Kiwi rally driver Hayden Paddon and British co-driver Seb Marshall have completed the first full day of Wales Rally GB, 11th round of the 2018 FIA World Rally Championship, in a steady seventh place overall.
The unpredictable UK autumn weather delivered rain and fog during the early part of Friday’s 110.76km of special stages which had been less muddy during reconnaissance earlier in the week, making it challenging to judge the grip levels. The pair completed the five morning stages in tenth overall, talking of tyres that were possibly too soft for the conditions. A sixth quickest time around the 1.63km Slate Mountain spectator-friendly stage wrapped up the morning with Paddon saying: “The second time through a bit of fog was coming through. A nice little stage, a shame the fans couldn’t see more but a bit of fun!”
Paddon’s focus was to have a clean day, but running ninth on the road meant that there was some impact of road position on road conditions and changing grip levels during the afternoon’s repeated run of the three longer stages in improved weather conditions. With Elfyn Evans and Teemu Suninen dropping out of the top ten, and Paddon able to gain a place over Mads Ostberg in the second-to-last stage of the day, Paddon’s overall position improved from tenth to seventh overall by day’s end. He has a margin of 17.6 seconds to Craig Breen in sixth place, and 2.0 seconds ahead of Ostberg in eighth.
Paddon said: “We have tried to have a clean day today. In the morning loop, I felt comfortable in the car but we were lacking some grip and traction in the conditions. We had an off-stage excursion in the second stage that cost us some time. We kept focused on our plan with road order playing quite a key role in the afternoon loop. We will have a more beneficial starting position on Saturday and will look to make some gains during the day.”
Tomorrow, competitors face more than 15 hours at the wheel on Saturday when they journey south to mid-Wales. After a 05.30 start, they tackle five stages, the first four of which are repeated in the afternoon. Organisers planned this leg with no service, just a tyre change partway through the 150.24km of action, so that must be a consideration for all drivers as they plan their approach to the day’s competition. Paddon and Marshall will be third on the road, the starting order beign decided by reversing the WRC classification after day one.
Classification after Day One
1 O. Tänak M. Järveoja Toyota Yaris WRC 06:04.3
2 T. Neuville N. Gilsoul Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 28.8
3 J.M Latvala M. Anttila Toyota Yaris WRC 31.3
4 E. Lappi J. Ferm Toyota Yaris WRC 35.9
5 S. Ogier J. Ingrassia Ford Fiesta WRC 38.2
6 C. Breen S. Martin Citroën C3 R5 48.8
7 H. Paddon S. Marshall Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC +1:06.4
8 M. Østberg T. Eriksen Ford Fiesta WRC +1:08.4
9 A. Mikkelsen A. Jæger Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC +1:24.3
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