Hayden Paddon says, despite the obvious disappointment of crashing at this weekend’s Finnish World Rally Championship event, he is happy with his progress to date and is promising much more to come.

“Of course this wasn’t the result we wanted in Finland,” says Paddon, New Zealand’s only WRC competitor who was forced to retire early on Friday afternoon after crashing in stage six. Paddon and co-driver John Kennard had made an excellent start to the 30 July-2 August rally with consistently top five stage times on the four stages completed on Friday morning.
 
“Thankfully, John and I were okay but the car was too badly damaged and the team was unable to fix it. But we’ve been here to support the team for the rest of the weekend.
 
“We’ve built up a lot of momentum in these recent rallies,” Paddon says, referring to his recent second and fourth place finishes in Sardinia and Poland respectively.
 
“We remain upbeat that we were able to carry the speed and consistency from previous events during Friday morning’s stages.
 
“We’ve already putting this behind us and have begun working on our next two events in Germany and Australia.
 
“Germany will be a different kettle of fish being back on the tarmac, but it's a surface I have to learn more about and get more experience of. We are happy with our progress to date and there is much more to come yet.”
 
Paddon and Kennard were not the only WRC crew to retire due to a high speed crash from the rally dubbed the Finnish Grand Prix. Volkswagen Motorsport driver Andreas Mikkelsen was first to hit trouble on Friday morning's final stage while Citroën’s Kris Meeke crashed out of third place early on Saturday afternoon. Paddon’s Hyundai team-mates Thierry Neuville and Dani Sordo were each having their own issues, ending Saturday’s leg in fourth and 11th positions respectively, with just two stages to complete the event on Sunday.

SUBSCRIBE BELOW TO READ THE FULL STORY

RallySport Magazine Subscription
Select Subscription Level
Select Subscription Length
Recurring Subscription Cost
A subscription to RallySport Magazine give you access to all our rally content from Australia, New Zealand and around the world – with news, features and experiences nobody can match. Our team are dedicated to providing an unrivalled experience which shares, supports and promotes the sport of rallying.
Already have an account?

By clicking "Subscribe Now" you agree to receive news, offers and updates on RallySport Magazine. If you do not wish to receive marketing communications, you can update your preferences in My Account.

We will commence charging your payment method after the 7 day free trial expires. If you cancel after expiry of your trial, cancellation will take effect from the end of your current monthly subscription period. You will not be refunded any fees paid to RallySport Magazine unless otherwise set out in the terms and conditions.

Account Details
Payment Information

By clicking "Subscribe Now" you agree to receive news, offers and updates on RallySport Magazine. If you do not wish to receive marketing communications, you can update your preferences in My Account.

We will commence charging your payment method after the 7 day free trial expires. If you cancel after expiry of your trial, cancellation will take effect from the end of your current monthly subscription period. You will not be refunded any fees paid to RallySport Magazine unless otherwise set out in the terms and conditions.

Show Your Support

Author

Title