Paddon and Hudson lead the Ypres Rally – Day 1

Hayden Paddon and Jarod Hudson have taken the lead after the opening day of the Ypres Rally in Belgian. The first loop of four stages was particularly hotly contested, with three different drivers setting the fastest time. Stéphane Lefebvre (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) opened the hostilities with the quickest time in the opening Special Stage. Paddon (Hyundai i20N Rally2) then took over, although former Hyundai WRC teammate Dani Sordo managed to set two fastest times in his Porsche 992 GT3.

Twelve years after his first participation, Paddon was in the lead after the first loop (Four Special Stages_, holding 4.9 seconds over Freddy Loix (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) and 5.5 sec over Stéphane Lefebvre.

“It’s a surprise for me, because I still have some margin. I still have trouble reading the grip of the road and I still brake sometimes too early. I didn’t look at the standings until after the fourth stage and I thought I was behind,” admitted Hayden Paddon.

Freddy Loix improved his notes while Stéphane Lefebvre lost a little time with problems with the gearbox.

“We probably also lack top speed,” admitted the French driver, who found a last-minute solution to be at the start in a Toyota Yaris, but who had not been able to carry out a test before the Shakedown, as the car had to return from the Polish ERC event.

Davy Vanneste (Citroën C3 Rally2) created a surprise during this first loop. Having made a mistake in the qualifying stage, finishing only17th, the driver from Wervik is in fourth place at 6″3, ahead of Dani Sordo, who surprised everyone by setting two stage times, proving that he is confident in the Porsche 992 GT3.

Bernd Casier, who had a very solid start to the race, followed in sixth place at 8.8s, ahead of Jos Verstappen, who was not satisfied with the braking behaviour of his Skoda. Cédric Cherain, the second Porsche driver, is eighth at 12″10. The Liège native has great respect for the performance of his WRC team-mate: “It’s an honour for me to be able to compete with Dani Sordo, a pro driver with 20 years of experience in the WRC. Behind, Niels Reynvoet and Romet Jürgenson complete the Top 10.

“Leading overnight at Ypres after eight good stages today,” said Paddon. “Very enjoyable and the car is working well, but it’s a super close fight with Freddy Loix (11-time winner of this rally) and Stephane Lefebvre (last year’s winner). But there is a long way to go, with 10 challenging but fun stages ahead tomorrow (Saturday).”

Ypres Rally Day 1 results (Top 5)