Motorsport: Local drivers to the fore in rally production class

Hayden Paddon takes it easy from the front. Photo / Getty Images

New Zealand rally drivers, and Hayden Paddon in particular, can hold their heads up high after a Kiwi one, two, three finish in the Production World Rally Championship class as part of the WRC.

Paddon was dominant over the three days, winning comfortably from Emma Gilmour by more than three minutes, with Kingsley Thompson a further six minutes back. While Gilmour was fast over the final stages Paddon had too much of a buffer to be threatened.

Thompson retired on the final stage of the day but Super Rally rules allowed him to be classified as finishing third.

"It's been a difficult rally to plan an attack. We started Friday morning just wanting to settle into it and get a good rhythm," said Paddon. "We were always going to attack in the afternoon but that all changed when Richard Mason and Toshi Arai went out.

"All of a sudden we had a lead of over a minute and for two days we were almost in cruise mode. A difficult position because it's so easy to lose concentration and let mistakes creep in."

Although outwardly calm throughout the final day of the rally, Paddon was concerned about a clutch problem that arose at the end of Saturday's racing.

"All day we were taking it steady but I was quite concerned about the clutch issues. At midday it was quite bad and I was worried we couldn't go the distance. Luckily it was fine and we didn't use the clutch for the last three stages. You can do that with these gearboxes."

It could have ended in tears as Paddon had to change his driving style to accommodate the lack of clutch.

"Although we weren't at full race pace it was hard concentrating on two things at once," said Paddon. "I was particularly careful through the Whaanga Coast as it's so tricky in there."

Paddon is now fifth in the PWRC championship after four rounds.

As well as winning the PWRC title at Rally New Zealand, Paddon also won the domestic round of the event from Chris West and Dean Summer.

"I'm not contesting the whole New Zealand series but I am coming back for the APRC in Whangarei," said Paddon.