Hayden Paddon and John Kennard enjoyed a strong morning on the opening day of Wales Rally GB, the penultimate round of the 2016 FIA World Rally Championship. The Kiwis were fifth overall after the late morning running of special stage four, when just four-tenths of a second covered third to fifth places.
Rain, mud and fog affected conditions as Paddon admitted that a set-up change during the mid-leg tyre regroup sent the handling of his New Generation i20 WRC car in the wrong direction. Rally leader Sebastien Ogier enjoyed the best of the conditions, which worsened with the passage of every car.
The Kiwi drove the final stage with a puncture, but improved on the overall standings to fourth by day’s end after Jari-Matti Latvala’s drive-shaft problems dropped him out of third position. A gap of just 3.8 seconds separates Paddon from Hyundai team-mate Thierry Neuville in third.
Paddon said: “It’s been a difficult day. We expected dry conditions but it’s been pretty typical – wet, muddy with a lot of fog so it’s been really hard to gauge the grip and read the grip level. We’ve struggled a little bit, it’s not my ideal type of conditions that I like to drive in, but it’s a big improvement over where we were here last year.
“We’re in a close fight for the podium, about 5 seconds separating three of us for third. We’re going to push hard. We’ve got a lot of stages tomorrow that suit me a lot better and we’re going to give it a good shot. We’re not here to finish fourth or fifth – we want to give it everything and try and get on the podium.”
Hyundai Motorsport has made a steady start in the tough conditions at Wales Rally GB, round 12 of the 13-event 2016 FIA World Rally Championship, as the teams tackled the traditionally demanding Friday stages.
The patience and determination of the Hyundai Motorsport crews is paying off as both Neuville and Paddon challenge for the final place on the podium. A stage win on the final stage of the day, saw Thierry Neuville and co-driver Nicolas Gilsoul grab third place, just 3.8 seconds ahead of Hayden Paddon in fourth. Dani Sordo lies in sixth.
With over 178 kilometres of stages, Friday has been the longest day of the rally and with no lunchtime service the patience and consistency was key in bringing the cars back to Deeside in a position to challenge over the weekend.
In damp and foggy conditions all crews struggled initially with visibility and variable grip levels on the classic Welsh stages. For much of the morning they were locked in a seven-car battle for the last podium position. After the remote tyre fitting zone over lunch in Newtown, all three cars benefited from the problems of other crews, but consistent times in the afternoon loop saw Neuville and Paddon jump up to third and fourth.
Saturday’s second leg heads into the Snowdonia Mountains for two loops of stages before returning north to end the day with a short parkland test in England. Drier conditions are expected in the eight tests, which cover 99.81km and will stretch tyre endurance to the limit.
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