With the rough and rugged Rally Turkey done and dusted (literally!), attention now turns to Wales Rally GB, and Hayden Paddon’s long-awaited return to the WRC.
After his heart-wrenching testing crash prior to August’s Rally Finland, Paddon and co-driver, John Kennard, have been seeded 16th for their first WRC event since Rally Australia last November.
While they would clearly prefer to be driving a World Rally Car, the factory-backed M-Sport Ford Fiesta R5 MkII they will pilot should give them a perfect re-entry to the sport’s top level.
For a start, they won’t have the pressure of matching the pace of guys who’ve been running at the front of the WRC all season – that can wait until Rally Australia in November.
Instead, they’ll be battling the best of the WRC2 drivers, with the chance to make a real impact.
Paddon has never driven an R5 car in a WRC round, which puts him behind the eight ball, but if he can be on the pace of Kalle Rovanpera (Skoda), Mads Ostberg (Citroen), Jan Kopecky (Skoda) and Oley Christian Veiby (Volkswagen), it will give him a huge confidence boost.
He’ll also be going head-to-head in identical machinery against M-Sport’s current ‘junior driver’, the well-funded Gus Greensmith (main picture at Rally Turkey).
Greensmith has been impressive this season, winning WRC2 Pro in Turkey and setting competitive times in his two World Rally Car outings. Yet you’d expect Paddon to have his measure if he can quickly get up to speed in the R5 Fiesta.
I said this before Finland, but Paddon’s result in Wales won’t define his future, but a good result won’t hurt it either.
He’s been active on the stages in New Zealand, and recently in Australia, but nothing is quite like the pressure cooker atmosphere of the WRC.
The focus of much of the rallying world will be on him in Wales, but those in the know are also well aware that he’s had 11 months out of the WRC.
As a winner of a WRC round in 2016, he already has the runs on the board.
He’ll be using Wales Rally GB as a warm-up for the one he’s really targeting – Rally Australia in a Fiesta World Rally car.
The rallying world is full of young drivers making a mark and showing incredible speed, but reliable, experienced drivers like Hayden Paddon are a lot thinner on the ground. As a result, he should be highly sought after in 2020.
Of course, money talks, but should enough funding be found for the upcoming season, there’s a good chance that Hayden Paddon could be back full-time.
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