Hayden Paddon’s absence from this Saturday’s Rally of Hawke’s Bay will ensure a new winner steps atop the podium for the first time this year.
Paddon was struck down by COVID-19 mid-way through the opening day of Rally Estonia last weekend, and was forced to immediately withdraw from the rally.
The 2016 Rally of Argentina winner was contesting his first round of the World Rally Championship for three years, but his luck was out again.
The reigning national champion was largely off the pace on the opening five stages of the rally as he battled to come to grips with his new Hyundai i20 N Rally2 and ill health.
He was also struggling on rutted roads, cut up by the leading Rally1 cars, in conditions he hadn’t experienced for several years.
The Paddon team remain in Europe ahead of the fast-paced Rally Finland in two weeks’ time, meaning that the battle at Hawkes Bay is expected to be much closer than it would normally be.
The big drawcard for the rally is the entry of Supercars champion, Shane van Gisbergen, who recently won the Far North Rally in a Skoda Fabia R5.
That result came after van Gisbergen’s sensational Australian Rally Championship debut in April, where he finished second to dominant Toyota factory driver, Harry Bates.
There’s every chance that the popular Kiwi will take his first New Zealand Rally Championship round victory this weekend, but it certainly won’t be easy.
Pre-event favourite is probably two-time champion, Ben Hunt, in a factory-supported Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo, after being the ‘best of the rest’ so far this season.
Hunt is getting more and more familiar with the Skoda with each rally and will be hard to catch.
So will Robbie Stokes, who is more than overdue for some good luck in his locally built Ford Fiesta AP4.
Stokes has shown that his first NZRC win could be just around the corner, despite a throttle problem and a slow roll in the previous round of the championship, the South Canterbury Rally.
Also striving hard for podium finishes will be a host of other AP4 and R5 cars.
Raana Horan’s new Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo, Matt Summerfield in a Mitsubishi Mirage AP4 and Ari Pettigrew in the ex-Greg Murphy Holden Barina AP4 are all proven performers.
Then there’s Dylan Turner (Audi AP4), Phil Campbell (Fiesta AP4), Todd Bawden (Fiesta R5 MkII), Glenn Inkster (Mazda 2 AP4) and the Toyota supported Yaris AP4 of Jack Hawkeswood.
Seventy cars will face the starter on Saturday morning, including 22 competitors in the Allcomers rally that runs alongside the NZRC component.
The Rally of Hawkes Bay is the shortest NZRC round of the season so far, with only eight competitive stages covering a distance of 118.52 kilometres.
The longest stage of the rally is the 17.11km Te Away Hiranui test, to be run as stage two and eight.
Bates unbackable for Rally Queensland
This weekend also sees the running of round four of the Australian Rally Championship, to take place on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast on Saturday and Sunday.
Dominant series leader, Harry Bates, starts as an unbackable favourite in his Toyota GR Yaris AP4.
Bates already holds a 106-point series lead over his older championship-winning car, now driven by privateer Richie Dalton. The Irishman is, in turn, 23 points ahead of Lewis Bates in the second works GR Yaris.
Nathan Quinn will make a welcome return to the ARC in his Hyundai i20 G4, a car that the 2017 champion is still developing.
Quinn’s pace is unquestioned, and should his car prove reliable, he’ll be almost a lock for one of podium places come Sunday afternoon.
Up to 60mm of rain is forecast for the Sunshine Coast late this week, ensuring that wet, slippery and tricky stages will away the field.
Sixty-nine cars have entered the event as either part of the ARC, or the Queensland Rally Championship.
Comments