New Zealander Hayden Paddon and co-driver Seb Marshall have kept their cool in 30+ degree temperatures to hold third place at the conclusion of a drama-filled day of rallying at Rally Turkey.
While around them, Hyundai Motorsport team-mates and other leading WRC crews struggled with broken suspension, drivetrain issues and more, Paddon and Marshall stuck to a plan of sure and steady, moving from sixth on the leader-board to third throughout the day. While tyre wear was a major issue for the pair, they continued their consistent run with top four and five stage times throughout Saturday’s 130.62 competitive kilometres of six special stages (three repeated stages).
Paddon said: “It has been complete mayhem out there today. We have stuck to our plan, and it seems to have paid off. It didn’t quite work out yesterday but this has, at times, felt like a different rally compared to Friday. It’s been much more loose and particularly tough on the tyres. In the afternoon loop, we had to take it a bit steady towards the end because our tyres were practically bald. I have learned my lessons from previous rallies, where we’ve gone out too fast too early and ended up by the side of the road. It can be frustrating when you look at the stage times, but it seems to be a good tactic. I’m happy to be in P3, although sad for my team-mates who were forced to relinquish their respective leads of this rally.”
Sunday’s itinerary has just four stages, totalling 34.98km. The action gets underway about 10am Turkish time and concludes with the points-scoring power stage just after 1pm.
Classification after Day Two
1 O. Tänak M. Järveoja Toyota Yaris WRC 3:34:22.5
2 J.M Latvala M. Anttila Toyota Yaris WRC +13.1
3 H. Paddon S. Marshall Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC +1:10.5
4 T. Suninen M. Markkula Ford Fiesta WRC +3:22.2
5 A. Mikkelsen A. Jæger Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC +6:25.4
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