After the disappointment of Paddon and others testing positive for Covid at Rally Estonia last month, the team has been working hard to get the Hyundai i20 N Rally2 car ready for its second WRC2 event, in Finland.
In Estonia, already feeling ill, Paddon was able to complete the first morning of competition, so the anticipated mileage behind the wheel of the new car was cut short.
Now recovered and based in Finland before the rally, the team arranged the use of a road to complete a test of about 50km on the last weekend of July to help with data collection with the new car.
Paddon said the Kiwis tried various set-ups and, by the end of the day, he felt a lot more comfortable behind the wheel.
He and co-driver John Kennard aim to have a consistent pace throughout the weekend to get to the finish and maximise the opportunity to gain performance data for future improvements with the car.
"Our efforts in developing the Rally2 car are good not only for Rally Finland, but also looking ahead towards Rally New Zealand in late September," Paddon said.
"We’d love to target a WRC2 podium here but we’re under no illusions how difficult that will be. Not only are we still working on the feeling with the car, but the local competitors are very fast.
"I’m looking forward to rallying in Finland again. It’s always been one of my favourite European events — fast, flowing roads and the jumps, pretty much a gravel rollercoaster.
Rally Finland starts tonight (NZ time) with a mixed-surface street stage in the centre of host city Jyvaskyla, about 270km north of Helsinki.
Tomorrow, there are four special stages in the forests northeast of the city, while Saturday’s action features 150km of action. The rally finishes on Sunday with two stages that feature the event’s signature jumps.
