Hayden Paddon got his first ever World Rally Championship win last weekend at Rally Argentina after Jari-Matti Latvala rolled out of the lead. The final epic power stage that sealed his win is a mesmerizing downhill descent on rough roads with no shortage of fans lining the surreal, rocky landscape.
Welcome to Onboard of the Week, a feature where we spend that pesky time between races looking at awesome footage from inside the car.
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El Condor’s mix of extremely tight hairpins and fast straights make it no joke, especially considering the occasional exposures—sections of road with no guardrail—where you could tumble down the mountain if you get it wrong. Get it wrong somewhere else and you’re likely to punch a huge boulder.
This is one of the most legendary stages in rally for a reason, and the view from onboard the car makes it even better. It looks like Paddon and co-driver John Kennard were certainly happy with their result at the end as well.
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Prior to Paddon’s win, the only person to have beaten unstoppable force Sébastien Ogier on pace in the last four seasons was equally unstoppable Sébastien Loeb.
Ogier was catching Paddon in the last bit of Rally Argentina. On the previous two stages, he’d whittled Paddon’s lead down to less than three seconds. Ogier was so good at power stages, it almost looked like the result was already in the bag for him. At the very end of Rally Argentina, though, Ogier was right behind Paddon by just 14.3 seconds.
Have an awesome onboard video to share? Drop me a line at stef.schrader@jalopnik.com or post it in the comments below.
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