Hayden Paddon airlifted to hospital after Portugal crash
ByAutoSport
Updated 18/05/2018 at 18:37 GMT
Hyundai's Hayden Paddon has been airlifted to hospital for checks after crashing out the World Rally Championship's Rally Portugal round on Friday.
Hayden Paddon (Hyundai MST) - Rally of Italy 2017
Image credit: Getty Images
Paddon suffered back pain following an accident on the second run at the Ponte de Lima test, and he has been taken to hospital in Porto as a precaution.
His co-driver, Seb Marshall is uninjured.
Hyundai team manager Alain Penasse explained the incident, which happened just over a mile into the day's final gravel test.
"In a right corner, Hayden tried to avoid a stone on the inside," Penasse told Autosport.
"He went to the outside of the corner and went to the ditch. The ditch was ending and the car hit the end of the ditch with a strong impact on Hayden's side.
"They both came out of the car themselves, then Hayden started to have some lower back pain, so they decided to ask for a doctor.
"The ambulance came [into the stage], it took them back to the start and Hayden was airlifted to the hospital in Porto where they are doing a check-up."
If Paddon recovers and is ready to re-start the event on Saturday, it remains to be seen what damage his i20 Coupe WRC has sustained.
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