RALLY NEWS: Paddon fills his calendar
Hyundai driver Hayden Paddon has only been given 7 WRC rounds for the 2018 season, sharing the 3rd i20 with Dani Sordo. As such he has now decided to participate in 5 national rallies in his home country of New Zealand.
"I'm not going to pretend I don't want to be doing the whole championship. Of course I do, that's what every driver wants. But that's not happening this year, so I have to accept it and make the best out of every opportunity I get. What's really important is that I get seat time and I'm out driving in the gaps between rounds of the world championship."
Paddon wil use an AP4+ version of the i20 in New Zealand (the Asia Pacific version of the R5).
"That'll help keep me sharp. It's not ideal, but it's driving and that's what I need. I'm scheduled for a day of testing before each WRC round, so it's vital to stay sharp."
Hayden will have be away from WRC for all of three months, between Sweden (February( and Portugal (May). Not exactly ideal, but Paddon makes the best of it.
"On the positive side, I should have a good road position when it comes to Portugal, so we'll have to make the most of that."
After that Portugal, Paddon will be in Italy, Finland, Turkey, GB and Australia.
Sordo will be at Monte Carlo, Mexico, Corsica, Argentina, Germany, Spain and Portugal, Portugal being the only round where Hyundai enters all 4 drivers.
According to Hyundai team principal Michel Nandan, the team let Paddon and Sordo divide the rounds between themselves.
"When you have a driver like Dani, if you want a big chance for the manufacturers' championship, we know it's better to have him on the Tarmac rallies. After that, as much as we could, we let them do the events they wanted."
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