Paddon and Kennard to defend European Rally Championship title

Hayden Paddon and co-driver John Kennard will return to Europe to defend their 2023 European Rally Championship title.

The duo, embarking on their 19th season competing together, return to Italian outfit BRC Racing Team for the campaign, driving a Hyundai i20N Rally2.

Paddon became the first non-European to win the title in its illustrious 70-year history, winning the opening Rally Serras de Fafe e Felgueiras and finishing as runner-up in Rally Islas Canarias, Rally Poland, Rally Liepaja and the Royal Rally of Scandinavia.

Third place in the Rally di Roma Capitale set the Kiwis up for the title, which they claimed at Barum Czech Rally Zlin despite not finishing. With the championship secured, they missed the season-ending Rally Hungary.

“We’ve been working to confirm our return to the European Rally Championship over the New Zealand summer, and I’m very pleased that with the support of BRC Racing Team, Hyundai Motorsport, Hyundai New Zealand and Pirelli, we are now heading back to Europe to try and defend our title,” said Paddon.

“Returning for this second ERC season, I expect that John and I will have targets painted on our backs with other competitors striving to beat us. We expect a tougher fight this year, but John and I will look to lift our performances this year on some of the events we will now have experience of – it will be an exciting year.  

“The European championship is pretty much what rallying is all about to me. The ERC is the best fit for us, where I am in my career. We contested half of the eight [2024] rallies last year, so at least we have more experience than we had 12 months ago. That leaves half as new-to-us rallies with more Tarmac events than gravel.

“We’re up for that challenge because our performance on Tarmac has come a long way in the last few years. We back ourselves to be equally as competitive on Tarmac as we are on gravel.”  

Paddon adds to his long-standing partnership with 65-year-old Kennard: “It’s awesome to have John back in the car again. Being our 19th year working together, it’s like a fine wine getting better with age. We’re both excited to get back over there and put last years’ experience to good use. We’ll hit the ground running this year, knowing more what to expect from some of the rallies, the competition, and the teams.”

Paddon has been quick to acknowledge the contribution made by BRC Racing Team, Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing and Pirelli in helping him become ERC champion last season.  

“Everyone at BRC was incredible to work with last year while John and I were competing in the various ERC events across Europe for the first time,” said Paddon, 36. “The combined efforts of BRC, Hyundai Motorsport and our own Paddon Racing Group team in New Zealand enabled us to progress the development of the Hyundai i20 N Rally 2 car.   

“I’m proud that Pirelli have played a big part in my career since 2010. We saw last year that Pirelli was the best all-round tyre for the whole championship, and we feel they will give us the best chance for success again this year.”

Gabriele Rizzo, Team Principal of BRC Racing Team, said: “It’s never easy to put a programme together at this level, and it was quite a challenge indeed during the winter. We must thank the effort made by Hayden and all his partners and sponsors, in particular Hyundai New Zealand.

“We’ll work hard to achieve the ambitious target to win a second title in a row and this will be surely helped by having great technical partners like Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing and Pirelli.

“We expect a fierce and refreshed list of competitors, definitely it will not be easy. We’ll need to perform at our best with solid results with the same motivation with which we started last season.”  

Rally Islas Canarias, the Royal Rally of Scandinavia, Rally Roma di Capitale and Barum Czech Rally Zlin return to the calendar in 2024.

Rally Hungary, Estonia, Rali Ceredigion and Rally Silesia were not on the 2023 calendar. However, Paddon has previous experience in Estonia and Wales, having won the 2022 Rali Ceredigion.

2024 European Rally Championship Schedule