Motorsport: Paddon rallies for first international event lead

Kiwi rally driver Hayden Paddon is ready for Rally Argentina. Photo / @tWorld/Vettas Media

New Zealand driver Hayden Paddon stunned world champion Sebastien Ogier at the Rally of Italy yesterday when he opened up an eight-second lead.

The 28-year-old, Hyundai Motorsport's third driver, found himself in the lead of a world championship event for the first time. He had previously captured only one stage - on the Rally of Catalunya in 2014.

Yesterday, he ended up with three more, setting the fastest times on the opening three stages of the day.

The Kiwi enjoyed cleaner roads offered by a low start position to win Grighine Sud by 5.3 seconds, before outpacing the field by 11 seconds in Grighine Nord.

"It was an advantage," said Paddon, who overcame a problem with his car's left-rear suspension. "We were surprised by our speed in SS2 so we calmed down in the next one and didn't take big risks, just following the line.

"We hit a massive rock in SS2 that pitched us in the air and again in this one, so we were a bit lucky," he said.

Overnight rain left the gravel roads damper and cooler than expected and those who used soft tyres in their selection yesterday morning benefited. One of those was Paddon, who had two softs on the rear of his car.

"It will be a hard day [today] because my rivals know the course better than I do but I will count on my fighting spirit to help keep my lead," he said.

Ogier has won the past two races in Sardinia but admitted he would have his work cut out for him overnight (NZT).

"It will be a long day and won't be easy up against Hayden," said VW driver Ogier.

The championship leader was second in SS2 but eighth in the SS3, and held fourth, 22.3s off the lead.

"It was terrible, a lot of gravel and it was like driving on ice. But I'm happy, I couldn't have driven better," said the Frenchman, who is 0.8s behind team-mate Andreas Mikkelsen.

VW's Jari-Matti Latvala is third, almost 26s behind Paddon, after winning three stages in the afternoon. The Finn admitted he also benefited from the early starters sweeping the roads.