Having finished on the podium in Sardinia twelve months ago, Paddon and co-driver John Kennard (#3 New Generation i20 WRC) were aiming for a repeat performance in the 2016 FIA World Rally Championship (WRC). Unfortunately, they lost time in the morning loop after clipping a wall in SS4, and were then forced to retire for the day after an ‘off’ in SS7. The team will assess the damage on Paddon’s car later in the evening and check if the damage is reparable.
“There are no words to truly convey our disappointment with today,” Paddon commented. “It’s been another one to forget and I can only say that I’m sorry to the team – it was a silly mistake. We didn’t have a good morning loop and were frustrated that we lost a lot of time through a spin, and subsequent contact with a wall that damaged our rear suspension arm. We were hoping to get things back on track this afternoon but we had an off at the end of SS7 which meant our day was over.”
Sardinia was a positive rally for Hyundai Motorsport twelve months ago with Paddon and Neuville securing the team a double podium. With Neuville setting the pace on the opening day, the team will be hoping to renew its podium charge in the remaining two days.
Despite Paddon’s crash, Hyundai Motorsport has made an encouraging start to the sixth round of the 2016 FIA World Rally Championship (WRC), with Thierry Neuville leading Rally Italia Sardegna at the end of Friday’s eight stages.
The team has entered four cars into the Sardinia round of the 2016 Championship with Kevin Abbring joining Neuville in the Hyundai Mobis World Rally Team for the second consecutive event. Dani Sordo, teaming up with Hayden Paddon in the Hyundai Shell World Rally Team for this round, had a solid start in Sardinia, ending Friday in sixth.
For Paddon and Abbring, however, it was a day of disappointment. Paddon was unable to finish the day after going off the road with his New Generation i20 WRC the end of SS7 (Tula 2), while Abbring endured a broken propshaft on the opening stage.
Neuville and co-driver Nicolas Gilsoul (#20 New Generation i20 WRC) secured an impressive five stage win today (SS4, SS5, SS7, SS8 and SS9) – helping them to lead a rally at the end of the opening day for the first time this season. The result marks Thierry’s 60th WRC career stage win, of which 27 have been taken with Hyundai Motorsport (6 in 2014, 10 in 2015 and 11 – so far – in 2016).
Overall Classification after Day One
T. Neuville / N. Gilsoul (Hyundai New Generation i20 WRC) 1:14:03.2
J. M. Latvala / M. Anttila (Volkswagen Polo R WRC) +11.1
S. Ogier / J. Ingrassia (Volkswagen Polo R WRC) +40.3
A. Mikkelsen / A. Jaeger (Volkswagen Polo R WRC) +57.5
M. Østberg / O. Floene (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) +58.5
D. Sordo / M. Marti (Hyundai New Generation i20 WRC) +1:18.6
U. Scandola / G. d’Amore (Škoda Fabia R5) +2:29.1
H. Solberg / I. Minor (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) +2:32.5
O. Tanak / R. Molder (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) +2:35.6
E. Lappi / J. Fern (Škoda Fabia R5) +2:39.2
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