Motorsport: Paddon prepares for a chilly start

Hayden Paddon. Photo / Supplied

New Zealand's Production World Rally champion Hayden Paddon, and co-driver John Kennard, start their tilt at the 2012 FIA Super 2000 World Rally Championship this weekend on the snow-covered roads of Sweden.

It will be the first time Paddon has used his Skoda Fabia S2000 rally car in competition, and as usual, the two Kiwis have approach the snow debut with meticulous planning after a full day's testing in Norway.

"I have studied a fair bit of video footage and there certainly seems to be more room for error with snow banks," said Paddon on the eve of Rally Sweden.

"The grip levels are very good with snow tyres, but also differ considerably between the snow and ice which is something I am yet to learn."

Paddon had a chance to test-drive his new car in Spain recently to get used to the car's systems, balance and power delivery.

He and Kennard had five years to get to know his old Group N production car, which is based on a showroom production model, but this season they are in a purpose-built race car.

"It's been going really well. We haven't done a lot of miles yet but I'm feeling pretty comfortable in the car.

"It's a great to drive but very different [from his old car] and as the year progresses we'll get better.

"The biggest difference is that the Super 2000 car is normally aspirated, no turbo, so you have to drive it differently.

"In the Group N I'm changing gear around 5000 revs but in the S2000 car the revs are up between 8000 and 9000 revs.

"It's a very small power band we have to use, but the car's a lot lighter and nimble. It's a proper race car I suppose you could say."

Several stages take place across the border in Norway and today's eight stages are largely north of Karlstad. They include the classic Vargasen stage.

Tomorrow Paddon and Kennard have six stages to complete, including two runs on the 15.42km Hagfors power stage on the outskirts of town.

"I'm looking forward to getting into it," Paddon said. "It's been a while and there's nothing like being in the thick of things and there's nothing quite like competition.

"There are four or five very fast drivers in the championship this year. It's not going to be easy but we'll be okay. We've got to look at the whole year not just a single race.

"This is the only event we haven't done before so this weekend's about getting the hang of the car and getting race miles and getting some good points. Don't get me wrong though, I still want to win."

Although WRC round winner Sebastien Ogier is not registered for the Super 2000 World Rally Championship (SWRC), he is in a S2000 car - a Volkswagen-backed Skoda similar to Paddon's - and is seeded immediately ahead of the Kiwi, behind 21 WRC entrants.

Paddon's main rivals for the title this year are likely to be Irishman Craig Breen in a Ford Fiesta S2000 and Swedish driver PG Andersson in a Proton Satria Neo S2000.

There are six full SWRC entrants plus two wildcards at each event, so with eight competitors who can earn points at each round plus the two VW drivers to keep an eye on, there's plenty of competition for Paddon to test himself against.