Hayden Paddon and John Kennard have secured fourth overall in the WRC2 category at the 2022 Secto Rally Finland. Sitting sixth after the first of three days of competition, Paddon and Kennard moved up into fourth position by the end of Day 2. After challenging for a podium, the pairing finished just 11 seconds behind third placed Kaur Egon/Simm Silvor after the final four Special Stages on Day 3.
“We just missed the podium but couldn’t be more proud of our team and how we have pulled off this campaign,” commented Paddon. “P4 is a great result considering where we started with the car in Latvia a month ago and we have much more to still come.
“It’s hard to describe how much of an effort it is to do this program with a tiny team from the opposite side of the world, but now that we have dipped our toes in the water, we all want more. Now to get this car home for Rally of NZ.”
Teemu Suninen scored his first WRC2 victory of the season with success on home soil. The Hyundai i20 N Rally2 driver, snatched the lead on the first gravel test of the event then built up the majority of his winning margin during Friday’s opening leg – winning seven out of nine classic speed tests around Lankamaa and Laukaa.
A brief scare on Saturday morning when the car briefly lost power almost allowed Škoda Fabia Rally2 rival Emil Lindholm into contention, but the pair remained very evenly matched for the remainder of the weekend.
Volkswagen Polo GTI driver Egon Kaur was a distant third. He trailed Lindholm by two minutes but had just 10.6sec in hand over Hayden Paddon’s Hyundai New Zealand machine.
WRC2 Secto Rally Finland Results Day 3 – Top 5
1/ Suninen Teemu – Markkula Mikko, Hyundai i20 N Rally2 2:33:35.9
2/ Lindholm Emil – Hämäläinen Reeta, Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo +7.7
3/ Kaur Egon – Simm Silver, Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 +2:00.8
4/ Paddon Hayden – Kennard John, Hyundai i20 N Rally2 +2:11.4
5/ Asunmaa Teemu – Mannisenmäki Ville, Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo +4:35.9
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