There are two reasons why Hayden Paddon is currently leading the NZ Rally Championship (NZRC) heading to the fifth round this coming weekend in the Coromandel. He’s incredibly quick but more importantly his car this has season been reliable. If you look at his rivals in the competition, it is reliability that has let them down. As in any close competition, first you must finish in order to gain important championship points. Falter and it cost you dearly.
This raises the question, ‘Is reliability the unspoken factor that is determining our national rally championship?’
Let’s look at the facts. Paddon is in a class of his own and while we are fortunate to have him competing in our domestic rally scene unfortunately we don’t really want him here. Why? Because if he isn’t competing at home it will be because he has a full time WRC gig which ultimately is what we want to see for him.
Paddon has won every NZRC stage this year except for one (SS3 Rally South Canterbury). Now for Paddon’s NZRC rivals, the only way to beat him is to finish every rally as highly placed as possible and if the cards fall your way and he meets unreliability then you are ready to take advantage.
Chances of this happening are remote because this year with a reduced WRC program, Paddon needs to perform at his best outside of the WRC. He is demonstrating both speed and reliability and at this rate will not be beaten.
Let’s look at the current status of the NZRC points table.
2018 NZ Rally Championship Points Table (4/6 rounds) – Top seven
1/ Hayden Paddon 118
2/ Josh Marston 85
3/ Ben Hunt 80
4/ Nathan Quinn (Australia) 71
5/ Matt Summerfield 64
6/ Emma Gilmour 62
7/ Raana Horan 58
For the ‘best of the rest’ (those that are competing in the entire six round championship), Christchurch’s Josh Marston (pictured) is in second place because he has finished every rally. While he won Rally Canterbury his next best result was fourth at the opening round at Rally Otago followed by sixth at both Rally Whangarei and Rally South Canterbury. He’s not the fastest out there as arguably Hunt, Gilmour and Summerfield are quicker but he has finished rallies and won in Canterbury. What helped was Paddon not competing due to WRC commitments, his rivals faltered and he was quick in the mud (helped by good tyre choices).
Ben Hunt from Nelson could and should be leading the NZRC but a retirement at Canterbury with electrical problems and finishing 59th at South Canterbury have dropped him down the order. Two second places for the Subaru Legacy driver in the opening two rounds sees him third overall. Arguably he is the quickest rival for Paddon, based on (completed) stage times and remember he isn’t in an AP4 car. Lucky for him the two second places have helped his cause.
Let’s take Australian Nathan Quinn out of the equation. While he is currently fourth overall, he didn’t compete at Rally Otago and it is unconfirmed as to whether he will compete in the last two rounds.
Rangiora’s Matt Summerfield (Mitsubishi Mirage) has been piloting a Subaru WRX for a number of seasons and in 2018 switched to the very quick ex-Brian Green Mitsubishi Mirage for the 2018 season. Third place at Rally Otago in a new car reflects how quick he is. However, suspension issues at Whangarei saw him finish 16th. Handling issues earlier on in Canterbury dropped him back to seventh overall and a mechanical issue saw him drop out of Rally South Canterbury.
Dunedin’s Emma Gilmour is languishing in sixth overall. Gilmour is decidedly quick this season in her Suzuki Swift Maxi but again has been let down by reliability. Heading for a well-deserved third place at her home rally at Otago, a puncture right at the end of the event dropped her down to 20th overall. Two fourth places at Whangarei and South Canterbury shows she is knocking on the door of a podium finish but again at Canterbury, an event she won back in 2016, a broken differential saw her retire.
Raana Horan is an offroad specialist who has this season made the switch to rallying. His top result, in an older Mitsubishi EVO, was third at Rally Canterbury. Sixth in Otago, 26th at Whangarei and ninth at South Canterbury sees him seventh overall. Now he has purchased the ex-Gaurav Gill factory built Skoda R5, expect him to be blindingly quick and knocking on the door of another podium.
Rally Canterbury was the pivotal round for Paddon’s rivals to pounce which they failed to do. Instead the results from the one-day event at Queen’s Birthday weekend threw up a curve ball. Paddon went into the round with an 18-point advantage over Hunt who retired with engine trouble, Gilmour retired on the last stage and Rangiora’s Matt Summerfield had suspension trouble dropping down the overall rally results. Paddon retained his 18-point advantage over Hunt with Canterbury Rally winner Josh Marston moving into third overall, just two points behind Hunt.
Anything can happen in rallying. Many variables are out of a driver’s control but there are many that they (and the team) can control. While this article looks at the facts (the results), it is one perspective and maybe we’ll have another article from a team or driver’s perspective about how hard it is to get reliability.
Arguably reliability is a determining factor in each of the NZRC rounds. The competition is some of the best that New Zealand has seen in its domestic series. A series where reliability means results!
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