It is now finally that time for the event we have been anticipating the most this year – Rally Australia. It is nice to return to an event we know and where we have also had some good success in the past.

Our preparation this week has gone well and eager to get into Shakedown tomorrow. From recce, the roads are in great condition, maybe even better and more hard base than last year. However, the roads are quite challenging in places, particularly the 6 Friday stages. Friday will be crucial for the whole event, as Saturday's stages including the long 48km stage has a heavy covering of gravel that no one will want to sweep. The road order for Saturday is determined by the reverse classification order of the WRC cars from Friday – hence why we have to push from the start.

Tomorrow at shakedown we have some set-ups to confirm from recent testing. I am feeling really confident going into this rally and hope to lift things to another level from Finland. You will be able to follow us throughout the rally on our twitter page (@haydenpaddon) or Facebook (www.facebook.com/haydenpaddonwrc). Additionally to you can follow the rally live on wrc.com via rally radio and the cool new WRC+ app.

Finally it is great to see Sky TV NZ broadcasting 3 stages live throughout the rally (1 Saturday and 2 Sunday). Check guides for times.

Look forward to keeping you up to date, and looking forward to sharing the rally this week with the 100’s of Kiwi’s that have made the journey over.