Hayden Paddon and co-driver John Kennard came through Saturday’s (CEST) four Tour de Corse stages to finish the day in sixth overall. Fourth quickest on the first run through the day’s second stage was their best stage time, and the fact they’re still running when nearly half their WRC competitors are out for one reason or another is another positive for the Kiwis who never stop trying to learn and improve.
“Not a bad morning,” Paddon said after the second stage. “We’ve trying some different things with the car setup and it hasn’t really felt like that’s worked this morning, but still good information to take forward. We’ll try some other things this afternoon. We’re just in a position in the rally where we haven’t got a whole lot to gain, but we can lose, so it’s just a matter of being sensible and get the car to the finish.”
Wrapping up Saturday, Paddon said it was a pretty uneventful day. “Okay, sixth place will be some good points maybe if we can bring it home. I enjoyed driving these stages today, but we’re missing a bit of speed – we need to drive faster at the moment. We’ll see if we can learn something tomorrow and get a bit more data. We’re trying different things with the car, different setup. We’re making some small gains, a little bit closer to where we were this time last year, so onwards and upwards.”
With two final stages to run on Sunday, Paddon admits he’s in no man’s land with a 41 second deficit to Craig Breen in fifth place.
“Our focus is now on bringing the car home. Anything could happen yet.”
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