CURRENT FIA European Rally Champion Hayden Paddon is on-track for a second JDS Machinery Rali Ceredigion victory in as many attempts, as he leads the event by over a minute from Chris Ingram at the end of a difficult Saturday.

With eight stages, totalling 124.3km, for drivers to get stuck into, the first full day of Rali Ceredigion 2024 proved an almighty challenge for the very best rally drivers from the FIA European Rally Championship and Probite British Rally Championship.

ETT Trailers Brechfa, Signature Systems Llyn Brianne and Caws Cenarth Nant y Moch comprised the bulk of the action, before a return to the streets of Aberystwyth and the short, spectator-friendly LAS Recycling & Cambrian Training Aberystwyth stages to round out the day.

The two brand-new stages, Brechfa and Llyn Brianne, brought the event out of Ceredigion county for the very first time, taking the rally to both Carmarthenshire and Powys respectively.

Leading the rally by 1.3s following his pair of super-special wins on Friday evening, 2022 Rali Ceredigion winner Paddon was peerless as he went on a stage-winning rampage. Quickest on five of the day's six moorland tests, the Hyundai New Zealand driver made full use of his first position on the road - earned by winning Friday morning's qualifying stage.

Setting the pace on Saturday night’s street stages, once again held in front of a packed and passionate crowd, Paddon continued his domination of the day’s tests and he'll carry a 1m18.7s advantage into Sunday's final leg.

With Paddon comfortably clear out front, attention turned to those behind - and although he wasn't able to live with Paddon, Ingram was a clear second-best in his Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 to claim maximum British Rally Championship points, with Rali Ceredigion counting as two points-scoring rounds in the BRC.

Keith Cronin, who was holding the final podium place, dropped to fifth overall behind Mathieu Franceschi in third and Mikołaj Marczyk after the two short Aberystwyth stages.

Andrea Mabellini is sixth overall ahead of Callum Devine, with two-time Rali Ceredigion winner Osian Pryce upholding local honour in eighth. Jon Armstrong is just 0.1s behind with Matt Edwards completing the top 10.

Local hero James Williams made an impressive start by winning the day's opening Brechfa stage by a stunning 4.2s, becoming the only driver to finish ahead of Paddon all day, to launch himself up to second overall.

But it all unravelled for the 26-year-old Welsh driver on Llyn Brianne as he crashed his Hyundai i20 N Rally2 just 1.5km into the stage - ending his quest for a Rali Ceredigion podium.

In the National event, Callum Black leads the way in his Ford Fiesta Rally2, over a minute clear of Protyre Asphalt Rally Championship rival Neil Roskell. Three-time British Rally champion Mark Higgins unfortunately retired on Saturday's first stage with mechanical issues.

Four stages will conclude Rali Ceredigion, with two passes of the DC Autos Bethania and Spencer Quantum Hafod stages offering competitors 57 competitive kilometres.

The second pass of Hafod acts as the end-of-event power stage, offering additional points for ERC crews.

Hayden Paddon, first overall, said: “It has been a pretty good day, no doubt about that. I’m happy and looking forward to tomorrow. The position we are in now is difficult – we have to look after it, push enough to keep a rhythm, but we are not taking any cuts now. We are just trying to keep it on the road and counting down the stages."

Chris Ingram, second overall, said: “I’m very relieved. This morning we had quite good pace, but this afternoon I struggled a bit and the pace wasn’t there. Tomorrow I can hopefully push a bit harder to get an ERC podium and more points for the BRC. It has been brilliant but I don’t think I have driven my best so I’m looking forward to tomorrow. The Hafod stage tomorrow is one of the most intense stages I have ever seen.”

Mathieu Franceschi, third overall, said: “All the stages have been tough, particularly as it's my first time here. I think it is difficult because you can’t buy experience and sometimes you need to take time and learn to have experience. This afternoon was better and we found something on the last real stage. Hopefully tomorrow there will be rain because I drive well in the wet.”