New Zealand rally stars Hayden Paddon and John Kennard are prepared and ready for their next event with Hyundai Motorsport in the team’s third Hyundai i20N Rally1 car at the WRC Croatia Rally, running 9 to 12 April.
With more time to prepare physically and mentally than they had for their return to the FIA World Rally Championship at January’s opening round in Monte Carlo, Paddon says the feeling going into this rally is a lot more ‘normal’.
“Despite it being a rally we’ve never done before, we’re relaxed and motivated,” says Paddon, who has frequently contested new rallies with Kennard during earlier seasons in the FIA European Rally Championship and last year’s Australian Rally Championship.
The Croatia Rally is the fourth round of the 2026 WRC and features several changes compared to earlier editions. The route moves from traditional inland farmlands to high-grip coastal roads and mountain passes of the Kvarner Gulf and Istria regions, while the rally base shifts from Zagreb to the Adriatic Sea port city of Rijeka.
With 20 special stages and around 300 competitive kilometres – all on asphalt – the rally also features a service park at the historic Grobnik Circuit, near Rijeka, and shakedown stages on the scenic island of Krk.
“From our homework, it looks quite a technical rally,” says Paddon.
“There are many narrow stages, generally medium to fast-paced. The unique challenge with this event appears to be how much cutting will be required along the road edges, with the potential for dirt, mud, and stones to be pulled onto the tarmac, affecting grip.
“For Friday’s four repeated stages, we will be the last Rally1 car on the road, so the potential for cutting pollution will be a big disadvantage. But we’re prepared for that – there’s nothing we can do other than deal with it really, so day one is more about damage limitation before we try to recover for Saturday and Sunday’s stages when we are reseeded with a better road position.”
Having had the opportunity to spend more time with Hyundai Motorsport in Europe over the past couple of months, Paddon says he’s feeling more comfortable in the car but that there’s still plenty to learn.
“Because of the WRC regulations, we are very limited on how much testing we get, and we won’t get a proper pre-event test in Croatia. To help the team, we utilised the time we had in the car, so we didn’t use up the team’s official test days. So while it’s still good mileage for us, it does mean we don’t get to drive in comparable conditions until the rally itself. But that’s a challenge we are up for, and we’re as ready as we can be. The target is to be a lot more competitive and be closer to our teammates in terms of pace.”
Key facts: Croatia Rally
- Dates: 9-12 April 2026
- Service park: Grobnik Circuit, Rijeka
- Surface: Asphalt
- Stages: 20 (300.28 km)
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