The Kiwi duo of Hayden Paddon and John Kennard are in good shape to realise the promise of their factory seats, by winning Rallye Sweden, round #2 of the WRC.
Enjoying their first outing in the Hyundai NGi20 WRC, the pair began their Swedish adventure with understandable caution given the low-speed incident that destroyed a wheel and any chance of doing well on the Monte Carlo Rally a couple of weeks ago.
Nevertheless, despite that setback and their unfamiliarity with the new car, the pairing set about getting to grips with the Scandanavian round, run in unusually warm and snow-deprived conditions. The lack of ice and snow on Friday's first three stages suited three-times world champ Sébastian Ogier well in his position as first on the road, the road surface degrading with each passing car, while Paddon, starting ninth, was forced to endure the slush from the eight previous drivers.
At the end of the morning loop then, Paddon found himself 45.7 seconds behind rally leader Ogier (also 21.5 seconds behind the "local" driver, second-placed Mikkelssen, and 9.4 seconds behind another "local", the fifth-placed Ostberg).
At this point, the fickle Scandanavian climate factored itself into the equation, and the afternoon loop was quite different. Snow had begun to fall and ambient temperatures dropped below zero, meaning that Ogier's road position advantage evaporated while Paddon's disadvantage did the same. Ogier was now sweeping the roads clear of snow, and each passing car contributed to further improving the grip for the following vehicles.
Paddon, and the driver immediately before him, Kris Meeke, saw benefits straight away and Meeke was fastest in the afternoon opener with Paddon only 5 seconds slower in second fastest. Meeke moved from 3rd into 2nd overall while Paddon climbed one place to 6th. Ogier, who admitted pushing hard, could do no better than 4th fastest although the Frenchman continued to hold the rally lead, 21 seconds in front of Kris.
SS8 saw Meeke's retirement caused by an impact with a hidden boulder, and Paddon took the stage win, 12.1 seconds faster than Ogier, 1.5 seconds quicker than Ostberg. In doing so, the New Zealand pairing also rocketed up the leader board from 6th to 2nd overall, 30.9 seconds behind the Frenchman.
By this time, having settled himself into the Hyundai's new rally weapon, Paddon's confidence was on the up and he showed just how much by scoring fastest time again on the final stage of the afternoon loop. This time, he beat the rally leader by 4 seconds, and topped Ostberg's effort by 6.7 seconds. Not too shabby considering the former's WRC Champion status and the latter's local knowledge and hugely greater experience with the Swedish conditions.
Hayden and John go into Saturday's leg holding just a tiny lead over the four drivers immediately behind him; Ostberg, Tanak, Sordo and Mikkelsen are all within 15.1 seconds of the Kiwis. Yet Paddon and co-driver Kennard have a real advantage as they tackle the second day. The weather forecast predicted an overnight snowfall of roughly 20cm, which would certainly make Ogier's job and that of the other front-runners more difficult as they clean the stages.
Paddon, on the other hand, should benefit from cleaner lines and as we saw on stages 7-9, the Kiwi was comfortable enough in the new car to make the most of the advantage offered. He took 18.8 seconds from Ogier in just three stages, 16.2 seconds from Ostberg on the same tests. It's certainly possible that Hayden could complete tomorrow's loop within striking distance of a podium top step.
He's been there before, of course, showing his class in Sardegna with a fine 2nd overall following an concerted battle with the World Champion and holding the rally lead for 15 special stages in the process. A momentary lapse and a spin eventually cost Paddon the lead, but he showed he has the guts as well as the talent to have earned that top step.
Without meaning to jinx the likeable Kiwi, maybe, just maybe, this will be his first WRC win. I'm so looking forward to Saturday's stages.
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