Defending European Rally Champion Hayden Paddon and co-driver John Kennard will continue their title defence at this weekend’s Rally Islas Canaries.
Paddon and Kennard will drive BRC Racing’s Hyundai i20N Rally2 for the 13-stage rally, which they finished second in 2023.
Featuring 193.12 timed kilometres over tarmac roads, the second round of the Championship gets underway with a unique stage through the centre of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Included on the 1.80-kilometre route is an indoor section inside the Gran Canaria Arena.
Eight thousand tickets inside the arena, an indoor sports venue most commonly used for basketball, were sold out in minutes.
A strong lineup of 32 Rally2 cars are on the entry list for this weekend’s event, with Paddon facing off against the likes of 2022 European Champion Efrén Llaren, 2023 Rally Islas Canarias winner Yoann Bonata and Rally Hungary podium finishers Mathieu Franceschi and Miklós Csomós.
With ERC rules allowing drivers to count their best seven scores from a possible eight, Simone Tempestini, who banked his maiden European championship victory in Hungary, has elected not to include Rally Islas Canarias on his 2024 schedule.
The action begins at 7.35 am on Friday (NZ Time) with the Las Palmas de Gran Canaria super special stage.
Teams return at 9.38 pm that evening for the opening of six special stages, featuring two passes on each of the 14.83km Aguimes-Santa Lucia, 11.07km Tejeda, and 21.15km Artenara-Galdar runs.
The competition returns on Saturday from 8.17 pm with the first of two runs on the 9.41km Arucas stage before the 27.7km Moya-Valleseco and 11.5km San Mateo-Valsequillo. A second pass on each of those stages concludes the event.
The stages are known for their frequent climbs and descents on an abrasive tarmac surface constructed partly from volcanic lava, which means high grip levels, even in wet weather.
The rally boasts several prominent former winners, including Didier Auriol, Piero Liatti, and Carlos Sainz, who claimed five consecutive victories in the 1980s.
Rally.tv will stream the event for subscribers with a paid subscription.
