In any form of individual sport, a competitor’s first objective is to beat their team-mate, and at Rally Finland last weekend, Hayden Paddon ticked that box.
Finishing five and six places respectively ahead of his more fancied Hyundai team-mates, Thierry Neuville and Andreas Mikkelsen, was an added bonus and saw Paddon finish in fourth place on the season’s most specialised rally – clearly his best result of the season so far.
We’ve seen a lot of Hayden this season as he’s taken some dominant victories in rounds of the New Zealand Rally Championship, but it’s easy to forget that this was just his fourth WRC round of 2018.
On three of those rallies he’s finished in the top five, and it finally appears as though his season, and perhaps his career, is back on the right track.
A new front differential in the Hyundai i20 WRC for Rally Finland once again gave Hayden the confidence in the car that he’d lacked since 2016 – a season when he took his one and only WRC victory.
With the car now set up to his liking, we wait with baited breath for the remaining events in his WRC campaign.
“The changes we’ve made on the front differential have really made a difference,” he said post-event.
“I am pleased to be up there with Finns on their home turf and drivers who have won this event before.
“I’ve really enjoyed the stages this weekend, the car has been a joy to drive and it has given me the confidence I need. We are back on the right track.”
With Neuville and Mikkelson seemingly entrenched at Hyundai, it appears to put the flying Kiwi in a race with Spaniard, Dani Sordo, in the fight for the third team seat next year.
Sordo has taken a second, a third and two fourths from his four rallies this year, so Hayden will be eager to further increase his speed as the season progresses.
Then again, who knows what the other manufacturers will do next year?
Should Sebastien Ogier retire, that opens up a seat at M-Sport / Ford, and what of Citroen? Could Paddon be a chance to join the French operation?
Only time will tell.
Speaking of Citroen
Speaking of Citroen, you could argue that Mads Ostberg’s return to the top of the WRC timesheets has a fair bit to do with New Zealand, and Hayden Paddon.
The likeable Norwegian was a star performer at April’s Otago Rally, where he humorously produced a number of ‘Finding Paddon’ videos on his social media feeds.
That relaxed trip to the South Island with his family, where he drove a Rossendale Ford Escort RS1800 in the Classic Rally, seems to have, in part, rejuvenated Ostberg’s career.
After a couple of seasons in the wilderness at M-Sport and running a privately entered Fiesta WRC, Mads is back and looks a real threat in the revamped Citroen C3 WRC.
One imagines he’ll be a threat on the WRC rounds to follow – and New Zealand and Hayden Paddon should take a fair bit of the credit for that!
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