Motorsport: Ogier heads for a third WRC title

There will be a large Kiwi following for Hayden Paddon at Coffs Harbour.

Hayden Paddon and co-driver John Kennard handed keys to number one South Korean team car.

Two-time world rally champion Sebastien Ogier can sit among the rallying greats if he can nail the Coates Hire Rally Australia WRC round this weekend.

If he holds the winner's trophy aloft tomorrow night he'll have won three consecutive world titles.

By winning he'll join Sebastien Loeb (nine), Juha Kankkunen (four) and Tommi Makinen (four) as the only drivers to have three or more WRC championships.

Ogier has a 93-point lead over fellow Volkswagen pilot Jari-Matti Latvala with Andreas Mikkelsen a further 16 points back.

All local eyes, though, will be on New Zealander Hayden Paddon and co-driver John Kennard who have a very large contingent of Kiwis who made the trip to Coffs Harbour to support the pair.

Despite being in only their second year in the top WRC class, the Hyundai Motorsport pairing sit 10th in the championship race and have already been on the podium in Italy.

The Australian stop on the tour is like his home event and Paddon is keen to finish inside the top three.

Such is he regarded by the South Korean manufacturer that they have handed him the keys to the No 1 team car, the #8 Hyundai i20 WRC rally car as regular driver Dani Sordo has not made the trip.

"The cars are exactly the same. The only difference is the number on it," said Paddon.

"The car spec, setup and personal tweaks are all the same as the No 20 car.

"There's a bit of pressure on [me], but I'm happy the team has confidence in me getting into the points. We'll be targeting a podium, but it's going to be tough."

The swap in cars comes as a result of Hyundai being desperate to consolidate their second place in the manufacturer's championship.

Paddon's recent run of success, bar his retirement in Finland, prompted team boss Michael Nandan to put Paddon alongside Thierry Neuville and co-driver Nicolas Gilsoul. Paddon and Kennard finished sixth last year in Australia and are comfortable at the event.

He likes the roads and will be pushing hard to set times at least as good as his competitors, if not better. He has been a revelation in recent events and now has five stage wins to his name.

"We've had a good lead in to the race and the car feels good," he said before the start of the race. "It's good to get back into the groove of gravel after Germany [all-tarmac rally]. I feel a lot more comfortable on gravel and it's like being back home.

"It's a bit easier for us and feels more natural.

"It's just a matter of getting into the right groove early in the rally and setting some good times.

"The rally is pretty much the same as last year and we can use the majority of our notes from last year, and the roads are in pretty good condition," the New Zealander said.

Paddon and Kennard are among 11 WRC crews competing in Australia. The drivers completed eight yesterday and today they have four stages including two runs of the 50km Nambucca, the longest stage of the event.

The event ends with four more stages tomorrow.