Hayden Paddon can claim the European Rally Championship title at this weekend’s Barum Czech Rally Zlin in the Czech Republic. Paddon has built a 55-point lead over Latvia’s Mārtiņš Sesks over the past six rounds and is in the box seat to be the first Kiwi and first non-European to win the championship in the event’s 70-year history.
Paddon will have John Kennard as his co-driver and compete in BRC Racing Team’s Hyundai i20 N Rally2 car.
“It’s certainly looking positive now, but you can never take anything for granted,” he said. “We’ve still got a job to do, but the target is to try to wrap it up in [Zlín], which is going to be a challenging rally on its own.”
Running over 18-20 August, Barum Czech Rally Zlín features 13 all-asphalt stages for a total distance of 200.43 kilometres.
“Dry, smooth, fast Tarmac like [Rally di Roma Capitale] I quite enjoy, but I understand Barum is bumpy and can be wet, the two things I hate the most on Tarmac,” said Paddon. “We will go with no expectations and build on it from there.”
Free practice and Qualifying takes place on the 3.14km Maják stage from 8.00 am local time (6.00 pm NZ time) on Friday, with the 9.57km Super Special Stage covering three laps of the central Zlín circuit launching the rally into action at 9.00 pm that evening (Saturday 7.00 am NZ time).
Saturday’s action begins with a pass on the 12.73km Slušovice from 9.28 am (Saturday 7.28 pm NZ time) and is followed by a run on the famed 10.86km Kateřinice, a tarmac road that winds its way through the forests and hasn’t been used since 1994.
Troják, the rally’s longest run at 25.64 km, concludes Saturday morning’s running before all three stages are repeated in the same order that afternoon.
The 11.51km Semetín begins Sunday’s action at 8.23 am (6.23 pm NZ time) and is followed by passes on Pindula (18.00 km) and Halenkovice (26.69km) before each of those stages is repeated in the afternoon. The second pass on Halenkovice doubles as the Power Stage, with vital championship points up for grabs.
A top-two finish in the European Rally Championship is all but inevitable for Paddon following podium finishes in all six of this season’s events. Sesks is the only driver in contention but crashed out spectacularly in last month’s Rally di Roma Capitale for a DNF. Working in his favour, however, is that each competitor’s worst round is dropped off the points tally.
Paddon’s worst result to date is third at Rally di Roma Capitale, but should he claim the title at this weekend’s Barum Czech Rally Zlin, he has the opportunity to sit out the season-ending Rally Hungary.
A live stream of this weekend’s rally can be found on WRC+ with a paid subscription, while the European Rally Championship will provide live updates on its website.
