Pictures courtesy Red Bull Content Pool
For once Volkswagen had to eat the humble pie as Hayden Paddon driving his Hyundai i20 scored his first WRC victory at YPF Rally Argentina on the afternoon of April 24, 2016 after fighting off world champion Sébastien Ogier (Volkswagen) in a nail biting finish on the last day.
The pair was separated by just 2.6sec ahead of the final legendary El Condor speed test, but Paddon stunned the Frenchman to hurtle down the rock-strewn mountain almost 12sec faster and secure a 14.3sec winning margin in his Hyundai i20.
Paddon became the first New Zealand driver to win a WRC round in the championship’s 43-year history and in the process played spoil sport to Volkswagen’s ambitions of securing an unprecedented 13 consecutive victories.
Paddon who celebrated his 29th birthday a day before the start of the rally, said, “I can’t believe it, I really didn’t think I stood a chance before the last stage after losing time to Ogier this morning. ” “I gave that last stage everything I had. Tight and twisty roads like El Condor aren’t my strength but I drove the stage of my life,” he added.
According to a WRC press release, Paddon started the final leg with a 29.8sec advantage after taking the lead the previous day when Jari-Matti Latvala crashed. Gear change glitches cost valuable seconds in the opening speed test before Ogier threw caution to the wind in the penultimate stage, eating into Paddon’s lead to set up a dramatic ending.
“The last stage was incredibly rough,” said Volkswagen Polo R driver Ogier, adding that “I had a clean drive but I didn’t dare take the maximum risk because there were big ruts. Well done to him, he did a great job on the last stage.” Ogier was almost 12 seconds slower than Paddon through El Condor
Team-mate Andreas Mikkelsen completed the podium a further 50.9sec behind after surviving a spin in the foggy first pass through El Condor on the morning of the final day. However, he dropped out of the top three in the championship standings as Paddon vaulted into second. Dani Sordo finished 11.9sec further back in fourth in another i20 with Mads Østberg a distant fifth in a Ford Fiesta RS, despite going off the road this morning following a pace note mix-up.
The top six in the four-day rally, which covered 364.68km of rough road competition near Villa Carlos Paz, was completed by Thierry Neuville, who recovered well after losing several minutes on Friday with a faulty fuel connection.
Argentina’s Marcos Ligato delighted home fans by finishing seventh in a DS 3 while Eric Camilli’s patient approach secured eighth after a trouble free rally for the first time this season. Henning Solberg and WRC 2 winner Nicolas Fuchs completed the leader board.
The championship returns to Europe after consecutive rounds in the Americas when Matosinhos hosts Vodafone Rally de Portugal (May 19 - 22).
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