World Rally Championship driver Hayden Paddon previews this weekend’s Rally Turkey…….
Hi
It’s back to WRC duties this week and I can’t wait to be back behind the wheel with Rally Turkey this week – a brand new rally and a chance to put in a strong result.
Other than some videos of the stages, all we know is that the stages here look to be some of the most demanding of the year, with very twisty and rough stages laying ahead. Throw into the mix low average speeds and 30+ air temps meaning it will be tough for man and machine. But we are as ready as ever, feeling confident and relaxed.
The last 2 weeks has involved a bit of travel, straight on the plane after Rally Coromandel to go directly to testing in the south of France for this rally (this is where some comparable conditions could be found close to team base). Then it was to Sardegna for 10 days to continue the preparation and study, along with a flying visit to Monza to watch my first Formula 1 race. It was great to go behind the scenes and see fellow Kiwi Brendon Hartley competing in F1. After a long day travelling, (watch below) I have arrived in Marmaris where the rally is based, and ready to get into it.
On a brand new rally like this one, recce is more important than ever to write a set of detailed yet accurate pacenotes that we can drive confidently to on the first pass. This is the first time we have seen an entirely new rally in the championship for quite some time, so should show through who does the better job of writing new notes from scratch. This is an area I back ourselves in and will focus on doing a good job in recce. We also have a good road position for this event, so all the pieces of the puzzle are there – it’s now just down to Seb and I to put it all together this weekend.
Thanks for all your continued support and as usual you can follow all our progress through paddonspack.co.nz
Talk soon
Hayden
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