It seemed to take an eternity from the initial driver announcement until Rally Sardegna, but it's now history. Hayden Paddon and John Kennard have taken their first steps at the highest level of the World Rally Championship as members of the Hyundai World Rally Team.
Sardegna was the first of six events the Kiwi pairing will undertake for the fledgeling Korean outfit in 2014, as part of a three car assault on the Italian stages. Teammates Thierry Neuville and Juho Hanninen, with their greater experience on the stages and more recent seat time, were expected to outperform Paddon and duly did. But it was the Kiwi newcomers who finished the event in the highest position of the three entries.
The event wasn't a particularly successful one for the Korean manufacturer despite some very quick times from both Neuville and Hanninen clearly demonstrating the new car's rally potential. And although Paddon and Kennard had never done the event before, their stage times continually improved with the passing kilometers, showing promising signs for the future.
Unfortunately lead driver Neuville suffered a suspension failure on the second full day that effictively destroyed any chance of a decent finish, and required a Rally 2 restart. And after delivering some scorching times, Hanninen made a driver error that saw him crash out of the rally entirely.
Paddon responded to Neuville's stoppage by stopping himself in order to provide assistance. Having been alerted to problems by the stricken i20's SOS board, it transpired that it had been displayed in error by a stage marshall. Fortunately for the crew, the event stewards later gave the Kiwis an assessed time for the stage, allowing them to claw back the couple of minutes that they'd spent helping their teammates.
But their woes weren't over as their i20 developed a misfire during a water splash and dropped to three cylinders. The team bosses gave Paddon the order to park up in order to avoid potential engine damage and the Kiwis' event was over for the day. However, they restarted the final day under Rally 2 following a thorough check and repair by the team's mechanics.
Paddon and Kennard finished a creditable 12th overall, considering that they'd had a ten minute penalty applied as Rally 2 regulations require, and without it, Paddon's times could well have put him in 7th place for the event. So there was much to be upbeat about, and team principal Nandan noted that there was a great deal of important data from the two finishing i20s to help rally development of the marque.
For Hayden and John, the event helped clarify the strengths and weaknesses of their own performances as well as the i20's. At some level, there was bound to be some disappointment in not being further up the ladder, but this is Hyundai's development year and needless risk-taking is not conducive to that end goal. So any slight disappointment will be tempered with the benefits accrued from completing more kms, and the commitment to do better on the next event, Poland, where everybody will compete on a much more level playing field.
I predict that Hayden and John will shine there, and a Hyundai i20 WRC will be on the podium. Roll on Rally Poland and all the best to the Kiwis.
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