New Zealand's Hayden Paddon is in first place at the end of the penultimate day the WRC's Rally Argentina.
The Hyundai driver won the day's first two stages to climb to second and a win in the fifth stage pushed him into top spot. Paddon will start the final day 29.8 seconds ahead of second placed Frenchman Sebastian Ogier. The 29-year-old had three first, a third and two fourth place finishes in the six stages raced today. If Paddon holds on to his lead, he'll become the first New Zealander to win a WRC Rally.
Tomorrow's final leg of Rally Argentina comprises 55.28 competitive kilometres broken into three stages, including two runs in the famed El Condor stage with its moonlike landscape among the rock-strewn roads of the Traslasierra mountains.The sunshine from earlier in the weekend is due to give way to rain and much cooler temperatures, so the final day could yet spring surprises.
I've written before about Hayden Paddon, he is one very talented Rallycar driver. He can beat the best of them driving a Hyundai, give him a real car and mechanics / service team and he will lay waste to everyone in the sport & become World Champion.
The WRC Thread...
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Agent 86
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The WRC Thread...
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Agent 86
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Re: The WRC Thread...
Hayden Paddon kept world champion Sebastien Ogier at bay to win the Rally of Argentina on Sunday for his first world rally championship success.
The Hyundai driver, tipped as a future world champion, inherited a handsome lead after Jari-Matti Latvala crashed out in his VW Polo on Saturday.
And he held his nerve over the three closing stages although he had a scare on the fourth day's opener when he lost time to Ogier after a gearbox change.He took fourth in that stage 16 and then third in the next special won by Ogier, also in a VW Polo, who had started the day half a minute behind but was now bang in the hunt only 2.6sec shy of the New Zealander.
Cheered on by 65,000 roadside fans the 29-year-old Paddon kept his cool to clock the quickest time in the concluding power stage in El Condor to win his first WRC rally by 14sec, and the first by a New Zealander in WRC's 43-year history.
On being told he'd won he celebrated by jumping onto the roof of his car and saying: "I don't believe it, I didn't think we could do it."
Overall leader Ogier said the New Zealander's panache had delivered him a deserved win.
The Hyundai driver, tipped as a future world champion, inherited a handsome lead after Jari-Matti Latvala crashed out in his VW Polo on Saturday.
And he held his nerve over the three closing stages although he had a scare on the fourth day's opener when he lost time to Ogier after a gearbox change.He took fourth in that stage 16 and then third in the next special won by Ogier, also in a VW Polo, who had started the day half a minute behind but was now bang in the hunt only 2.6sec shy of the New Zealander.
Cheered on by 65,000 roadside fans the 29-year-old Paddon kept his cool to clock the quickest time in the concluding power stage in El Condor to win his first WRC rally by 14sec, and the first by a New Zealander in WRC's 43-year history.
On being told he'd won he celebrated by jumping onto the roof of his car and saying: "I don't believe it, I didn't think we could do it."
Overall leader Ogier said the New Zealander's panache had delivered him a deserved win.
[font=Goudy Stout]The Unicorn 2016 World Matchplay Prediction Game Champion[/font]