drive of the rally probably came from new Toyota man Kris Meeke.
Since his signing by Tommi Makinen, Meeke has been the subject of incredible criticism from fans quick to call on the ‘Crash Meeke’ label after a couple of indifferent seasons in a troublesome Citroen C3 WRC.
The fact remains, however, that on his day, Meeke is one of the fastest rally drivers in the world, and he proved that in spades in Monte Carlo.
After an early puncture ruined his chances of a good result, Meeke continually told the media that he was building up for Sunday’s Power Stage.
Then, despite the fact that rally leaders Ogier and Neuville were driving on the limit to win the rally, Meeke was good to his word.
Not only did he win the Power Stage, he won it by nearly four seconds – an incredible performance on just his first rally in the Yaris WRC.
The 2019 WRC has certainly started with a bang, and while we’re all lamenting the fact that Hayden Paddon’s not there, it’s still looking like being one cracker of a season.
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