Hayden Paddon looks set to claim WRC2 in Rally New Zealand as it enters its final day tomorrow.
The Kiwi, ex-WRC driver sits over two minutes ahead of Polish driver Kajetan Kajetanowicz, only a failure or crash likely to see this overcome.
Day 3 was an excellent one for Paddon in which he claimed five of the six stages in the class, only bettered on one occasion by Australian Rally champion Harry Bates.
Shane van Gisbergen’s good run of form continued through the day, a puncture on SS12 not enough to keep him from retaining P3 in the WRC2 standings.
The WRC2 field showed the big guns how things are done over the day, the top four now all classified in the overall top 10 after several top competitors crashed out.
This included overnight leader Elfyn Evans, who hit an embankment on SS9, Gus Greensmith who spectacularly rolled multiple times on SS10, resulting in the stage abandonment, and Takamoto Katsuta who slid down a bank and became stranded.
All three were forced to retire from the days proceedings, Greensmith most likely to not continue tomorrow with the damage from the roll significant.
Instead, it’s championship leader Kalle Rovanpera who took the lead of the competition after Day 3 of racing, a buffer of 29 seconds to his credit over Sebastien Ogier in second.
Closest WRC rival Ott Tanak struggled with power throughout the day, as did Oliver Solberg, but clings on to contention in third, 46.4 his time to make up should he wish Rovanpera to wait another round before claiming his maiden world title.
The day was significant for the championship leading Finn, being his 22nd birthday, obtaining the overall Rally New Zealand lead the perfect present.
Just four stages are left in Rally New Zealand which concludes tomorrow, all shorter in length and promising some sharp, fast racing should the weather permit.
Racing gets underway at 10.30am and will be shown live on Spark Sport.
For a Stage-By-Stage analysis of today, see below.
Leaderboard
| Overall | Driver | Time/Gap |
| 1st | K. Rovanpera | 2:25’59.2 |
| 2nd | S. Ogier | +29.0 |
| 3rd | O. Tanak | +46.4 |
| 4th | T. Neuville | +1’41.4 |
| 5th | O. Solberg | +3’34.9 |
| 6th | H. Paddon | +8’51.0 |
| 7th | L. Bertelli | +9’18.3 |
| 8th | K. Kajetanowicz | +10’55.7 |
| 9th | S. van Gisbergen | +12’00.4 |
| 10th | H. Bates | +15’23.7 |
| WRC2 | Driver | Time/Gap |
| 1st | H. Paddon | 2:37’17.3 |
| 2nd | K. Kajetanowicz | +2’04.7 |
| 3rd | S. van Gisbergen | +3’09.4 |
| 4th | H. Bates | +6’32.7 |
| 5th | A. Kremer | +9’46.6 |
| 6th | T. Bawden | +10’45.1 |
| 7th | L. Anear | +13’07.8 |
| 8th | B. Hunt | +15’56.2 |
Stage-by-Stage
SS8: Kaipara Hills 1- 15.83km
With a reverse top 10 run order based on the standings at the end of Day 2, it was Breen who returned to the rally with the first run of the day.
The Irishman went about putting a quick time down, 9:42.9, and was assisted by the bad conditions deteriorating the stage surface.
The time was enough to see him top the first run of Kaipara Hills, a much needed strong return after losing over 30 minutes yesterday due to his SS5 crash.
Championship leader Rovanpara was the next best, on his 22nd birthday, 4.1 seconds back, 4 seconds ahead of closest championship contender Tanak.
Paddon picked up where he left off yesterday, the fastest of the WRC2 field with a 10:27.8 eclipsing van Gisbergen’s run by 12.9 seconds.
There was a tense moment for the Australian champion Bates near the end of the stage, a right-left combo seeing him slide through a ditch at the corner exit. He was unscathed from this, finishing 19.7 seconds off Paddon in third.
Bawden was the third fastest Kiwi on the stage, as was Hunt who returned after yesterday’s SS7 crash, the duo both 34.3 seconds off the pace in fifth and sixth respectively.
SS9: Puhoi 1- 22.5km
Rovanpera stormed to the top of the Rally New Zealand leaderboard in Puhoi, a 12:37.7 enough to take the stage and put himself in prime position to claim 2022 WRC honours come tomorrow.
Breen was once again on the pace, making the most of a clean surface and finishing 1.6 seconds back, Ogier rounding out the top three ahead of Tanak.
Elfyn Evans was yet another victim of the conditions in Rally New Zealand, over-steer on a sharp right hander seeing him make heavy contact with the inside embankment and spin.
He was able to resume, albeit with heavy damage to the front and rear of the car, including a missing boot and front bumper. Internally, the radiator also sprung multiple leaks, leaving Evans and co-driver Scott Martin frantically trying to repair it before SS10, Evans seen even using water from a nearby puddle to top it up.
Upon return to the service park later, the Welshman was forced to retire from the days proceedings after damage to the roll cage was discovered.
In WRC2, Paddon claimed his seventh stage win out of the nine run, this time over Kajetanowicz, a 13:26.9 enough to take the round by 15.9 seconds.
Bawden was once again the third best Kiwi, this time in fifth, 44.8 seconds off the pace and 3.7 seconds ahead of Jones in sixth.
SS10: Komokoriki 1- 5.81km
Technically, it was Breen who claimed the stage, however the circumstances in which this came about were less than ideal.
Komokoriki, a short, sharp and fast stage saw the Irishman put down a 3:20.6.
The drama was behind, however, Greensmith getting a touch of understeer into a short left-hander and running ride into a drainage ditch.
This saw the car roll multiple times before resting on the edge of the track with major damage.
M-Sport Team Principal Richard Millener was interviewed immediately after the stage, recognising the damage will not only most likely see him out of the rest of the event, but also create a race against time ahead of the next round in Spain.
“Yeah, it looks like huge damage. Just goes to show the margins we’re on,” Millener said in a televised interview.
“But personally, from what I’ve seen so far, he cuts in too early on the corner, carries too much speed, understeers off into the bank and then you have a massive roll.
“So I have no idea what the car’s like, but that could be a tough one for Spain.”
The incident brought about a red flag not long after, the field given notional times.
This also meant none of the WRC2 cars were unable to run, all awarded 3:36.5 to the overall classification. This sees Paddon lead WRC2 over Kajetanowicz by 1:38, van Gisbergen third overall at 2:10.8 off the top.
SS11: Kaipara Hills 2- 15.83km
Rovanpera helped his chances of winning the title in New Zealand dramatically on the second pass of Kaipara Hills, a 9:47.3 topping Ogier by 5 seconds and second-placed Tanak by a massive 17.9.
Tanak is one of several competitors, including Solberg, who has complained about a lack of power in his car over the weekend. Unfortunately this put him down to third overall behind Ogier, Rovenpera 11.5 seconds to the good at the top of the leaderboard.
The Australian champion Bates finally got a stage victory to his name after a poor run of luck this weekend, 10:41.1 enough to top Paddon by 2.2 seconds and van Gisbergen by 4.8.
Hunt continued to work his way back up the leaderboard after his 10 minute loss in SS7 yesterday, his fourth place just 10 seconds off Bates.
SS12: Puhoi 2- 22.5km
Rovanpera continued to build on his lead in another drama-filled run at Puhoi, this time 6.6 seconds the buffer over Ogier with a 12:27.8, Tanak 7.8 off the top in third.
Katsuta was yet another to face the consequences of a wet surface, under-steer through a medium left hander seeing him slip down a bank and retire from this, and the next, stage.
Van Gisbergen also faced issues in WRC2, a read puncture seeing him limp home some 50 seconds behind stage-winner Paddon, his time of a 13:27.6 enough to move him up to eighth overall in the event whilst extending on his lead of WRC2.
Lady luck was also not on the side of Bates once again, another puncture seeing him limp home 1:12.1 behind.
Hunt impressed as the second-best Kiwi on the stage, third overall to his credit at Puhoi 2.
SS13: Komokoriki 2- 5.81km
Rounding out Day 2 was another Craig Breen stage victory, leaving him to all but ponder what could have been had things not come unstuck on SS5 yesterday.
Breen set the benchmark early once again with a 3:19.2 over the short 5.81km route.
Rovanpera was the second fastest at Komokoriki in his first full run of it, putting a further 1 second on overall second-spot sitter Ogier and a further 6.1 on Tanak.
Bertelli was the only incident of note in the top 10, a half-spin followed by a stall as he reversed out relegating him to seventh overall in the standings behind WRC2 leader Paddon.
Paddon made it five-from-six today in that class, a 3:39.6 beating the time of Bates by 3.1 seconds, van Gisbergen third 6 seconds behind the leader.
The stage win combined with the misfortune of Katsuta and Bartelli saw Paddon shoot up to an impressive sixth overall, only five WRC competitors ahead.
