Paddon pulled away from his challengers during Saturday’s stages of the Rali Ceredigion. The New Zealander now holds a one-and-a-half-minute lead over Frenchman Mathieu Franceschi in this tarmac rally, with Franceschi being his main rival for the championship title this season.
Paddon was unable to complete the opening stage on Sunday morning at full speed, as the special stage was halted due to Chris Ingram’s crash. Ingram had been running in second place before his retirement.
In the second stage of the morning, Paddon clocked the second-fastest time, finishing 2.4 seconds behind Jon Armstrong’s stage-winning time. Franceschi posted exactly the same time as Paddon.
The former WRC star does not need to push hard on the remaining stages.
“We are taking it easy. It was a nice, smooth run,” Paddon commented at the finish of the Hafod special stage.
After the midday service, the same two stages will be repeated. The rally’s final stage, Hafod, will also serve as the Power Stage, offering extra points to the five fastest drivers.
A win and a strong performance on the Power Stage would bring Paddon close to securing a second consecutive European Championship title.
“I’m not even focusing on the championship. I’m focusing on getting as many points as I can,” Paddon said.
Italian driver Andrea Mabellini and Poland’s Mikolaj Marczyk are battling for third place in the rally. Mabellini currently holds the final podium position, but only by a narrow margin of 0.3 seconds over Marczyk.
Current standings after SS12/14 in the Rali Ceredigion:
| POS | Driver | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Hayden Paddon | Hyundai | 1:22:49.6 |
| 2. | Mathieu Franceschi | Skoda | +1:30.8 |
| 3. | Andreas Mabellini | Skoda | +1:39.2 |
| 4. | Mikolaj Marczyk | Skoda | +1:39.5 |
| 5. | Callum Devine | Skoda | +1:49.2 |
| 6. | Jon Armstrong | Ford | +1:56.3 |
