Paddon: "We had a job to do and we’ve done it"

Hayden Paddon says that his top two finish at Rally Paraguay feels like a win for him and believes that he did the job that was asked for despite the hard work he did before the start of that event.

The Kiwi signed a deal with Hyundai for the 2026 WRC season which included his participation at the tarmac rallies of the season. However, the Alzenau-based team gave him another chance with the third i20N Rally1 as they announced him for Rally Paraguay which is a gravel event. This was Paddon's first time competing in Paraguay and in a gravel event with the Hyundai Rally1 car. He managed to lead the rally after the end of Friday morning, but he slipped behind Elfyn Evans after the end of Stage 6. He kept his second place despite Evans's puncture in Stage 7 as Sami Pajari became the new rally leader after that stage. In general, he made a conservative appearance as he won only one stage and was managing his gap from the third Evans. Moreover, it must be mentioned that he was ahead of his teammate Adrien Fourmaux for 0,5 seconds at second place after Stage 2 while he got a rear left puncture on the final kilometers of SS7. Last but not least, he lost some seconds in Stage 10, as there was a false puncture alarm at the second corner of SS10, and moved up to eighth position overall with 38 points on the championship meaning that he is ahead of Esapekka Lappi and Dani Sordo who also are competing with the third car of Hyundai Motorsport.

"This feels like a win after the journey we have been on", Paddon said. 

"While circumstances may have helped us achieve a podium in Croatia, it feels like we can really celebrate this one. 

"People had problems this weekend, but we also had issues, and since day one we’ve been managing the gap. 

"There is certainly more speed in there, but we had a job to do this weekend, and we’ve done it. 

"I knew it would be tough, and I surprised myself with how we adjusted to it. 

"We knew this was an important rally for the team, which is why we did so much preparation to make the best of this opportunity".

Photo Credits: Hyundai