Paddon takes second at WRC Rally Paraguay
- 7 hours ago
- 1 min read
Second place for Hayden Paddon in the Rally de Paraguay as Finland's Sami Pajari and Marko Salminen made FIA World Rally Championship history claiming their first three WRC wins consecutively.
The Finnish pair added Paraguay to their breakthrough success in Estonia and home triumph in Finland, completing an extraordinary hat-trick with a 25.8sec victory over Paddon and John Kennard.
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Paddon’s second place completed a remarkable weekend on his first top-level WRC gravel start since 2018.
The New Zealander briefly led the rally on Friday and remained Pajari’s closest challenger thereafter, delivering another significant result in his return season with Hyundai.
“This one feels like a proper podium,” said Paddon. “A lot of people had written us off, but a lot of people believed in me and we believed in ourselves.
“This goes to show you never ever give up. Dream, dare to believe in your dream, and I can’t believe we’re back here in this full circle.”
Despite having limited time in a drivers seat Paddon is still eighth on the overall drivers standins.
Behind the leading pair, Adrien Fourmaux completed one of the drives of the weekend to snatch third place from championship leader Elfyn Evans.
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