Hayden Paddon: WRC Rally Germany

So we completed todays final two stages to finish the rally 3rd WRC2 and a surprising 8th outright amongst the WRC cars. After day 1 problems it is a fantastic result and one that we are very happy with. Today we had a drama-free day and just took it steady to bring it home and bag another good result.

It has been a weekend of progression in a sense. We dropped to 36th overall after stage 1 and climbed back to 8th, recovered from 9th WRC2 to 3rd and have now lifted from 19th in the WRC2 championship to 10th from our two scoring rounds to date. So everything is heading in the right direction.

Naturally of course we would like to be winning but at the same time we have to be realistic that trying to compete with the turbo cars ahead of us on these tight narrow roads was a tall ask. The Skoda’s handling is very good however, and on certain events we will be able to compete with them, and from knowing the difference between the cars we are encouraged with our speed and times.

A big thanks to everyone that has made the past month possible along with our back to back podiums, including our BRR team who have done an incredible job and given us a great car. Also to Katie who continues to do an amazing job keeping you all up to date and working all hours of the night. A big thanks also to John who did another great job. Dad and all the directors back home in NZ have also been working tirelessly to make sure we are still out on the stages and I cant thank them all enough. A big thank you to Lance and Kerrie who have looked after us while in the UK and have been on event with us in Germany helping us out. Also to all our supporters and fans, along with the several kiwis that have been here this weekend cheering us on, it has been amazing! Finally a huge thanks to all our partners and in particular VINZ, Stadium Cars, Giltrap Group, PlaceMakers, Telecom and Z Energy.

So what’s next?........the long flight home. We fly home tomorrow to now prepare for next weeks PBMS rally, a round of the New Zealand Rally Championship. I am very lucky to have an incredible group of friends and team at home who have been working tirelessly to get our Evo prepared and ready for the rally while we have been here in Europe. After this it is then straight to Rally Australia for our next WRC2 event, where we hope to fight for victory.

If you would still like to join us in Australia, we have the final 3 seats remaining on our exclusive NZWRT tour. For any information or bookings please contact katie@paddonrallysport.co.nz

Thanks again for all your support and we look forward to keeping you up to date over the coming busy weeks