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Paddon targets outright speed for victory in WRC Rally GB

Demonstrating his outright speed is the key goal for New Zealand rally driver Hayden Paddon as he lines up for the final World Rally Championship round of the season, Wales Rally GB.

Paddon, the 23-year-old two-time New Zealand rally champion from Geraldine, is one of five Pirelli Star Drivers who won the opportunity to contest six WRC events in the 2010 season. Paddon secured funding to add two other WRC events to his calendar and thus be eligible to earn points in the 2010 FIA Production World Rally Championship – one of just a handful of New Zealanders to ever contest the WRC feeder series.

Paddon goes into the season finale – four days in length on the traditionally wet, slippery roads around Cardiff in Wales – as the third-placed driver in the PWRC standings.

After a disappointing run thwarted by mechanical issues at the last round at Rally France, Paddon’s hopes of challenging for the PWRC title were dashed. Yet with his trademark determination, he’s refocused his goals for the Welsh event.

“Yes, it was disappointing in France, but the championship title isn’t a priority now. We [Paddon and co-driver John Kennard from Blenheim] have no chance of winning and, realistically, no one remembers who gets second or third,” says Paddon from his temporary base in the United Kingdom.

“We have achieved our goal from the start of this season and that’s for a top three PWRC placing. We achieved that prior to the last rally in France, so in that respect this season’s performance has met our expectations.

“The goal for Wales Rally GB is to try and win the PWRC category,” states the ever-improving, determined Paddon. “But we know this will be very difficult as the competition is very tough with defending PWRC champion Armindo Araujo, second-placed Patrik Flodin and fellow Pirelli Star Driver Ott Tanak all gunning for the same result.”

Paddon has been described by international media as ‘a model of consistency in his first season in the series’. Despite contesting most of his 2010 events for the first time, he’d delivered a class win and three top three places before the challenges of Rally France when he finished seventh.

“I am solely focused on being the fastest I possibly can be at every event, but I think I have some more development to do to get to that stage. Our team-mate, Ott, is very quick and it’s been very good for me to have that challenge of striving to match his pace. Back on gravel, Ott will again be very quick. We’re putting ourselves up for comparison to Ott as he is someone that’s being talked about a lot within the WRC community and as we’re in identical cars, we naturally have to compare well to his performance.

“We have started Rally GB before – in 2007 – but only managed five kilometres of the first stage, so this is our first serious tilt at this prestigious, well-known event. We do know that the roads are very slippery and we’re certainly expecting wet conditions. The roads tend to be a little rough and cut up in places, but after events like Japan they’ll seem smooth!”

Since Rally France at the beginning of October, Paddon has remained in the UK. His preparation for Rally GB has involved studying footage and work on pace notes. He’s also been working on his 2011 plans and chasing up opportunities and meetings that could help him put together a competitive rally season next year.

After Rally GB, Paddon returns to New Zealand to consolidate his 2011 plans. Given his first-ever attempt at the FIA Production World Rally Championship has resulted in, at the minimum, a very strong third place, many Kiwi rally fans will be looking forward to hearing the details of competitive programme this talented and popular driver plans to tackle next.
 
The Paddon RallySport team acknowledges the support of Pirelli, Ralliart Italy, EDL Fasteners, Rallytours, Castrol, Contiki Tours, Paddon, MCA Suspension, Vicarage Lane Wines, Radio Hauraki, Radio Sport, Northend Ford, In-Tune Automotive, All About Signs, Total Automotive, Resene, FMG, Raiseys Nutrition, Endless, 1Group, FMG, Steelplus, Andar the Front Store, Reaction Racing, Pope Print, Cameron Air & Seafreight and Bluebridge Ferries.