M-Sport’s decision to hand Hayden Paddon the keys to a third Ford Fiesta WRC for the upcoming Rally Finland is a smart move.
The Kiwi has form in the land of the 1000 Lakes, having finished in the top five in two of the past three years, including an impressive fourth in 2018.
That result saw him finish well ahead of his more fancied team-mates Thierry Neuville and Andreas Mikkelsen, and on an event where the Hyundai i20 WRC has never been competitive.
Paddon’s drive of the third Fiesta is, essentially, a paid-for drive, but factory teams don’t give cars to just anyone.
The fact that the team have also selected Paddon to score manufacturer’s points says a lot about how they rate him.
He’s driven for the team before, back in Spain in 2013 when he made his first World Rally Car start and finished an impressive eighth.
His team-mates will be the Welshman Elfyn Evans, and Finnish young gun Teemu Suninen, who have both been impressive throughout 2019.
Evans finished second in Finland in 2017, while Suninen has a fourth and a sixth from his past two starts – results that prove that the Fiesta WRC is more than capable of matching its rivals.
It bodes well for Paddon and his return to the World Rally Championship, as does his pairing up with long-time co-driver John Kennard.
From mid-2017 he was paired with the Brit, Sebastian Marshall, a combination that worked brilliantly last year. They took five top five results from seven starts in a part-WRC season!
But the Paddon / Kennard combo is a successful one, and a different co-driver shouldn’t cause any concerns.
As far as a potential result goes, Paddon will be aiming high, and anything less than a top five finish – provided he has a trouble-free run – will be his aim.
There’s already talk of who’s driving where in 2020, and there’s absolutely no doubt that the New Zealander’s name should be right up there in discussions.
Will Tanak stay at Toyota, will Mikkelsen survive at Hyundai, will M-Sport enter a third car, can Lappi regain his mojo enough to stay at Citroen?
There’s all to play for, particularly when Craig Breen is in the Hyundai seat that could well have been Paddon’s, and the highly-talented Mads Ostberg is sitting on the sidelines and driving R5 cars to keep his eye in.
After a string of recent wins in New Zealand, and some rallyscross seat time in Europe, the Kiwi will be match fit and raring to go.
Thankfully there’s only two and a half weeks until Rally Finland, and the pieces may finally start to fall into place.
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