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Paddon and Sordo to split opening 2018 WRC rounds
Hayden Paddon and Dani Sordo are set to split the opening two rounds of the 2018 World Rally Championship to kick off a shared programme in Hyundai's third entry.
Andrew van Leeuwen
Edited: Nov 16, 2017, 5:42 PM
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With plans to run a full-time four-car programme in the WRC next season falling through due to funding, Hyundai has been left with four drivers – Andreas Mikkelsen, Thierry Neuville, Paddon, and Sordo – for three cars.
Speaking ahead of this weekend's Rally Australia in Coffs Harbour, Hyundai team boss Michel Nandan confirmed that out-of-form Paddon and tarmac specialist Sordo will be the ones who will share the third car, while Neuville and Mikkelsen run full programmes.
He also heavily hinted that Sordo will take the car for the season opener in Monte Carlo, before being replaced by Paddon for Sweden.
"It's true that next year we could only enter three cars for most of the events for budget reasons. And it's true that we've decided already that Hayden and Dani will have to share the car," he said when asked by Motorsport.com.
"But I think in some events we know that Dani is not so competitive, so with Dani it is quite clear, quite okay. I know with Hayden it will be a bit more difficult. I think this is a fact we can't change.
"We were really fighting to get the budget for four cars, but it was not possible. So for us this was the only way to do it.
"[Paddon] will do more the events where he has very good skills and good speed. And for sure, already I can tell you he will probably not do any of the tarmac events."
Nandan added that a part-time programme might help Paddon recapture some of the form he's lost over a tough 2017 campaign.
"I think he could have a good opportunity to concentrate a lot more on the events he will do," he said.
"And it doesn't mean we put him aside, not at all. Because we want him to get back to business and perform as he's shown in previous times.
"For me it's not a step back, it's just he has the opportunity to concentrate more on these things and to do some more testing, because we'll do some development tests as well. He can be better prepared for the events where he has a good knowledge and speed."
Paddon resigned to part-time programme
Running a part-time programme comes as no surprise for Paddon, given he's coming off the back of what he's described as "his first bad year in rallying".
"Next year will be difficult. If you're doing a part-time programme, you're doing a lot less driving," he said.
"We always said next year is our target year, I think that's now out the window. We're not going to be given that opportunity by the team.
"But we just have to use the opportunity we've got next year to get back on the horse. It's almost like going back to two years ago; we've got to go back and prove ourselves and try and get bigger opportunities and focus on 2019. Sometimes you've got to take a step back to take two forward. I've got to keep a glass half full vision towards it all.
Paddon added that he's not expecting to be called up for Monte Carlo.
"I think I've got a long off-season," he said. "I don't think we're doing Monte, so I've got some time to spend in New Zealand over summer, focus on some training, and prepare as best I can for next year.
"The plan is certainly that we'll be in Sweden. It's a strong rally for us. We look forward to that one."
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