All is going well here in Spain as we prepare for this weeks rally. Last week started in the UK for us before flying to Spain for a local national championship event we were competing in over the weekend.

The purpose of the event was to test DMACK's new tyres and help with feedback and development. It was great to be involved in such a test program which only came together a couple of weeks ago. Highlighting the importance of why we need to be based in Europe next year. The car that we used for the event was based off a Super 2000 but had the running gear from a Group N car. The car was run and prepared by Calm Motorsport and was great fun to drive. The technical and rough roads added a new challenge throughout the weekend. Everything went great however and we won by 2minutes and 30 seconds. A huge thanks to all the Calm Motorsport team, DMACK and Alex from DMACK Spain for giving us the opportunity.

After a 700km drive north to Salou – where this weeks event is based, we have another test on tarmac today with our Symtech prepared Subaru. After a weekend on gravel it will be good to get some more seat time on tarmac, and after our good test in Belgium 10 days ago we have a few more things to work on at this test. Then it is two days of recce.

Rally Spain has always prominently been a tarmac event. This year is the same however the first leg is gravel, followed by two days of tarmac. This does bring with it some small challenges for both the team and us in the car. Firstly for us after day 1 we will have to change my driving style and the rhythm and speed at which the pace notes are delivered will also change. The mechanics also have a longer 90minute service at the end of day 1 to transform the car into a tarmac car, meaning differentials, suspension, brakes, under body protection and suspension arms will all be changed. But there is nothing like a challenge.

Of course the goal will be to again win, but it will not be easy. I have only before done two tarmac events, the last over 12 months ago in France. This combined with the unknown aspect of how fast our competition is on tarmac will make for an interesting event. With no championship to worry about now we can go flat out and keep developing my driving.

We will have some news after Rally Spain regarding what car we will be doing the final round in GB in. I can confirm that it will not be in the PWRC. We are also continuing to work very hard on our 2012 plans but it certainly is not easy. We are currently trying to seek partners to back our program in the WRC.

We will keep you posted during the course of the event this week. In the meantime you can stay up to date daily with all our progress at www.facebook.com/haydenpaddonwrc.