Hayden Paddon chasing European Rally Championship history in Czechia

Hayden Paddon of New Zealand. Photo / Photosport

New Zealand rally pair Hayden Paddon and co-driver John Kennard could be setting new records in Czechia this weekend.

The duo top the European Rally Championship standings with 163 points, a healthy lead of 55. If Paddon and Kennard can secure the title, they’ll become the first non-Europeans to win the drivers’ and co-drivers’ championships in the event’s 70-year history.

“The most important [goal] this weekend is to win the championship,” Paddon said from Czechia.

“The level of competition has been huge this year and the depth of talent is amazing and probably the strongest championship I’ve competed in.

“The top 20 to 30 cars are very fast and I’ve never been in something like that and you have to constantly fight and compete. If we can pull it off, it’ll be something special.”

Because of budget constraints, Paddon won’t contest the final round in Hungary in October. But he’s not worried about his finishing position in this weekend’s rally, other than in relation to second-placed Martins Sesks, of Latvia.

The Czech Rally is the penultimate European round. As long as Sesks is unable to secure enough points in Czechia, or the final round in Hungary, the title is Paddon’s for the taking.

“We’ll definitely be conservative this weekend, as we don’t have the budget to go to the last round.

“We want to try and wrap it [championship] up this weekend and we’ll be driving in a way to win the championship, rather than the rally.

“The rally result is almost irrelevant this weekend. It’s all about making sure we get the points we need to win the championship.

“We can afford to lose 15 points to him [Sesks] and the championship is still ours. If he wins, we have to be fourth, but if he’s top five, we only have to be top 10.

“There are a few variables to consider and we’ll just have to go out there with a good, safe pace and evaluate from there.”

While Paddon and Kennard haven’t driven the special stages of this two-day rally in and around the city of Zlin, they won’t be hindered in their focus on securing a result good enough to wrap up the championship. The two Kiwis have a raft of experience working together, writing fresh pace notes and delivering on stages.

“I’ve never been to the country [Czechia] before, so this is all quite interesting. We’ve had some consistent results and probably done a bit better in some of the rallies than we expected.

“Championships are all about consistency and speed, and we’ve had a good mix of both this year.

“One of the good things about being a bit older and wiser is that you can better judge what has to be done to win a championship.

“John is still doing an awesome job and it’s been good to have him and we’ve put a lot into the campaign this year. It’s great to have a known quantity alongside. We just know what we have to do and there’s no point changing anything that’s not broken.”

Although the rally is an all-tarmac affair, the conditions on some parts of the roads leave a lot to be desired. In places, it’s more akin to a goat track rather than the smooth road surfaces in other all-tarmac rallies.

“The roads are quite different over here. We’ve managed to do a small test on some of the roads the rally will be on.

“From what we’ve seen already, the roads are narrower than some of the other tarmac rallies and the roads tend to be quite bumpy and bouncy. We’ll have to raise the height of the car to compensate for the bumps. I think it will be the most challenging rally on the calendar,” he said.