Paddon puts points on the board

Kiwi rally duo show improvement with eighth-place finish at Rally Poland

Kiwi rally champion Hayden Paddon kept to plan in Poland, gaining valuable WRC experience while still managing to sharpen his competitiveness. Clocking an impressive time, he and co-driver John Kennard came eighth overall, scoring four championship points and securing a second-place stage finish in the process.

Hayden was happy with the performance improvements overall, though he admits his competitive nature always has him hoping for more.

“It’s great to get to the end and finish in the top ten, along with my teammates Thierry [Neuville, France] and Juho [Hänninen, Finland] in third and sixth respectively,” says Hayden, who was also pleased to achieve his goal of closing the gap on Neuville – runner-up in last year’s championship – to an average of 0.5 seconds per kilometre.

However, the success-driven Kiwi is always thinking strategically about how he can continue to improve and this rally provided plenty of insight.

“Throughout the rally, I learnt a lot about my driving and where I need to improve. On different stages, I was trying some slightly different techniques – some that worked and others that didn’t – but it’s all part of the learning process,” he says.

“On stages where the road was smoother and more flowing, we were competitive. Where the road becomes a little more technical is where we’re currently losing time.”

Hayden’s ability on the smoother stages didn’t go unnoticed – he narrowly missed a win on stage four, finishing just 0.7 seconds off stage-winner and eventual second-place finisher overall, Andreas Mikkelsen (Norway).

“It was definitely a pleasant surprise but also a little frustrating to know it was so close!” says Hayden.

Hayden is settling in well with the Hyundai Motorsport team, which is contesting the WRC for the first time.

“Now we look forward to Finland, which we’ve competed in every year since 2010,” says Hayden. “We can use a lot of information from Rally Poland, as they’re quite similar – both fast events.

“The main goal for Finland is to take the same step up again. John and I are really looking forward to that – I’m already busting to get back in the car!”

First place again went to reigning champion Sebastien Ogier of France, who recorded his 21st career victory and now takes a massive 50-point lead into the second half of the championship.