Hayden Paddon drove his fully electric Hyundai Kona EV to victory at the Ashley Forest Rallysprint by a tight margin over the weekend, crossing the line three tenths of a second faster than the second place time.
It was the second time the South Islander had entered his Kona EV he developed with the team at Paddon Rallysport in a competitive event, achieving a time of 55.64 seconds up the 1.7km gravel hillclimb.
However, it wasn’t quite enough to beat his previous time of 52.77 seconds he set in his petrol-powered Hyundai AP4 rally car in 2019 due to more challenging road conditions.
Nevertheless, there was some stiff competition for the win in the unlimited 4WD category as Paddon had former Ashley Forest Rallysprint winner Sloan Cox to contend with.
Cox set a time of 55.92 seconds on his final run which was just 0.28 seconds off Paddon’s winning time.
“The win is awesome for the whole team and our supporters. We had some challenges and it’s not as straightforward as you’d normally expect on an event like this in terms of managing the car, the battery, and the software,” said Paddon.
“That makes the win even more rewarding for the team when we’ve been up against some of the fastest hillclimb cars in New Zealand like Sloan’s. He delivered a great performance so for an electric car to win is something to be proud of.
“It’s been a really good battle with Sloan all weekend. He had a few problems but once he got them sorted, it was super close between us. To be honest, it’s always more enjoyable to battle like this with close times each run, and he certainly pushed us.”
Paddon went on to comment about the support the event received over the weekend saying, “The vibe on event from the public was really promising. It’s something different, especially at an event like Ashley where you see a mix of all kinds of cars.”
“We believe in what we’re doing and trying to improve the future of the sport by thinking outside the box, so it’s nice to have support.
“People asked lots of questions about how the car works; they’re interested in the ingenuity of this project and the technology which gives us the opportunity to educate people.
“As they see it out in action, they might have a different appreciation for electric cars and what they’re capable of.”
The Kona EV will make its next appearance in a series of demonstration runs at the highly anticipated Repco Rally New Zealand at the end of the month. Paddon will be competing in the WRC2 category in his Hyundai i20 Rally2 for the main event running from September 29 to October 2.
Main image: Hayden Paddon Facebook
