New Zealanders Hayden Paddon and John Kennard have done the job they were tasked with doing: get to the finish of Rally Monte Carlo.
The opening round of the 2026 FIA World Rally Championship, which ran 22 to 25 January, lived up to its unpredictable reputation with snow, ice, slush and mud making the 17 special stages of twisty asphalt roads through the French Alps of this year’s edition of Rally Monte Carlo every bit as challenging as it’s ever been.
Add in the fact that Paddon and Kennard were learning the Hyundai i20 Rally1 car, plus the short preparation timeframe, and it’s understandable to hear Paddon say it’s been one of the most mentally and physically challenging rallies of his life.
The Kiwis finished just outside the points in 11th place. They finished Thursday evening’s first three stages in a credible eighth place, improved to seventh place by the end of Friday, but despite trying to balance speed with low risk on Saturday, they were caught out by worsening weather and road conditions, slipping off SS12 into a paddock.
Fans helped them get the car back on the road, but the time delay dropped them to 13th overnight. They came through Sunday’s final four stages to improve to 11th overall.
Paddon says, “We got to the finish, which was obviously the first objective. I knew it was going to be a big learning process, and the conditions made it much harder than it should have been. Sometimes we had some good splits, less than a second a kilometre off the times of our teammates, so there were a few positives, but we didn’t put it together consistently enough over the weekend. Conditions were very hard to learn the car in as well.
“Honestly, I’ve dreaded coming back to this event over the last six weeks since I got the call. I never wanted to come back to this place, but it was obviously an amazing opportunity, and I’ve loved it.
“From this, I think I can move forward now; it’s like a weight off my shoulders. To be fair, I probably should have come back here eight years ago. I thought I moved on, but when I got told I was coming back, you know, this has been the most challenging six weeks of my life. But I’m a professional, and I knew what my job was.
“The conditions were tougher than what everyone expected, and it didn’t get any easier as the rally went on. The margin for error was very small, and we knew our job was to finish the rally. Driving was a balancing act that I struggled to get right. But it’s Monte Carlo, and you’ve got to remind yourself you’re very lucky to be here.”
Hyundai Motorsport will reveal which other 2026 WRC rallies Paddon and Kennard are doing with the team in due course. Meanwhile, the team heads to Rally Sweden in the middle of February, with the Finnish pairing of Esapekka Lappi and Enni Malkonen in the third Hyundai i20 Rally1 car.
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Header Image: Dufour Fabien/Hyundai Motorsport
