Ogier wins Rally of Sweden

Sebastien Ogier continues to lead Rally Sweden despite facing mounting pressure from Hayden Paddon.

Hayden Paddon has overcome a late scare to secure the second podium of his World Rally Championship career. The hit damaged his radiator and his co-driver John Kennard had to fill the leaking hole from the liquid leak before hitting the finish line.

Ogier, who won Rallye Monte Carlo last month, went fastest in the opening speed test in his Volkswagen Polo R to lead by more than half a minute, but in the following test Paddon cut the deficit to 8.8 seconds.

Hayden Paddon comes to grips with his new generation Hyundai i20.

Fellow Norwegian Andreas Mikkelsen is 25.1 seconds further behind, Estonia’s Ott Tanak is fifth and Spaniard Dani Sordo sixth.

“It has become a gravel rally, we are destroying the roads for no reason”, he had lamented in reference to studded tires on cars that plow the road surfaces in the absence of snow. “At the end we had a very nice weekend here in Sweden so, very happy”.

From here, he attempted to make in-roads on leader Sebastien Ogier, but though he remained within range of the VW driver throughout the Saturday, he could quite get close enough to put him under too much pressure.

Team Principal Michel Nandan commented: “It’s been an eventful week in Sweden so to come away with a podium result is fantastic”.

“We’re really looking forward to the rest of the year now”.

“Thanks to the drivers’ determination, we have been able to learn more about the new generation i20 WRC this weekend and pick up some important championship points”. Thierry’s rally was also affected by some technical trouble but he had a strong finish, only just missing out on a Power Stage point. “Mexico will be another learning experience with the new vehicle but we can be pleased with our start to 2016”.