The Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team crew of Hayden Paddon and Seb Marshall were forced to retire with steering rack failure on special stage 13 on Saturday afternoon (WEST) in Portugal.
For Paddon and British co-driver Seb Marshall, Saturday was all about learning after a tough Friday saw them lose time due to an electrics issue. The team changed the electric loom at evening service, which put them into Rally 2 and starting second on the road. With the added complication of cleaning the stages, it was always going to be a tough day, but they fought valiantly. However, a steering rack failure in SS13 (Vieira do Minho 2) forced a premature retirement for the day.
Paddon commented: “What can I say? It just seems our bad luck continues. We started this morning’s loop in a positive frame of mind despite the issues we had yesterday. The team worked hard to replace the loom on the car to allow us to continue under Rally 2. We knew it would be tough as second on the road, but we were determined to push and have some fun.
“I enjoyed it! We had some good sideways moments and put on a good show for the fans. The times were never going to be representative with all the cleaning we had to do. Then, in the afternoon, our luck turned once again as we experienced a steering problem that ended the day early. Not a lot more to add, other than we’ll try to have a trouble-free final day tomorrow.”
They will contest Sunday’s stages under Rally 2 regulations again.
Overall Classification after Day Two
1 S. Ogier J. Ingrassia Ford Fiesta WRC 3:15:24.6
2 T. Neuville N. Gilsoul Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC +16.8
3 D. Sordo M. Martí Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC +51.3
4 O. Tanak M. Jarveoja Ford Fiesta WRC +1:29.6
5 C. Breen S. Martin Citroën C3 WRC +1:32.4
6 E. Evans D. Barritt Ford Fiesta WRC +3:01.8
7 J. Hänninen K. Lindstrom Toyota Yaris WRC +3:29.8
8 M. Østberg O. Floene Ford Fiesta WRC +5:16.6
9 J.M Latvala M. Anttila Toyota Yaris WRC +5:32.7
10 A. Mikkelsen A. Jaeger Škoda Fabia R5 +7:06.6
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