Paddon wins Rally Whangarei; heads for ERC Poland

| Photographer Credit: Tayler Burke

It’s all go for New Zealand rally stars Hayden Paddon and John Kennard at present, having secured another win in the New Zealand Rally Championship, the second round of which took place in Whangarei from 12 to 14 May. The pair now head straight back to Europe for round three of the 2023 FIA European Rally Championship (ERC) in Poland starting 18 May.

Paddon and Kennard took a start-to-finish win in Whangarei, winning all 18 stages and ultimately finishing three minutes, 53.9 seconds ahead of Ben Hunt in second place.

The victory means the pair continue to hold first place on the NZRC Drivers’ and Co-drivers’ points-tables, and puts them in the unique position of leading a rally championship in New Zealand and another one in Europe.

Paddon was understandably pleased with the weekend’s results in Whangarei. “I’m really pleased to come away from here with maximum points in the championship, seeing as we’re missing the next round in South Canterbury. It was important we had a clean rally and there was a massive attrition rate here this weekend, with a number of competitors out for a variety of reasons. We just tried to keep our noses clean and have a good rally, so we’ve ticked all the boxes on that front.”

While it’s often on Paddon’s radar to aim for new stage records on the Kiwi rallies where he knows the stages so well, he admits that wasn’t his main aim this weekend. “We got a couple of stage records, which is nice, but with heavy rain in the region last week, it didn’t allow for the roads to be in the best condition, plus we were chasing every point on offer and needed a clean rally.”

An added bonus from the Whangarei result was the opportunity to secure the Pacific Cup as part of the 2023 FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC). The Pacific Cup is a sub-title for drivers and co-drivers and contested at three of the seven rounds on the 2023 calendar. Having scored maximum points in the second APRC round in Otago, Paddon and John Kennard overtook the lead previously held by Japan’s Takuma Kamada after the shortened Rally of Tsumagoi earlier in the year.

Paddon paid credit to everyone at PRG. “The whole team did an amazing job as they continue to do at every rally with our car and our PRG customer cars. Our team is gelling well and it’s a pleasure to be part of it all.”

Hayden Paddon and John Kennard at Rally Whangarei – Photo Tayler Burke

Looking forward to the next ERC round in Poland, which is based in Mikołajki in the Masurian lake district, a three-hour drive north from the capital Warsaw, Paddon says they expect a completely different rally.

“It’s obviously positive for us that we’re getting as much seat time as we can in the same model of Hyundai, but in terms of the road surface and the feeling we’ll have in the car next week in Poland, it will be quite different to Whangarei.”

Paddon is the number one seed for Rally Poland, ahead of what’s expected to be a close, fast field of drivers from Spain, Sweden, Italy, Poland, France and other European countries. The top level competitors do a qualifying stage on Friday lunchtime before the ceremonial start and a super special stage. On Saturday, they do three stages twice plus an arena stage in the early evening. On Sunday, they contest four stages repeated morning and afternoon. Overall, the competitive distance travelled is 182 km.

Paddon says: “We’re feeling good. We’ve had a very good start to the year, so we’re trying to carry this momentum on and bring home another podium finish next week.”

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