YLIVAA^ MEDIAMcKLEINPIT + PADDOCK1 AUGUST 2019 AUTOSPORT.COM 7WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIPWhat do you say to a driver whose
dream has turned to a nightmare before
he’s even gone to sleep? A testing crash
ruined Hayden Paddon’s Rally Finland
return in a Ford Fiesta WRC on Monday.
Talking to the New Zealander hours
after he climbed out of a car wrecked by
an unseen stone in a sixth-gear corner,
the pragmatism was astonishing from
one so badly in need of a break.
“It’s sport,” Paddon said. “Sport can be
like this. You can’t have the roses every
day. For the absolute highs to matter
and mean so much, you have to have the
absolute lows and this is one of them.
“I’m gutted because I came to Finland
in such a good place,
mentally and
physically I’ve never
been [so well]
prepared for a rally
like this. Everything
was right and
everything was ready.
There was no lack of
effort anywhere or
from anyone – we
put everything into
this. Everything.
I’d say I’m gutted,
but that doesn’t
come close.”
The M-Sport FordPaddon WRC return wrecked
BMW GRANTS GUNTHER FE TEST
BMW has announced that Maximilian
Gunther will test for its Andretti ABB FIA
Formula E squad this week. Gunther,
who entered 10 races for Dragon Racing
in the recent 2018/19 FE season, will join
BMW factory driver and FE racer Alexander
Sims at the test, which will take place at
the Calafat track. Second BMW driver
Antonio Felix da Costa has been linked
with a move to DS Techeetah to replace
new Porsche recruit Andre Lotterer.VISA ISSUE HALTS INDY TEAM
The DragonSpeed IndyCar team missed
last weekend’s Mid-Ohio race due to
an issue with visas. The squad’s original
schedule for its inaugural season in
the series – with rookie Ben Hanley –
included St Petersburg, Barber
Motorsports Park, the Indianapolis 500,
Mid-Ohio and Laguna Seca. After the
team’s double Le Mans retirement, it
has now hit problems in its attempt
to re-enter the United States.ASKEW COMPLETES LIGHTS TRIO
Indy Lights points leader Oliver Askew
completed a hat-trick of consecutive
wins in the series, courtesy of a Mid-Ohio
brace. The Andretti Autosport driver was
fastest in qualifying for the two races and
now holds a 45-point advantage over
nearest rival Rinus van Kalmthout.LEVENTIS FOUR-YEAR DRUG BAN
Strakka Racing founder and GT driver
Nick Leventis has been banned from
motorsport for four years by the FIA
for an anti-doping violation, but has
confirmed that he has “retired from
motorsport”. Following the California
8 Hours in 2018, where Leventis ranked
eighth in a Mercedes-AMG GT3, Leventis
tested positive for two different types of
anabolic steroids. The FIA reported that
the 39-year-old Leventis was not able to
provide a therapeutic use exemption.AHMED TRIUMPHS AT SUGO
Enaam Ahmed scored his second victory
of the Japanese Formula 3 season in race
two at Sugo last weekend, boosting him
to third in the points. The 2017 McLaren
Autosport BRDC Award finalist converted
his pole position, and added a brace of
fourth places across the other two races.ASTON RULES OUT DTM HELP
The R-Motorsport Aston Martin squad has
dismissed seeking concessions during
the 2019 DTM season, despite Audi and
BMW being open to giving their rival
certain breaks to catch up owing to their
own advantage in engine performance.IN THE HEADLINES
rolled in top gear after the front of the
Fiesta WRC was lifted into the air by
a rock in the middle of the road.
“If you move even half a metre off line
at that speed, it’s the end, you’re gone,”
said Paddon. “We hit the rock right in
the middle of the car and it just threw us
into the trees. On a narrow piece of road
like that, there’s nothing you can do.
“After the accident I thought about
things and asked myself, ‘So, what would
I have done differently?’ And the answer
is, actually, nothing. That’s one of the
things that’s so hard [to accept].”
M-Sport’s entry for this week’s Rally
Finland was already weakened, with
Elfyn Evans ruled out by a back injury
sustained at Rally Estonia. The Cumbrian
squad now relies on
Teemu Suninen and
Gus Greensmith.
Toyota starts the
event as favourite,
with the Yaris WRC
unbeaten at its home
event following wins
in 2017 and 2018.
Ott Tanak is
favourite among
the Toyota drivers,
having dominated
the Finland warm-
up in Estonia
last month.
DAVID EVANS