Paddon rallies to give young drivers hope

When you live deep in the Southern Hemisphere, making your make on the world motorsport stage is not easy, yet it’s far from impossible.

In fact, New Zealand has a long history of drivers who have conquered the world stage. Names like McLaren, Hulme, Hartley, Dixon, Richards, McLaughlin and Paddon.

Not impossible, but not easy either.

Drivers north of the equator have many more chances to establish themselves, not just in terms of putting their names in front of a wider range of movers and shakers, but also in attracting lucrative sponsorship deals.

It doesn’t hurt to have a name that’s synonymous with motorsport either.

In rallying, young Norwegian, Oliver Solberg (main picture), is rapidly rising through the ranks of rallying’s young guns, and later this month will make his debut in a World Rally Car.

The son of 2003 World Rally Champion Petter Solberg, young Oliver was born with his foot on the accelerator pedal, so his progress through the ranks hasn’t come as a surprise.

His WRCar debut in a Hyundai i20 WRC at this month’s Arctic Rally Finland has come a bit out of the blue though, but nobody is expecting the youngster to struggle to come to grips on his (at this stage) one-off drive in the factory car.

For talented young drivers down south though, opportunities such as Solberg’s are something to only dream about.

After Hayden Paddon’s WRC success, young Kiwi David Holder embarked on a Junior WRC program in 2018, but he was pushing uphill from the start.

Not from Europe, without the appropriate funding, and with a season of brand new events against drivers used to local conditions, Holder was always going to be up against it. And so it proved.

Now though, Paddon is doing his bit to help young rally drivers make their mark, with the launch of his Winmax Brakes Junior Driver Development program.

The program is open to drivers under the age of 25, and for the first year, Paddon has selected three drivers to take part; Jack Hawkeswood, Ari Pettigrew and Harri Judd.

All will compete in the New Zealand Rally Championship, with Hawkeswood driving a Mazda 2 AP4, and Pettigrew and Judd in the two-wheel drive category.

The trio will receive some financial assistance and Winmax brake pads, but more importantly, they’ll get to work closely with Paddon on goal setting, driving tuition and pace note work.

Several group workshops will also be held for the young stars to focus on key areas of their rallying.

None of this will guarantee them a place in the WRC, or even rally or NZRC wins, but it’s a damn good start, and something Paddon and his team should be congratulated form.

Too often the “poor cousin” of circuit racing, rallying’s profile continues to grow in New Zealand, and the Junior Driver Development program will only help the cause.

All three will have the chance to show their skills at the opening round of the national championship at Otago in April. Talkmotorsport will be watching their progress closely.

Peter has been the editor of RallySport Magazine since its inception in 1989, in both printed and online form. He is a long-time competitor, event organiser and official, as well as working in the media.

http://rallysportmag.com

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