Hayden Paddon: WRC Rally Australia

So only hours after PBMR last weekend we were straight into Rally Australia. It was an early start on Sunday morning to catch our flight to meet the team here in Coffs Harbour.

Yesterday we did our first test in this Skoda S2000 (this car has not been used before) and everything went smoothly. Not only did it give us a chance to check all the systems with the car but we were also able to make some set-up changes to suit the local conditions.

This Skoda we prepared in Austria with the help of BRR, but here in Australia we are running the car with our own NZ team which is special as we are all good mates, and have been together throughout my whole career. They have been doing an amazing job so far, and we are happy with the car after testing. You can check out our test video at https://vimeo.com/74182775

Today we did the first day of recce, and while some of the stages are the same as 2 years ago, there are also a few new stages which are quite tricky in places. However, some of the stages are nice and flowing - just like NZ. The issue at the moment here is dust - many of the locals cannot remember when it last rained. So we are hoping for some rain to help seattle the dust.

Our aim for this rally will be to try and win WRC2,there are 10 cars entered. However we are the only S2000 car, while the rest are R5 or RRC. There will be some tough competition but we are confident we will be able to fight at the front. The biggest thing we will have to be mindful of is we have very limited spares, so will have to really look after the car on the rougher sections and push when its smoother. It will be a balancing act.

Finally it will be great to have our tour group join us for the rally, with over 40 people cheering us on and joining us behind the scenes. We also know there will be a lot of other kiwis here which will be great to see.