Paddon learns from tough debut

New Zealand driver Hayden Paddon has admitted last week’s Rally Sweden was the toughest of his career - but the Kiwi is determined to take valuable lessons from his first time in the Skoda Fabia S2000.

Not only had Paddon never competed in a Super 2000, but rallying on snow was another first for him as well. Having dominated last year’s Production Car World Rally Championship and won the first four rounds, finishing a distant fourth in among the SWRC runners on Rally Sweden came as something of a shock.

“I think I did underestimate how difficult this event was going to be,” said Paddon. “I’d done very little testing before we came to shakedown and having no experience of what to do with the car in the snow and ice was really difficult.”

Paddon progressed well through the event, with his times improving as his first SWRC encounter of the season unfolded.

“I can take something from the way the times came down,” said Paddon, “but this was a tough event, there’s no getting away from that. I was trying to drive the car too much like a Group N car - I’ve been in them for so long! Once I’d figured out how aggressive I had to be with the car to get it turned in, then we started to get somewhere.

“My next event will be the Rally of Portugal at the end of next month. Before then we’ve got some testing on gravel planned, which is going to really help me before I’m back out in the car. The Fabia S2000 was a fantastic car to drive and once I’ve had more time in it, I’m sure I’ll be able to get the best out of it. The important thing is that we’ve come away from here with fourth-placed points.”