Hayden Paddon remains hopeful Rally Japan won’t be his last Rally1 outing with Hyundai with the New Zealander eager for an opportunity on gravel.
The one-time WRC rally winner and two-time European Rally champion rejoined rallying’s top tier for the first time since 2018 to share Hyundai’s third factory entry alongside Dani Sordo and Esapekka Lappi.
Hyundai initially agreed a deal with Paddon to drive asphalt rounds in Monte Carlo, Croatia and last weekend’s round in Japan.
Despite being new to the i20 N Rally1 car, and gravel being his favoured surface, Paddon and co-driver John Kennard scored Hyundai's best asphalt result of the season courtesy of a run to third in Croatia.
While Japan was Paddon's last scheduled outing, the 39-year-old would dearly love an opportunity on gravel and has earmarked rounds in either Paraguay or Chile as his preferred options. Paddon’s only WRC win to date came in South America, where he took victory in Argentina for Hyundai in 2016.
“I’d like to [have another round] of course, but at the moment there is nothing agreed. We will have to see,” Paddon, who finished seventh at Rally Japan, told Motorsport.com.
"At the end of the day, the team makes the decisions that are best for the team, and I will support those whatever they are. Hopefully, I can help with a bit of testing and things towards next year.
“I would like to go to South America. I have got good memories down there and the roads are exactly the roads I enjoy. Finland and Estonia are very specialised and that is EP’s [Esapekka Lappi’s] back yard.”
Hyundai has already confirmed that Sordo will take over the third seat for the next gravel round in Greece, and it is widely expected that Lappi will pilot the entry in Estonia and Finland. That leaves rounds in Paraguay, Chile, Sardinia and Saudi Arabia that are yet to be decided.
Reflecting on his return to the WRC, Paddon believes he has done everything that has been asked of him in difficult circumstances.
“It has been three of probably the most challenging rallies on tarmac, but we have tried to take the challenge in our stride and do the best we can,” he added.
“We have improved and I think the speed has got better with each rally and we have got a couple of good results. We have done everything that was asked of us.”
