Kiwi rally stars Hayden Paddon and John Kennard head for this week’s FIA World Rally Championship in Japan with a different goal than their two earlier events with Hyundai Motorsport this year.
The aim is to up the pace, says Paddon of the seventh WRC round, taking place 28-31 May in and around Toyota City, to the west of Tokyo.
“It’s another new rally for us, but this time the approach shifts,” says Paddon.
“It’s time to release the shackles and turn up the speed. There’s less pressure on us to simply finish as there was at Monte Carlo and Croatia – although this doesn’t stop that from being a key goal- but John and I want to try and get closer to our teammates in terms of speed and stage times. We’re feeling much more comfortable in the car and want to use that to try and be competitive within the top five or six.”
Earlier editions of WRC Japan have utilised flowing asphalt stages. Now, the stages are typically narrow and twisty, often lined by barriers, drop-offs or dense trees.
Paddon acknowledges they lack personal knowledge of the stages, whereas other competitors have contested many of the same stages over the two previous editions of this rally.
“However, I’ve also benefited from another one-day test in Europe, helping me get to know the car more. Based on my feelings and the data from Croatia, we tried some new setups that took us in the right direction.
“However, there’s no opportunity to test in specific Japanese conditions, so the Shakedown runs immediately before the rally starts will be very important for fine-tuning the car.”
Paddon and Kennard have competed in Japan just once before, back in 2010, when Rally Japan was on gravel and a round of the FIA Production World Rally Championship. The Kiwis finished second in this category.
“We’ve obviously been doing our homework on the stages. They look quite slow, tight and technical, so different to the European tarmac rounds. Compared to Croatia, where a huge amount of dirt and stones were dragged onto the tarmac, we’re expecting the stages in Japan to stay relatively clean, given that it’s coming into the rainy season. We can expect some wet conditions at some point during the rally, which will make roads extremely slippery.”
- Key facts: Japan Rally
- Dates: 28-31 May 2026
- Service park: Toyota City
- Surface: Asphalt
- Stages: 20 (302.82 km)
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Header Image: Hyundai Motorsport
