Kiwi rally driver Hayden Paddon and co-driver Seb Marshall started Rally Finland strongly. Sixth in Thursday night’s opening super special stage in host city Jyväskylä, the pair charged into Friday’s massive 12-stage itinerary with a very close third fastest time in SS2. Fourth quickest in SS3 by only 0.6 seconds to the quickest on that stage, Jari-Matti Latvala, Paddon and Marshall were just 1.1 seconds off the lead of the rally going into SS4. But the smallest of, the crew ran wide and hit a rock. The resulting rear-right suspension damage forced them to end the day early, but they will return under Rally 2 on Saturday.
Paddon said: “It wasn’t the start for the rally we were looking for, but we went out this morning wanting to push and be up the front and we were able to do that for the first couple of stages, being competitive with the local drivers and fighting for a podium. Unfortunately we ran just a little bit wide on a fast left hander and hit a rock that was in a ditch.
“This caused too much damage to the suspension to allow us to continue. I think we were a little bit unfortunate to pick up the damage we did, a bit of continuation of the bad luck we’ve had this year. But nevertheless we know the speed was there, the car’s been easily able to be repaired and we’ll be able to re-join for tomorrow, to go back out there and try and set some competitive times, build and develop for the future. It’s certainly not a loss. There’s a lot of rallying left yet and we’ve just got to stay positive and keep pushing forward.”
Paddon and Marshall will re-start on Saturday under Rally 2 regulations. Crews tackle a total of eight stages run over a distance of 132.34km, divided into four separate stages, each repeated in the afternoon but run in a different order from one pass to the next.
Rally Finland lived up to its reputation as one of the fastest and fiercest events on the 2017 FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) calendar, after a tough start for the three Hyundai Motorsport crews on Friday.
Following an impressive 1-2 on the equally speedy gravel roads of Rally Poland earlier this month, Hyundai Motorsport approached Finland with the target of scoring a maiden podium on the event.
The opening 13 stages of this year’s event have offered little hope of turning around the team’s Finnish fortunes, with Hayden Paddon forced to retire from day one, Thierry Neuville in eighth overall and Dani Sordo back in 11th.
Friday’s schedule is the busiest of the entire weekend with seven unique stages and a total distance of 145.71km. The morning saw crews complete an initial loop of three stages – Halinen (7.65km), Urria (12.75km) and Jukojärvi (21.31km) run twice.
Lunchtime service gave teams the chance to make set-up adjustments to tackle two runs of Äänekoski-Valtra (7.39km) and Laukaa (11.76km), a single attempt at Lankamaa (21.68km), and a final short run through Harju (2.31km), which also opened the rally on Thursday evening.
High speeds, precise pace notes and committed jumps are the hallmarks of Rally Finland, but for the Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team crews, it wasn’t the high flying start they were hoping for.
Saturday will see a total of eight stages run over a distance of 132.34km.
Crews will tackle four separate stages, each repeated in the afternoon but run in a different order from one pass to the next.
The itinerary includes: Pihlajakoski (14.90km), Päijäla (22.68km), the classic Ouninpohja (24.38km) and the short 4.21km run through Saalahti.
Classification after Day One
1 E. Lappi J. Ferm Toyota Yaris WRC 1:11:36.4
2 J. M. Latvala M. Anttila Toyota Yaris WRC +4.4
3 T. Suninen M. Markkula Ford Fiesta WRC +19.0
4 C. Breen S. Martin Citroën C3 WRC +33.0
5 J. Hänninen K. Lindström Toyota Yaris WRC +39.1
6 M. Østberg T. Eriksen Ford Fiesta WRC +45.0
7 E. Evans D. Barritt Ford Fiesta WRC +45.1
8 T. Neuville N. Gilsoul Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC +58.0
9 K. Meeke P. Nagle Citroën C3 WRC +1:07.6
10 O. Tänak M. Järveoja Ford Fiesta WRC +1:50.2
11 D. Sordo M. Martí Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC +1:52.5
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