Hayden Paddon is having a busy day today as he competes in the longest stage of the Rally Italia Sardegna, but his Hyundai Motorsport car has a new gear shift system to make the job easier.
Hayden Paddon is having a busy day today as he competes in the longest stage of the Rally Italia Sardegna, but his Hyundai Motorsport car has a new gear shift system to make the job easier.
Motorsport classic will be hard work from start to finish for all the competitors but the NZ contingent have a chance of success.
The Grand Prix of Endurance and Efficiency, better known as the 24 Hours of Le Mans, starts early tomorrow morning, and four Kiwis are in the 56-car pack spread across three of the four categories.
Brendon Hartley and Earl Bamber are competing in sister LMP1 cars for the Porsche team, Mitch Evans is racing the Jota Sport LMP2 Gibson 015S car and Richie Stanaway is punting an Aston Martin Racing LMGTE Pro around the Circuit de la Sarthe for 24 hours.
With four Kiwis in the pack the odds are looking good for at least one of them to get on the podium, or even have a win.
Picking a winner in the world's oldest endurance race is a big ask as anything can happen in a 24-hour race and just getting to the end doesn't mean you're in with a chance of standing on the podium.
Everyone is racing at 100 per cent for the entire race, and all the planets have to be aligned, and a kind glance from Lady Luck is needed to get a win.
Leading the charge is the three-car Audi Sport Team, the defending champions, who have got their World Endurance Championship off to a flyer leading the series heading to Le Mans. Porsche are also fielding a three-car team this year and will be a real threat.
The German manufacturer returned to the LMP1 category last year for the first time in 16 years with an all-new, high-tech hybrid car that just fell short in the closing hours of the race.
This year, they have come better prepared with a year's racing under their belt and are breathing down Audi's neck in the WEC.
Reigning WEC champions Toyota are back again after coming close last year, and have been joined by fellow Japanese car builder Nissan in the big boy's class.
LMP2 defending champions Jota Sport are looking to grab another win in the hotly contested class. They'll have their work cut out as the Ligier-Nissan of G-Drive Racing (OAK) has started the year strong.
They've pick up wins at Silverstone and Spa-Francorchamps and the pace they showed during testing makes them look good for class honours.
Ferrari will defend their LMGTE Pro title with the same two-car line up as last year, under the AF Corse banner. Corvette Racing is having another go at the class title they won in 2011, and showed great pace last year.
Mitch Evans, who is racing the Jota Sport LMP2 Gibson 015S car, is one of four Kiwis trying for top honours at Le Mans.
Aston Martin has had an up-and-down season with a poor Silverstone followed by a win at Spa.
It's a mixed bag in the GTE Am category with the Dodge Viper taking on Ferrari, Porsche and Corvette and it's anyone's guess how that will pan out.
Meanwhile, next door in Italy, the World Rally Championship duo of Hayden Paddon and John Kennard are well into their work at Rally Italia Sardegna.
It was this time a year ago that the Kiwi pair made their debut as members of the Hyundai Motorsport team.
This time Paddon has a bunch of updates on the car, chief among them the same paddle shift setup as on his teammates Dani Sordo and Thierry Neuville's i20 WRCs.
Paddon has managed only about 60km using the new gear change system but has no qualms about going into battle with it.
