It’s been three long months out of the World Rally Championship (WRC) but Hayden Paddon is still pushing for a podium finish in Portugal.The Kiwi rally ace will be back behind the wheel of the Hyundai i20 Coupe for just the second time – under race conditions – in 2018 when he contests Rally de Portugal this weekend.
Portugal is just Paddon’s second WRC round of an abbreviated campaign that has him sharing a car in 2018 and only contesting seven of the 13 rounds.
“It’s been a long time away, a long wait,” Paddon said from Portugal.Paddon and Marshall have an obvious disadvantage of not competing together or at the WRC level in three months but Paddon is quietly confident of a strong showing on the gravel roads in Portugal.
“All the events we’re doing this year are reasonably strong events for us so naturally the target has to be on podiums at each and every rally,” he said.
“We had good speed here last year, probably more than we anticipated,” Paddon said.
“It gives us a bit of confidence especially with all the stages being the same this year.
“All the pieces of the puzzle are there we just need them all to come together.”
His best result in Portugal is his eighth back in 2015 but Paddon knows a podium finish would make a timely statement.
Every WRC event in 2018 is a chance for Paddon, who is off contract with Hyundai Motorsport at the end of the season, to market himself for a full-time drive next season.
But Paddon, 31, acknowledges stepping onto the podium will not be easy.
“You’ve got to be on your game from the first stage right through to the last.
“You’re talking 14 drivers across the four teams who are all capable of being on the podium so there’s no room for error. You need to be fast but you need to be consistently fast throughout the whole rally with no mistakes,” Paddon said.
Rally de Portugal is made up of 20 special stages that cover 358km and is almost identical to the 2017 edition.
Paddon and Marshall recently completed two days of testing in Sardinia, Italy in the i20 Coupe.
The time was used to readjust to the WRC car and make some setup changes and Paddon enthusiastically described the two days as a success.
Paddon, who until this year has been based in Europe for around six years, said spending three months in New Zealand has been refreshing.
He filled in the three-month gap by dominating Rally Otago and the International Rally of Whangarei.
He won all 17 special stages at Otago and was unbeaten through 18 stages in Whangarei in his Hyundai i20 AP4+.
Paddon said his focus was on personal targets over results but feels both were achieved.
Rally de Portugal begins with a shakedown on Thursday morning (Friday NZT) and a special stage later in the day.
Meanwhile, the Kiwi pairing of Dave Holder and Jason Farmer will also be in action in the FIA Junior World Rally Championship in Portugal.
Source: Stuff NZ