Hayden Paddon is being considered by Pirelli as a tyre test driver, ahead of the Italian marque's return to the World Rally Championship in 2021. With testing of the brand's WRC tyre set to begin shortly, Norwegian Andreas Mikkelsen is believed to be at the head of the list of drivers. Rally activities manager of Pirelli, Terenzio Testoni, told motorsport.com: "We will take one who is not doing the world championship this year, we need a driver who has experience with the Plus [car]. "We still have to choose him, but the line-up includes names like Kris Meeke, Jari-Matti Latvala, Hayden Paddon, Andreas Mikkelsen. "We're picking him out with the FIA. Anyway it will be one of these, because we need one of these drivers who knows the WRC Plus [car]." When contacted by RallySport Magazine about the potential testing role, Paddon was quick to point out it wasn't likely to be him.
"No, no discussions and I believe they have already chosen a driver," Paddon said.
That driver will most likely be Mikkelsen. “I have been in contact with Pirelli and I know my name is on the table like some other drivers, but nothing is confirmed 100%," he told DirtFish. Pirelli are expected to use a Citroen C3 WRC for the testing, so as not to give any advantage to any of the teams currently contesting the WRC.

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