Support from his fans has helped Kiwi star Hayden Paddon through a ''tough'' couple of weeks after a spectator died following Paddon's collision with a bank in last month's Monte Carlo rally.
Paddon and co-driver John Kennard pulled out of the World Rally Championship's (WRC) opening round after losing control of the new 2017-spec Hyundai i20 Coupe world rally car and hitting a bank. The impact caused the spectator to tumble down the bank. He later died.
The victim was reported to be a 50-year-old Spanish man, but it appears his name has not been released.
This week, Paddon and Kennard will be back in the car and competing in Rally Sweden in memory of the spectator, which he said ''gives us extra motivation this week to perform and we will be giving it our best shot''.
''I won't lie. I can say the last couple of weeks have been tough. But the overwhelming amount of support and messages has been humbling and I thank you all - it's been a big help,'' Paddon wrote in his newsletter this week.
The WRC's only true winter rally, the 18-stage Rally Sweden, which begins today and ends on Sunday is one of Paddon's favourites.
''I enjoy the conditions in Sweden and the fast nature of the stages which take us across the border into Norway. Last year, we were able to be competitive there.''
Paddon and Kennard secured a history-making second place at the 2016 Rally Sweden. Paddon became the first non-European driver to finish on the podium on the snow rally and was one of only seven non-Scandinavian drivers to finish second in Sweden's WRC event.
''It's a good rally for us to build the confidence back and the goal is to get back to basics by enjoying the driving again,'' he added.
Paddon had a test last week in Sweden, which was the first time he had driven the new Hyundai in proper snow conditions with narrow, studded tyres. Despite Sweden being a snow event it is one of the fastest events on the calendar.
''It's vital to have absolute confidence in both the pace notes and the studded tyres. Maybe even more so this year as almost two-thirds of the stages are new to us,'' Paddon said.
