Rallying: Paddon holds Ogier out for historic victory

Hayden Paddon (left) and John Kennard became the first New Zealanders to win a round of the FIA...
Hayden Paddon (left) and John Kennard became the first New Zealanders to win a round of the FIA World Rally Championship, in Argentina, yesterday. PHOTO: TIMO ANIS
Kiwi rally drivers Hayden Paddon and John Kennard made history with victory in Rally Argentina yesterday as the first New Zealanders to win a round of the FIA World Rally Championship.

Paddon (29) delivered the drive of his life on the last challenge of the rally - the mountainous, rock-strewn El Condor special stage - to wrench victory from three-time WRC champion Sebastien Ogier.

Paddon, originally from Geraldine, now holds second place in the WRC drivers' championship with 57 points to Ogier's 96 - the highest championship position for a Kiwi rally driver.

Paddon and Kennard (55), from Blenheim, started yesterday's final three-stage leg in the lead with a margin of 29.8sec over Ogier.

During the first fog-affected run through El Condor, Ogier took 7.4sec out of Paddon's lead as the Kiwi lost precious time with a gear-change issue.

On special stage 17 Ogier made a blistering run which cut Paddon's lead to a mere 2.6sec with just the final power stage to go.

But Paddon, in his new-generation Hyundai 120 WRC car, withstood the Frenchman's challenge to secure not only his first power stage win, but also his debut WRC rally win.

‘‘It's an amazing feeling, to win like this, on the last stage where the odds were a little bit against us,'' Paddon said at the rally finish.

‘‘We lost a lot of time in the previous stage and just over two seconds margin going into that last one. I didn't have a lot of confidence, but we just pushed like hell.

‘‘We've worked a lot on that stage in the three weeks before the rally because I've not been particularly strong on the tight and twisty stages. It's a fantastic result for me, John and the whole team.

A ‘‘huge amount'' of work had gone into the car, which was having just its fourth outing.

‘‘I knew from the first test that we could win with it. I just didn't quite expect it to be so soon.''

Paddon won five stages, bringing his total WRC stage victories to 15.

He is the second driver from the southern hemisphere to win a WRC round after Argentina's Jorge Recalde, who won his home rally in a Lancia in 1988 and in again in a drivers-only round in 1995. The victory gives

Hyundai Motorsport its first win at a gravel event.

Paddon's team-mate, Thierry Neuville, delivered the only other WRC win for Hyundai, on the German tarmac in 2014.

All three Hyundai Motorsport crews finished in the top six.

Dani Sordo was fourth overall and second to Paddon in the points-earning power stage, to equal his best result of the season. Neuville was sixth.

‘‘This is a rally weekend that we will never forget,'' team principal Michel Nanden said.

‘‘We've worked so hard on this car so to see the fruit of our work is very special.''

Before the next WRC round in Portugal next month, Paddon and Kennard will return home to compete in the International Rally of Whangarei (April 29-May 1) in the New Zealand-built Hyundai i20 car in which they secured a record-breaking win at Rally Otago earlier this month.

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