WRC – Hyundai Motorsport holds a provisional podium in Rally Australia as Hayden Paddon

Hyundai Motorsport is chasing a podium finish in Rally Australia, the final round of the 2018 FIA World Rally Championship (WRC), after Hayden Paddon moved into the top-three overall on the penultimate day of the season finale.

The Kiwi, who finished third in the same event last season, scored two stages wins on Saturday to keep in touch with the front-runners on familiar roads that included sections of the famous Nambucca stage, run in reverse.

Following his Friday woes, Thierry Neuville had the notable disadvantage of being second on the road on the second day. The Belgian had to try to minimise the time loss as he made his own lines through the dusty Australian stages. He ended the day eighth overall, two places behind current championship leader Sébastien Ogier, with both drivers significantly down on rally leader Ott Tanak.

Andreas Mikkelsen put his opening day retirement behind him, as he re-joined under Rally 2 regulations on Saturday. The Norwegian was regularly inside the top-four on the stages as he targeted a more representative performance in his Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC.

Saturday’s itinerary included five separate stages each run twice. The loop of Argents Hill Reverse (13.13km), Welshs Creek Reverse (28.83km), Urunga (21.28km) and Raleigh (1.99km) was run twice, separated by a lunchtime service. Two runs through the Destination NSW super special brought proceedings to a conclusion with 84km of action still to be contested on Sunday.

Crew Notes: Paddon / Marshall (#6 Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC)

• Two stage wins (SS9 and SS13 – Argents Hill Reverse)
• Crew holds strong third place, 26.3 seconds behind leader Tanak

Paddon said: “It has been nice to get back onto some of my favourite stages of the year. I have really enjoyed myself out there. There’s still more pace to be found, but we set ourselves the minimum target of a podium and we’re looking in good shape for that so far. The weather might still have a role to play tomorrow so we have to keep pushing. I’ve had a great feeling from inside the car and started to really get into the groove. Winning the repeat of the Argents Hill stage was probably the most fun I’ve had in a rally car all year. We now have one final day to see what more we can do – it’s still pretty close up top.”

Crew Notes: Neuville/Gilsoul (#5 Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC)

• Second on the road made for a tricky Saturday for the Belgians
• Holding out for some luck on final morning in drivers’ title chase

Neuville said: “Starting from second on the road here in Australia, you know it’s going to be tough. We had to try and give it everything, to minimise the time loss but there’s only so much you can do. Despite the slippery conditions, I really enjoyed the stages and we had a reasonable run all things considered. There was a small moment towards the end of the morning loop when we broke the rear wishbone after clipping a bank, but we were able to fix that. We have had no choice but to keep pushing, focusing on our driving and have an eye on what’s happening in front in case anyone encounters any trouble. It’s a frustrating situation but it’s not over until it’s over.”

Crew Notes: Mikkelsen/Jæger (#4 Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC)

• Competitive recovery after unfortunate Friday retirement
• Three top-three stage times for the Norwegians on Saturday

Mikkelsen said: “Today we’ve been able to enjoy ourselves very much. It is always a pleasure to drive these beautiful Australian stages. Unfortunately, we are no longer fighting for a podium but we’ve tried to get into a good rhythm nonetheless. We haven’t been taking those final risks, which enable you to compete for stage wins but I’ve been happy with our pace and performance in the i20 Coupe WRC today.”

One last chance

Team Principal Michel Nandan commented: “The issues we encountered on Friday means we aren’t as in control of our own destiny this weekend as we would have liked to be. It’s not in our nature to be defeatist so we have to remain upbeat and hopeful that things can still work in our favour, despite the obvious uphill struggle we have in front of us. Hayden has had another very competitive day and looks in a promising podium position in third. He is not too far from the leaders and I’m sure he’ll be pushing to close that gap even more on Sunday. For Thierry, it was a case of patience and perseverance. While, for Andreas, it was a stronger Saturday with some encouraging stage times. We have an important final day ahead of us. One thing is for certain, after such a competitively fought season, whoever takes the titles will be worthy winners.”

Sunday at a glance

• The final day of the 2018 WRC season offers one of the longest Sunday schedules of the year
• Six stages run over a competitive distance of 83.96km
• A loop of three stages – Coramba (15.55km), Sapphire (19.27km) and Wedding Bells (7.16km)  – will be run twice with the second run through Wedding Bells acting as the Power Stage.

Classification after Day Two  

Press release Hyundai Motorsport