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Rising Kiwi rally star Hayden Paddon is confident his inspiring Coates Hire Rally Australia result will boost ongoing discussions to secure a full-time drive at Hyundai next year.
The 27-year-old produced a measured and mature drive to lead the three-pronged Hyundai attack in finishing sixth after benefitting from Citroen driver Mads Ostberg’s demise late in the rally.
Having been handed seven rallies to prove himself in a satellite Hyundai entry this year, Paddon is eager to put himself in the shop window to earn a full-time role after spells in the PWRC and WRC2, the former which he was crowned champion in 2011.
Hyundai’s 2015 driver line-up is providing plenty of speculation with Belgian ace Thierry Neuville the only confirmed driver at the Korean marque.
With a strong result in front of key Hyundai personnel at Coffs Harbour, Paddon hopes his display can play a factor as contract discussions regarding next year continue.
“We were a lot closer to the leaders than any other rally and to do it in front of all of my fans who made the trip over certainly makes it a pretty special rally for us,” Paddon told Speedcafe.com.
Paddon was buoyed by a passionate group of 95 supporters who travelled from New Zealand to follow his fortunes in a rally which he suffered mechanical issues last year in a WRC2 Skoda Fabia S2000.
“There have been several discussions happening in the background so we will just see how they will play out over the next month and in the meantime we have just got to keep our head down and keep focussing on the driving,” added Paddon.
“I certainly hope this result will give me a boost for next year particularly with the result coming in Australia where Hyundai is a large brand.
“Thierry (Neuville) had his problems on day one but even so we have been beating the other Hyundai runners on some stages and not far behind on others, so hopefully that will help.”
Paddon will prepare for an assault on Rally France which takes place from October 3-5.
