Hyundai WRT

[doubled1978]

Interesting twist that he says they were never officially offered anything.....surely there must have been some sort of falling out, as Paddons form end of last season was pretty good.
Maybe if he had stayed in Europe and done some rallies here it would have helped? Who knows...

[Allez Andruet]

Quite bold tweets from Paddon considering he still has a working relationship with the same manufacturer he's somewhat attacking against here.

[mknight]

While Paddon is already getting talked about, this is also pretty bad news for Hutunen. The suffering with Hyundai R5 could have paid off in at least getting a drive in a WRC car (even though it's historically not competetive in Finland).


As mentioned by others I also hope this means Breen is considered for GB and maybe Turkey (less likely) or Australia (more likely). If he gets only Finland it might end a bit bad for him.

On the general level I have to again mention that already in November I said that Hyundai should focus more on developing the car and making it work for all surfaces/rallies/drivers instead of swapping drivers all the time. While for Finland bringing in some other driver than Sordo/Loeb does make perfect sense I am not sure if it's a good sign in general.

But there are also signs that they are taking development seriously atm, with Loeb doing the two tarmac testing rallies and supposedly a major upgrade coming before Finland. But as early as after Finland and Germany we should have an answer on how the development work went.

---------------------

Another thing to consider: Loeb will do only one more event, meaning it's either Germany or Spain. Would Breen then do the remaining one of them alongside Sordo?

Clearly with Breen getting in the mix it is much less likely that Loeb will do GB or some other gravel rally. The 2 tarmac rallies he is doing now make it all but certain that he will drive Germany or Spain. He mentioned multiple times he wanted holiday in August so he'll probably do Spain.

In that case I can't see Breen doing Germany instead of Mikkelsen for multiple reasons. He finished behind him in last 2 years, one of them in the same car (2017 C3). As proven by both Loeb and Mikkelsen, i20 is very difficult to adapt to on tarmac, if Loeb couldn't do it over 2 rallies, it's a long shot to think Breen would do it immediately, would also need a lot of testing. Mikkelsen has not driven on dry tarmac this year after all the supposed adaptations of the car on tarmac, only in Monte where he crashed from 3rd, so imo it's very likely he will get to drive on one of the two tarmac rounds.

----------
EDIT:

To be clear, as I wrote already a month ago Paddon was clearly the best choice to drive in Finland in terms of speed/result. But there seems to have been other reasons at play.

If Paddon is not possible for whatever reason Østberg would be my number 2 pick, but he is somehow employed at Citroen, leaving Breen as good choice (better than Sordo by all means).

[AnttiL]

While Paddon is already getting talked about, this is also pretty bad news for Hutunen. The suffering with Hyundai R5 could have paid off in at least getting a drive in a WRC car (even though it's historically not competetive in Finland).

I think they want to keep him as a "guest driver" for more testing days.

[mknight]

I think they want to keep him as a "guest driver" for more testing days.

Sure that's good for Hyundai but not good for Hutunen at all. He doesn't get to drive a WRC rally and is "stuck" in the bad R5. Though he did some rallies in other cars earlier this year, but then I guess he has to pay it himself.

[AnttiL]

Sure that's good for Hyundai but not good for Hutunen at all. He doesn't get to drive a WRC rally and is "stuck" in the bad R5. Though he did some rallies in other cars earlier this year, but then I guess he has to pay it himself.

only Rally Sweden in a Skoda.

[racerx1979]

Who is managing Paddon? It might be a good idea to switch management companies at this rate. Also, is his dedication to Hyundai NZ helping him or hurting him?? If Breen was completely dedicated to Citroen having some kind of loyalty he would be in the same place as Paddon without a WRC drive. He's been screwed twice now... how many more times...

Is anyone besides Kiwi fans paying attention to his NZ results?? I was talking to a few people in the business and they had zero clue as to what his results were in NZ. I understand for him he needs seat time to be fresh, but everyone has said he should be in an R5 car. If Mads was running around doing some Norwegian championship we would forget about him. This is why Breen and Mad's plan of doing ERC/WRC events is probably the best bet...

At the end of the day, I'm just a below average goober behind a keyboard when I write this, but I too can see poor Paddon is not getting a fair shot, but I think some of this is also due to his actions.

Edit even Huttunen is getting driving time in an i20 WRC. Paddon would have been a good choice to do testing, but something is getting in the way. I'm not saying this is Paddons thinking, but having a "I want full drive or nothing" mentality will get you, well, nothing...

[AnttiL]

Paddon has too strong ties with Hyundai NZ and his own motorsport business. He could leave that behind for a few years in WRC but he would also abandon a possible lifelong career in NZ.

The rallies he has done back home must have been frustrating when he's the only one who's on a professional level, on a proper machine. He has won the rallies by several minutes of margin.

[Fast Eddie WRC]

Maybe none of this is down to Paddon's actions or 'bad luck'.

It could just be that all the hard work by Breen and his supporters in being so active in Europe and the determination to show his quality has finally paid off...

[BigWorm]

Edit even Huttunen is getting driving time in an i20 WRC. Paddon would have been a good choice to do testing, but something is getting in the way. I'm not saying this is Paddons thinking, but having a "I want full drive or nothing" mentality will get you, well, nothing...

Probably because Huttunen is based in Europe and Paddon's current obligations in NZ.

Paddon's loyalty to Hyundai isn't being rewarded in WRC, he is more nice to them than what's being brought back. I'd say he has to cut his ties with Hyundai if he wants to be back full time sooner rather than later but would you gamble on everything you've established in NZ for such a risk?