He may not like to be thought of as having a hero status but if I was a ten-year-old kid I think Hayden Paddon would be mine. The fact that parents could take their children out to Ashley Forest last weekend to see a current World Rally Championship driver in action is a rare event in this country. Apparently 2,000 people turned up.
Well, maybe not so rare with Hayden. He’s competed in four of our national rally championship rounds this winter and will make one more appearance at Rally NZ in October. It is certainly quite special when making the trek to one of these NZRC events and finding a spectator point and there is already 200 people gathered in the remote country side. And that is just one corner.
We need more of this and we did for a time when the ill-fated V8 SuperTourers were in their very short hey-day. Then we saw the likes of Shane van Gisbergen, Greg Murphy, Fabian Coulthard, Lee Holdsworth, Alex Davison and the emerging Scott McLaughlin and Chaz Mostert. This was a major draw-card for spectators.
Paddon is not precious, nor is he above getting into a lessor class of car. This season he has been on a mission and coming back home gave him the opportunity to race and fulfill sponsorship commitments.
The icing on the cake for those rally fans at Ashley Forest was to see an ex WRC driver, Alistair McRae, win the event in an ex WRC 1998 Subaru that was campaigned by the late Possum Bourne. Long may it continue.
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