Hayden Paddon is set to compete in this weekend’s South Canterbury Rally giving him valuable preparation for his upcoming return to Europe later this month.
Last month, Paddon announced that he would be competing in the Rally Di Alba on June 24 and 25 alongside co-driver John Kennard marking the start of their two year European campaign in WRC2.
This weekend’s rally will offer Paddon some competitive kilometres behind the wheel of his Hyundai i20 AP4 on what are some of the fastest rally stages in the country.
Power and speed are crucial to setting fast times on the Canterbury stages but Paddon acknowledges that the engine package of his i20 is not the strongest in the competitive NZRC field.
He’ll be relying on the car’s great handling package instead, making up time in the corners.
“We expect much closer competition in Timaru, but we are prepared for that and have a few things up our sleeve,” said Paddon.
Paddon added, “Even though it’s where I grew up and where I competed in my first ever rally, it’s our weakest event in terms of performance due to the outright speed of these roads.”
“Our engine package is not the strongest out there, but we’ll try and make up time in the places where we know we can, that is in the corners, thanks to the Hyundai’s great handling package.”
As John Kennard is already in Europe ready to start the European campaign, Paddon has given the co-driving duties to young kiwi Jared Hudson from Christchurch.
“The Timaru rally offers me valuable seat-time before our first event back in Europe which is the first of four events in seven weeks so we’re all really excited for this busy period of competition in Europe. Half our team from New Zealand will join me and John in Italy, then we’ve got a rotation process for the others for more international events later in the year to make sure everyone is a part of the journey.” said Paddon.
Coming into round three of the New Zealand Rally Championship, Paddon tops the points-table but will miss out on the fourth round in Hawkes Bay due to his European commitments.
The goal for Timaru is to secure another win and achieve maximum points.
The one-day South Canterbury Rally takes place on June 18 near Timaru, Canterbury.
Main image: Paddon Rallysport Facebook
