Tough test for Kiwi rally ace and his car

Hayden Paddon and co-driver John Kennard were dogged by car problems during their last outing, in Mexico, but believe they're in better shape for Argentina. Photo / Vetta Media

Paddon back in Argentina after four years and facing a course that’s going to be very hard on competitors

Kiwi rally driver Hayden Paddon is thundering around the gravel roads of Argentina this weekend in round four of the World Rally Championship series.

He missed the opening round, but has been confirmed for the rest of the series as a works driver for Hyundai Motorsport in an i20 WRC car.

The event has a reputation as probably the toughest rally on the race calendar and this year it's harder and meaner. Torrential rain and floods in February devastated the region, washing away the sand and gravel that usually cover the roads the rally is held on.

The result is tracks covered with exposed rocks and sharp stones. Organisers have tried to repair the damage but drivers will have to contend with bedrock, washouts, holes and sudden dips.

The Argentina rally is technical at the best of times, but this weekend it will be a huge challenge for drivers and cars.

"The roads are in a pretty bad state and the roughest I've seen," said Paddon.

"Some sections look incredible tough and could be regarded as 4WD tracks. They are going to be really hard on the cars and it's going be a case of trying to find a balance between setting good stage times and guiding the car through the stages without breaking it.

"We're aiming for consistency, but we won't really know how things will unfold until we get into the rally and see what pace the leaders are doing.

"But we have our own plan and we'll be sticking to that. It'll be a car wrecker that's for sure."

Paddon and co-driver John Kennard's last outing was in Rally Mexico at the beginning of March. It wasn't the best of events for the pair as they struggled with the car's set-up.

During the break the team made some changes to the i20 and Paddon is now much happier with it, especially after some testing done in Portugal.

"We know in testing we're just as fast as our teammates," he said. "It's just taking a bit of time to translate that into the rallies themselves, but it'll happen. It's been a while since we were last here [2011] but the rally is all new, so it's the same for everyone. You're not too much in the dark, as we know what the roads are like.

"Testing in Portugal went really well and we changed a lot of things on the car and have a few new parts. We don't have all the new parts but enough to make a difference.

"This rally will not be about speed, more about taking care of the car. One thing that will be a challenge is that there are not many stages, but they are very long.

"There are no in-car split times so it's going to be hard to judge speed.

"We're going to forget about everyone else and concentrate on ourselves. I reckon if we can avoid any problems we'll have a good result."

The route used in Argentina is quite different from the majority of the other WRC events.

There are only 12 stages in total and yesterday and today are taken up by two very long repeated runs.

Tomorrow there are another two stages over the famous El Condor test.

WRC points - After three rounds
1. Sebastien Ogier 81
2. Andreas Mikkelsen 47
3. Thiery Neuville 35
4. Mads Ostberg 32
5. Elfyn Evans 26
6. Jari-Matti Latvala 19
7. Dani Sordo 18
10. Hayden Paddon 10