Hyundai Motorsport WRC driver Hayden Paddon previews the latest round of the WRC calendar, Rally Australia…..
What a year it has been and it doesn’t seem like that long ago that we were conducting winter testing in Monte Carlo in January. This weekend’s Rally Australia marks the end of a long but successful season and of course we want to finish it off in style. A good result here not only gives us a good chance to take 3rd in the championship but more importantly it would help us build some momentum going into 2017.
Rally Australia is the closest we get to a home rally and with the amount of Kiwis that head across the ditch, it almost feels like one too. It’s a hugely humbling experience having so much support and helps us to lift another level.
While we are targeting to fight at the front, lessons have been learnt from last year where expectations were high and we were unable to deliver the result we wanted. This year the focus is on producing the best performance we can – from the preparation, pacenotes and of course the driving itself. I am more hungry than ever for a good result and will do everything in my power to do that this weekend but its also a balancing act – naturally I want to go on the ‘full attack’ but this can also cause ‘over driving’ which is not the fastest way. So we have to balance the aggression and motivation with calmness and smoothness.
We have not done any particular testing for this event, as with long haul events it is only allowed to test in Europe – and with it being the end of the season and championships already decided, the testing programs are focused on 2017. Before flying back to this side of the world, we spent another day in the new 2017 car, which is coming along nicely. It’s of course faster and more exciting, but at the same time maybe not as big of difference to what some people think. But the cars will create a better spectacle on the stages.
Also recently we announced in conjunction with Hyundai NZ the finalists for the young driver shootout that we are hosting next month in Auckland. The winner will join our NZ rally team and driving 2 rally’s in the NZ AP4+ car. It’s a huge opportunity for young talent and we were blown away with over 180 applicants. The growth and future of rallying in NZ is looking very strong. From a personal perspective its great to see this intuitive come alive from a vision we had 12 months ago. Hyundai NZ have been pivotal in helping me make this vision become reality and this is only the first step. We have many more plans in place for the future. A special shout out to Reece Jones and Mike Pittams who have joined our Paddon Rallysport team in NZ and are helping to put everything together.
For now the focus is firmly on good finish to the year. We have good stage knowledge, good car setup and good pacenotes. Now we just have to put that all together on the day and nail every corner. It’s also going to be great to be hosting our own group of 110 VIP and guests – it seems our group is only getting bigger every year. Hats off to Katie who continues to build our tour into something bigger and better each year.
As always you can find all the quick links to follow us throughout the rally at our website – www.haydenpaddon.com
Lets do this – pedal to the metal!
Hayden
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