How quick (and lucky) was Hayden Paddon in Otago?

For the dedicated rally fan, there is something about attending a live event, particularly if Hayden Paddon is on the entry list. TV coverage is great but there is so much more to being there live which fulfills all the sensors.

For a rally spectator, it’s about four things.

The journey

Getting to a rally is all about the journey. Often this starts many months before when a date is confirmed. There is the planning and preparation, mates to organise, accommodation and the all-important itinerary in getting from Special Stage to Special Stage.

Often this involves getting out of bed early, especially for the first stage of an event, traveling on unfamiliar back roads with a rally map, parking as close as you can then climbing over farmers’ fences and standing in a paddock, waiting for the sun to rise and hearing the first car coming some distance off.

The waiting and the anticipation.

The chatter amongst like-minded fans, the checking of phones for rally updates. It slowly builds until you see the dust rising from distant roads and the noise of the approaching rally car (although I’m not sure how we will get on if we go all electric).

The arrival

Finally there is the arrival of the first of many competitors. This can be in all forms depending on driver ability, their car, speed , their point of braking, their cornering style and conditions of the day, whether it is dusty, wet, dry, hot or cold.

Then suddenly it is over and the car is gone, until, roughly a minute later, another one enters the fray.

A story to tell

The final rung of the ladder is the story to tell after and the memory to take away with your mates. All the senses have been activated – the taste of dust, the smell of hot brakes, the noise of rally cars coming and going, and if you are unlucky, you’ve been pelted by flying stones.

All these steps are accentuated with a driver such as Hayden Paddon. He is more than head and shoulders above the rest of our NZ Rally Championship field. He can tick all the boxes for the spectator as he is spectacular.

However, our trip to Special Stage 11 had mixed results, but a good story to tell. We could hear Paddon’s Hyundai i20N AP4 car coming but as it got nearer we all knew something was wrong.

He lacked speed, his cornering was slow and style was out-the-door. ‘Puncture!’ was the word that someone yelled out.

Take a look at the photo below and particularly at his left front wheel.

Here is a closer photo (below) from Terry Marshall and as you can see, the left front has perished and given up.

With approximately 4kms to go, he drove out instead of stopping and fixing it, losing time and handing the stage win to a well-deserved and very fast Ben Hunt.

It was to happen again to Paddon on the final SS14, this time with his right front tyre.

“We had a couple of tyre issues today,” Paddon said to us at the final time control. ” I’m not sure why, obviously the roads were a bit more abrasive and we were pushing them a bit harder.”

Matt Sunmerfield/Nicole Summerfield were to pick up that stage win (SS14).

Of the 14 Special Stages, four were new, so hadn’t had a record time previously set.

Of the others, Paddon’s two punctures meant he missed out on two but in seven of the remaining eight, he set new records.

Here’s a list of the stages, previous records and new times set.

Stage	Stage Name	Distance	Previous record	Record Holder	Paddon’s time
1	Burma Rd	23.37km	11:27.6 (121.8 kph)	Richard Mason	10:55.7 (128.31 kph)
2	Admas Flat	13.15km	6:27.4 (112.9 kph)	Richard Mason	6:26.5 (122.48 kph)
3	Manuka Hill	49.02km	23:30.8 (126.7 kph)	Richard Mason	21:47.0 (135.02 kph)
4	Cockleshell	12.96km	6:43.1 (114.8 kph)	Richard Mason	6:21.2 (122.39 kph)
5	Corkscrew	16.72km	9:40.4 (103.6 kph)	Andrew Hawkeswood	9:01.8 (111.1 kph)
6	Puketi	23.91km	New stage		11:21.3 (126.34 kph)
7	Tarmac Super Stage	2.15km	1:27.6 (86.0 kph)	Richard Mason	1:30.2 (85.81 kph)
8	Siberia 1	38.05km	New stage		24:08.0 (94.60 kph)
9	Waipori Gorge	12.89km	7:48.6 (96.5 kph)	Hayden Paddon	7:30.9 (102.91 kph)
10	McLaren Gully	8.82km	New stage		4:01.7 (131.37 kph)
11	Table Hill	28.24km	New stage		13:29.6 (127.46 kph)
12	Siberia 2 (repeat of SS8)	38.05km	24:08.0 (94.60 kph)	Hayden Paddon	23:46.9 (96 kph)
13	Taieri Beach	8.6km	5:04.9 (102.5 kph)	Hayden Paddon	4:34.9 (112.62 kph)
14	Kuri Bush	15.05km	7:15.4 (124.6 kph)	Hayden Paddon	7:34.5 (119.21 kph)

It wouldn’t be surprising if Paddon returns in 2022 with a goal to get a clear sweep at Rally Otago, winning all the stages and setting new records on each. SS7, the Tarmac Super Stage on the streets of Dunedin may be difficult as this record was set with racing tyres and not the gravel tyres that must now be used by competitors.