Hyundai Motorsport driver Hayden Paddon put in a strong warning shot to his fellow competitors as he topped the times in the FIA World Rally Championship shakedown for the 2016 Rally Argentina.
Paddon took his New Generation i20 WRC for three runs through the shakedown stage and finished nearly one and a half seconds ahead of VW Motorsport driver Jari-Matti Latvala who pipped team-mate Sébastien Ogier by less than a second.
The VW of Andreas Mikkelsen split the two Hyundai’s of Dani Sordo and Thierry Neuville in the times ahead of Ott Tänak in the DMACK-entered Ford Fiesta RS WRC, with M-Sport’s Mads Østberg rounding out the top eight. Belgian Neuville suffered a puncture on his first run and a puncture on his third run.
Argentinian driver Marcos Ligato piloted his Citroën DS3 WRC to ninth place as he took two runs through the shakedown stage ahead of Henning Solberg and Eric Camilli who maximised their testing with five attempts at the stage.
WRC 2 leader Elfyn Evans was forced to stop after a sensor, leading him to set a time over eleven minutes.
EVANS: Problems for @ElfynEvans on Shakedown for @rallyargentina 2016. @MSportLtd #WRC2 📷 @BerniWan pic.twitter.com/8Gn5NpY5YI
— @RallyingUK 🌐 (@RallyingUK) April 21, 2016
2016 Rally Argentina: Shakedown
| Pos. | Driver - Co-Driver | Car | Fastest Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hayden Paddon - John Kennard | Hyundai i20 WRC '16 | 4:02.9 |
| 2 | Jari-Matti Latvala - Miikka Anttila | Volkswagen Polo R WRC | 4:04.2 |
| 3 | Sébastien Ogier - Julien Ingrassia | Volkswagen Polo R WRC | 4:04.9 |
| 4 | Dani Sordo - Marc Martí | Hyundai i20 WRC '16 | 4:05.9 |
| 5 | Andreas Mikkelsen - Anders Jæger | Volkswagen Polo R WRC | 4:06.8 |
| 6 | Thierry Neuville - Nicolas Gilsoul | Hyundai i20 WRC '16 | 4:07.6 |
| 7 | Ott Tänak - Raigo Mõlder | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | 4:08.0 |
| 8 | Mads Østberg - Ola Fløene | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | 4:09.3 |
| 9 | Marcos Ligato - Ruben Garcia | Citroën DS3 WRC | 4:12.2 |
| 10 | Henning Solberg - Ilka Minor-Petrasko | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | 4:13.5 |
| 11 | Eric Camilli - Benjamin Veillas | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | 4:14.4 |
| 12 | Nicolás Fuchs - Fernando Mussano | Škoda Fabia R5 | 4:19.7 |
| 13 | Lorenzo Bertelli - Simone Scattolin | Ford Fiesta RS WRC | 4:21.3 |
| 14 | Valeriy Gorban - Volodymyr Korsia | Mini Cooper WRC | 4:22.0 |
| 15 | Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari - Killian Duffy | Škoda Fabia R5 | 4:35.5 |
| 16 | Khalid Mohammad Al-Suwaidi - Giovanni Bernacchini | Ford Fiesta R5 | 4:36.3 |
| 17 | Hubert Ptaszek - Maciej Szczepaniak | Peugeot 208 T16 | 4:39.7 |
| 18 | Didier Arias - Hector Nunes | Škoda Fabia R5 | 4:45.7 |
| 19 | Augusto Bestard - Fernando Mendonca | Ford Fiesta R5 | 4:48.1 |
| 20 | Michel Fabre - Maxime Vilmot | Citroën DS3 R3T Max | 5:24.6 |
| 21 | Elfyn Evans - Craig Parry | Ford Fiesta R5 | 11:13.7 |
