New Zealand’s top rally drivers Hayden Paddon and John Kennard hold a strong seventh position in their Hyundai i20 WRC rally car after the first two days of the FIA World Rally Championship round in Portugal.
With just three special stages to be completed on Sunday (European time), the Kiwis are in a three-way battle with Citroën driver Mads Ostberg to try and take sixth place from Paddon’s Hyundai Motorsport team-mate Dani Sordo.
“We’re still in the fight. Dani is 10 seconds ahead of us and Mads is only four seconds behind so there’ll be a good three-way fight tomorrow and I think we’re up to the task,” said Paddon after Saturday’s six special stages. “We can step up another level and try and defend the position.”
Paddon set one fifth-quickest and a string of sixth-fastest stage times as Saturday’s competition took them east of host city Matosinhos, north of Porto, onto the higher altitude roads in the Serra do Marão mountains where tyre choice once again proved a decisive factor in performance for all competitors.
“It’s been a good day,” Paddon said of Saturday where he and Kennard started the day in eighth position overall, 40 seconds off the rally leader Jari-Matti Latvala. “We were able to close the gap to the guys in front of us on the morning loop. We had to play some tyre tactics which worked well on the first two, but lost out a little bit on the last stage of the loop. But this afternoon it was a lot easier for tyres, there was really only one decision and we were able to climb up to very close to sixth place. The times were quite good. And there’s a lot more to come from myself and the car so that’s quite promising.”
However a rock on Saturday’s final stage stymied the Kiwis’ goal of sixth place overall. “Unfortunately in the last stage, we hit a rock in the driving line which did some damage to the car. We lost anywhere from 20-30 seconds and that left us in seventh.”
Following Friday’s positive showing, where Paddon and Kennard set the second fastest time on stage four, Paddon said: “It’s been an encouraging day overall and I am reasonably satisfied with our level of competitiveness. This is a new look rally for everyone, which is something of a leveller, but it has put a lot of emphasis on tyre management.”
Feeling positive with the potential for further speed from both his driving and his car, Paddon said: “We’ve been able to hold our own against the guys in front of us and keep it steady. There’s a pretty close fight between fifth and eighth, and we’re still amongst it. We have three final stages tomorrow to bring the car home as strongly as we can.”
Sunday’s leg to conclude the 2015 running of Vodafone Rally de Portugal focuses on the double run through the crowd-favourite Fafe stage sandwiched around one of the event’s longest stages, the 32.35 km Vieira do Minho.
Paddon and the HPRG team appreciates the support of their exclusive partners, Hyundai New Zealand, PlaceMakers and Pak n’ Save, along with associate support from Z Energy, Scott Sports, New Balance New Zealand and All About Signs Timaru.
