A little bit sideways Rallying in New Zealand, where we like to get A Little Bit Sideways! Up to date Rally News from teams around the country together with event reports.
Hayden Paddon, with co-driver John Kennard, secured fifth place in ADAC Rallye Deutschland to achieve his pre-event goal, but says there’s a lot more to come.
“Obviously to be in the top five is what our goal was going into the rally and it’s a good bank of points, but probably we didn’t achieve it in the way that we wanted to,” said Paddon following the final three of what was meant to be four stages on Sunday (CEST) after organisers had to cancel the penultimate stage due to spectators not staying in the designated areas.
Paddon and Kennard completed Sunday’s special stages with three top six times to secure their third fifth place finish of the 2016 FIA World Championship. Paddon said the stages were generally okay as he tried to work on driving techniques to learn for the upcoming tarmac events in Corsica and Spain.
“Of course we know we have a lot to improve on tarmac especially when the conditions are wet and a bit more changeable [like they have been this weekend in Germany]. This is a time thing; we just need more time on the surface to build up the confidence.
“I think come Corsica, we can be much stronger than what we are here. We know the key areas where we struggled here and these types of stages we don’t get in Corsica.
“We’ve got a lot to look forward to and we’re going to work really hard. I think we can build on this and mount a much stronger challenge up the front.”
Paddon’s fifth place finish moves him into third in the WRC drivers’ championship on 94 points, equal with team-mate Thierry Neuville. Co-driver John Kennard is in the same position on the WRC co-drivers’ championship table, equal with Neuville’s co-driver Nicolas Gilsoul.
“To be back third [equal] in the championship is certainly a good place. We’d like to try and hang on to that for the rest of the year, but it’s going to be a big fight between about four of us, so it’s going to be an exciting last 3-4 rallies of the season.”
With Rally China, which should have been an early September event, cancelled due to flood damage of the rally route, the WRC takes an unexpected break until the Tour de Corse, aka the ‘rally of 10,000 corners’ on the French island of Corsica. Paddon and Kennard finished fifth there on debut in 2015.
Paddon and Hayden Paddon RallySport Global (HPRG) Ltd appreciates the support of their exclusive partners, Hyundai New Zealand, Pak’nSave and Z Energy and associate sponsors Scott Sports and All About Signs Timaru.
2016 FIA World Rally Championship Round 9, Rallye Deutschland
Overall Final Classification
1. S. Ogier / J. Ingrassia (Volkswagen Polo R WRC) 3:00:26.7
2. D. Sordo / M. Martí (Hyundai New Generation i20 WRC) +20.3
3. T. Neuville / N. Gilsoul (Hyundai New Generation i20 WRC) +20.4
4. A. Mikkelsen / A. Jaeger (Volkswagen Polo R WRC) +27.2
5. H. Paddon / J. Kennard (Hyundai New Generation i20 WRC) +3:34.8
6. M. Østberg / O. Floene (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) +4:31.2
7. E. Lappi / J. Ferm (Škoda Fabia R5) +8:36.8
8. P. Tidemand / J. Andersson (Škoda Fabia R5) +8:52.5
9. J. Kopecky / P. Dresler (Škoda Fabia R5) +9:44.2
10. A. Kremer / P. Winklhofer (Škoda Fabia R5) +10:10.6
2016 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers’ Standings
S. Ogier 169 points / A. Mikkelsen 110 / H. Paddon 94 / T. Neuville 94 / J. M. Latvala 89 / D. Sordo 86 / M. Østberg 78 / O. Tanak 52 / K. Meeke 51 / C. Breen 25 / E. Camilli 23 / H. Solberg 14 / S. Lefebvre 12 / E. Lappi 12 / M. Prokop 12 / T. Suninen 8 / M. Ligato 6 / E. Evans 6 / P. Tidemand 6 / L. Bertelli 4 / K. Abbring 4 / J. Kopecky 3 / N. Fuchs 2 / A. Kremer 2 / V. Gorban 1 / K. Kruuda 1
2016 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers’ Standings
Volkswagen Motorsport 256 points / Hyundai Motorsport 201 / M-Sport World Rally Team 122 / Volkswagen Motorsport II 121 / Hyundai Motorsport N 96 / DMACK World Rally Team 64 / Jipocar Czech National Team 18 / Yazeed Racing 4
All results remain subject to official FIA confirmation.
Hayden Paddon’s 2016 WRC schedule with Hyundai Motorsport
WRC Round 1: Monte Carlo, 21-24 January
WRC Round 2: Sweden, 11-14 February
WRC Round 3: Mexico, 3-6 March
WRC Round 4: Argentina, 21-24 April
WRC Round 5: Portugal, 19-22 May
WRC Round 6: Italy, 9-12 June
WRC Round 7: Poland, 1-3 July
WRC Round 8: Finland, 28-31 July
WRC Round 9: Germany, 18-21 August
WRC Round 10: France, 29 September – 2 October
WRC Round 11: Spain, 13-16 October
WRC Round 12: Great Britain, 27-30 October
WRC Round 13: Australia, 17-20 November
Media release by Kate Gordon-Smith/Relish Communications
