Just one week on from his historic WRC2 win at Rally New Zealand, Hayden Paddon has continued his winning form with victory in Rally Terra Sarda.
It was a commanding victory for the 35-year-old with Jared Hudson as co-driver, the duo claiming 9 of the 11 stages to take victory over Ivan Ballinari and Elena Giovenale by 1min 24sec. Female driver Rachele Somaschini rounded out the podium places, some three minutes off top spot.
Paddon drove superbly from the get-go, claiming the first four stages, even after accruing a 10 second penalty on Stage 3 for a jump start.
It wasn’t until Stage 5 when Spanish driver Nil Solans claimed a stage victory, the Škoda Fabia Rally2 Evo keeping the pace with the Kiwi’s Hyundai i20 R5.
Solans also took out Stage 6 to trail Paddon in the overall standings by only 8 seconds heading into the final five runs.
Damage for them on SS7, however, saw them forced to withdraw from the event, series-leader Ballinari bumped up to second overall.
The final four stages made it a winner-take-all scenario between Paddon and Ballinari in the Tour European Rally (TER) standings, victory enough for Paddon to take the title over the Swiss driver.
Ballinari had lead the standings by just three points over the Kiwi heading into the event over despite having competed in one extra rally. Paddon, competing in only three events of the six-event calendar, claimed three outright victories in the series.
This began with a victory in the class at Rally di Alba in June, followed up by the win at Ralli Ceredigion in Wales last month. Rally Terra Sarda made it three-in-a-row for the New Zealander, enough to be crowned TER champion by just one point.
Paddon quickly took to social media to share the news of the victory.
“Rally Terra Sarda winners and TER champions,” his post began.
“A very enjoyable weekend here in Sardegna and a big thanks to everyone here who has made us feel so welcome.
“Big thanks to HMI team for an amazing car and Jared continues to grow from rally to rally while doing an amazing job.”
At just 18-years-old, Hudson has already established himself in the New Zealand rally scene as one of the countries top co-drivers.
It’s been a year of success for the youngster, accolades including winning Rally South Canterbury, Ralli Ceredigion and now Rally Terra Sarda, all with Paddon at the wheel.
The future is bright for the young Kiwi as he looks to establish his name on the world stage, a great driver at the wheel helping in his journey.
