New Zealand rally star Hayden Paddon has wrapped up an eventful and successful year of rally competition around the globe by winning Rally Bay of Plenty on Saturday 31 October 2026.
With co-driver Jared Hudson alongside, Paddon won the one-day rally based in Whakatāne by a handy margin of two minutes over second-placed crew Mike Young and Hudson’s sister Amy. This was Paddon’s fourth consecutive win of this event and his third consecutive win with Hudson as co-driver, John Kennard having co-driven the 2023 event.
The nine-stage, 162 km rally, which covered an array of gravel and forestry roads around Kawerau and Lakes Rotoiti and Rotoma, also marked the final outing for Paddon Racing Group’s outstandingly successful Hyundai i20 N Rally2 car which has won nearly every event it’s contested in New Zealand and Australia.
Paddon says the whole team had a great weekend in Bay of Plenty. “It’s always nice to come away with a good result and, as our last rally in this particular Rally2 chassis, it was especially nice to sign it off with another win.”
He says it wasn’t a straightforward day. “Being seeded first on the road, Heavy gravel made the roads a real challenge that Jared and I had to work through – I would say the most slippery conditions I have ever encountered at this rally. The rally also provided the team with an active test to try various compounds of the Hankook rally tyres and gain more data.
“As always, massive thanks to the whole team who did an amazing job, with all the cars prepared by PRG having a relatively good event.”
Paddon acknowledges fans are keen to know what’s ahead for him. “What’s next, is the question I’m asked all the time. Right now, it’s very unclear what 2027 has in store both locally and internationally, but we will continue to work through things over the coming months to see what we can pull together.”
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