May
10
Hayden Paddon: Victory in Rally New Zealand
Hi,
Well I am pleased to inform you that we have finished Rally New Zealand with the dream result that we were wanting. 1st PWRC, 1st Kiwi and 14th overall – an absolutely dream weekend and result.
The days 4 stages included the infamous Whaanga Coast stage, which is a long winding stage alongside the coastline. It is a very difficult stage and is the sort of stage that can bite back, as the room for error is so little. Luckily with our margin of 4 minutes to the next PWRC competitor we were able to take it easy all day to conserve our position. The only hiccup we had throughout the day was a failing clutch that at the midday service in Raglan I was quite nervous about. For the final two stages I adapted to not using the clutch which can be done with the gearboxes that we run but just required a different driving style. Luckily it all held together for us to reach the finish, clinching our maiden PWRC round win – the first for a New Zealander.
The result is fantastic, something that we are all over the moon about. We have not pushed outside our boundaries all event, setting a consistent pace rather than trying to be the fastest on every stage. This is an aspect that I learnt from Rally Turkey about finding a rhythm and pace to suit the 3 day event. We did just that which is why the result is even more encouraging, knowing that we have so much more in the tank. Best of all there is not a scratch on the car!
The support that we have had all week from the spectators, fans and media has been massive! It has been overwhelming and a real buzz how much support we have had which gives us a real lift. I have also been told that over the weekend that we have received a lot of live TV coverage from the event and the helicopter chase of our car through the stages. I have added a couple of links below as a taster for some of the coverage that we have received.
A huge thanks to the whole team, Dad, John, Math, Neil, Rob, AD, Katie, Jackie, Mike and Sue who all did a fantastic job not only throughout the week but in our preparations for the rally. This is a great result for the whole team! Also a huge thanks to all our partners and sponsors. It was great to see Rallytours guests out in force on the stages of which I’m sure they enjoyed their experiences.
In the meantime a few of the guys fly home tonight. While after we finish the pack up tonight we depart for home first thing in the morning. Once we get home it is a matter of planning and preparing the Team Green Evo 9 for Rally Whangarei, which will be staying in the North Island for the time being. We also have just a week and a half before John and I depart for Rally Portugal with the Pirelli Star Driver team, which I cannot wait for.