Motorsport: Paddon finishes season with fifth placing

Hayden Paddon in action during WRC Wales. Photo / Vettas Media

Kiwi driver Hayden Paddon has finished his 2015 World Rally Championship season with another strong fifth place -- his sixth of the season with co-driver John Kennard -- in a typically wet and muddy Wales Rally GB.

Following gale force winds and persistent rain overnight, Paddon and Kennard started the final Sunday leg of four stages in sixth position overall.

Setting two fourth-quickest and one third-quickest stage times, and with the demise of Ott Tanak, they stepped up another rung on the leaderboard to fifth.

"A top five result here is what we were aiming for before the rally," says Paddon.

"Okay, we didn't probably get it the way we wanted to. We lacked a bit of speed and confidence, but as the weekend progressed we were able to pick things up. Today we finished on a high, we were able to keep the challenge of the local boy [Elfyn Evans] behind us and pick up a place as well."

Driving in the Hyundai Shell World Rally Team with team-mate Dani Sordo, Paddon and Sordo - who finished fourth - gave everything they had in a bid to chase second place in the WRC manufacturers' championship.

Ultimately, the result was not quite enough to overhaul the Citroen World Rally Team for the runner-up spot -- a positionHyundai Motorsport held earlier in the season -- as the team ended the season six points adrift in third place.

"We knew heading into this final day that it would be difficult to take second place off Citroen and so it proved to be," Paddon said. "I think we can be satisfied to have finished the season on a charge."

Paddon now returns to New Zealand briefly to co-judge the Red Bull Trolley Grand Prix in Auckland before returning to Europe for more testing with the team in their new generation i20 WRC car.

"All in all, it's been an amazing year. To finish half of the rallies this year in the top five is much more than we ever expected.

"We are always learning and still trying to improve. With the new car and full season ahead next year, we've got high expectations that we can even be challenging for rally wins.