A double puncture on SS8 cost Hayden Paddon over three minutes at Barum Czech Rally Zlín, but the reigning European Rally Champion recovered places over the final day to finish as the 13th-best ERC competitor.
Three points, plus three extra for finishing third on the Power Stage, increase Paddon’s ERC championship lead advantage over Mathieu Franceschi to 13 points ahead of the final two events.
Franceschi had looked set to challenge for the top spot after Saturday’s proceedings but was forced to retire on SS12 after suffering extensive tyre damage.
Eleven-time Barum Czech Rally Zlín winner Jan Kopecky was another to suffer from tyre issues and dropped out of contention for a ninth-straight victory when he was forced to change a wheel during SS5.
Kopecky’s issues paved the way for another local hope, Dominik Stříteský, who went on to triumph over Austrian Simon Wagner by 19.2 seconds. Another local, Erik Cais, completed the top three, while Adam Brezik and Filip Mares made for four Czech drivers in the top five.
Paddon, along with co-driver John Kennard in BRC Racing’s Hyundai i20N Rally2, entered the first full day of competition in 10th, 6.9 seconds off the lead, following the 9.57 km three-loop super special stage through Zlin.
He gained one place on SS2, a 12.73 km pass of Brezova, and climbed to seventh on SS5, where Kopecky lost over two minutes while changing a wheel.
Paddon remained in seventh ahead of SS8, a 13.19 km second pass over Rajnochovice, only for a double puncture to put him on the back foot. The Kiwi pairing finished the stage 3m 48.2s behind Stříteský and tumbled down the order to 18th.
SS9 was cancelled for safety reasons due to the weather, seeing Stříteský hold the overnight advantage over Wagner by an impressive 21.1 seconds.
Paddon regained places over the morning loop on Sunday and sat 15th ahead of the final three runs.
Eighth-place finishes on SS13 & SS14 elevated him to 14th, with only the Power Stage to run.
He completed the 12.48 km pass of Halenkovice as the third fastest, only 3 seconds off the best time, to secure three more championship points.
Overall, Paddon was classified 13th, 4m 51.1s behind Stříteský.
“Disappointing weekend, we wanted to come away with more,” he said after the final stage.
“From a championship perspective, it’s a disappointment, and we can’t rely on other’s disappointments. We’re going to Wales with what we’ve got, so we’ll just see what we can do there.”
The penultimate round of the European Rally Championship, Rali Ceredigion, will take place from August 30 to September 2. Paddon, with co-driver Jared Hudson, won the Welsh rally in 2022.
Rally Silesia concludes the ERC on October 11-14. Each competitor’s best seven of eight rounds count towards the championship, with one event a drop round.
Franceschi’s DNF is his second non-points finish of 2024 after he sat out the Royal Rally of Scandinavia, meaning one of his non-points rounds will count in his ERC title challenge.
Header Image: European Rally Championship
