At the halfway point of the 2024 Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Championship (NZRC), there is no clear leader in the overall title fight. It could even be the first season that multiple title winner, Hayden Paddon, could come within a chance of being beaten, with three events completed and three to go.
Paddon (Hyundai i20N AP4) has a problem. With competing in the 2024 European Rally Championship, he chose to miss the Otago Rally, which was not necessarily the wrong decision, to compete in the opening ERC round. Otago had extra bonus points for each of its two Legs, so Paddon has initially given away a substantial lead to his NZRC competitors. In fact, Jack Hawkeswood came away from Otago on 38-points. Paddon was on zero.
Although Paddon has taken maximum points at the next two rounds, Rally South Canterbury and the recently held Southern Lights Rally, he sits in fourth, a full 24-points behind current overall leader Robbie Stokes who is on 84, with Ben Hunt on 83 and Jack Hawkeswood in third on 63.
Paddon’s dilemma is that he may need to choose whether to compete in the penultimate round of the NZRC, Rally Bay of Plenty (5 October 2024) or in the final round of the ERC, Rally Silesia (Poland) 6-8 October 2024.
For the next two NZRC rounds, the Daybreaker Rally, 14 September and the Rally of Bay of Plenty, 5 October, there are a maximum of 30-points available for each round, 25-points available for the win and five for the Power Stage.
Like the Otago Rally, the final, the International Rally of Whangarei, has a maximum of 44-points available with bonus points also available for both legs (days), a maximum of seven-points for first, down to one-point for fifth in each leg, plus 25 for the win and five for the Power Stage.
While the NZRC title is awarded to the best driver over all six rounds, the ERC allows a driver to drop their worst result or not compete at one event as it is a combination of the best seven of eight rounds. Paddon sits first equal in the ERC after three rounds and now needs to rely on finishing and scoring well in the next four events.
If Paddon wins all three remaining NZRC events and takes maximum points from each of the power stages as well as both legs of Rally Whangarei, he will end up on 186 points.
Stokes (Ford Fiesta AP4) needs to ideally finish second to Paddon where all points are awarded, and he will take the title. Yet both Ben Hunt (Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo) and Jack Hawkeswood (Toyota Yaris AP4) will be too competitive to allow this to happen and throw in Emma Gilmour (Citroen C3 Rally2) and podium results will be shared and not necessarily a given for Stokes.
Paddon will be working on a calculated gamble at first, not needing to attend the final ERC round in Poland and second, the rivalry amongst his Kiwi competitors impacting on their final results allowing him to break-through and take his eight NZ title.
NZ Rally Championship Drivers Points after 3/6 rounds (Top 10)
1/ Robbie Stokes 84
2/ Ben Hunt 83
3/ Jack Hawkeswood 63
4/ Hayden Paddon 60
5/ Emma Gilmour 59
6/ Zeal Jones 58
7/ Dylan Thomson 48
8/ Jack Stokes 42
9/ Tim MacKersy 40
10/ Stewart Reid 34
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