This week we welcome aboard Hayden Paddon, as a regular bi-weekly Talkmotorsport columnist, giving his view on rallying at home in NZ and around the world.
After a somewhat quiet 2020, for obvious reasons, 2021 is shaping up to be one of mine and our team’s busiest year’s yet. And we can’t wait! While I would have hoped to be competing more overseas this year, we have a full program here in NZ with both our AP4, EV Development and a couple of TCR races.
This year we were still chasing opportunities in the WRC, whether it be a testing or a R5 driving role. This is still something that is going on in the background. At the same time, we had a R5 program teed up for the Australian Championship with the Walkem Motorsport team. However an Australian championship doesn’t take priority over our commitments in NZ, and with the quarantine procedure and having to wait months to even secure a quarantine spot, it simply wasn’t possible to compete in Australia at present, without sacrificing our NZ program.
I am really excited about our NZ Rally Championship program this year. This will be the first time our team has officially competed for the championship (we were not entered for the championship in 2019) and after our mishap at Battle of Jacks Ridge last year, it has given us a chance to do some much needed development work on the Hyundai i20 AP4.
While some would say we have been able to achieve the results easily in NZ in the past, nothing is a given in rallying. Combine that with the fact that everyone is getting faster and the level of competition is high, means we will have to step up our game if we want to challenge for another NZ title.
We, as a team, also want to leave our mark not only on the NZRC, but also other events we will target such as the Ashley Forest Rallysprint, a chance for redemption at Battle of Jacks Ridge as well as several other events. The goal is to raise the bar which is what we, as a team, are working hard towards.
As Paddon Rallysport has been growing, so has our client base. This hasn’t only been the Winmax Brakes which has been going from strength to strength, but also customer cars we are preparing and running on events. It’s likely we will have three cars running alongside us at most events, which will also mean up to 20 team members and a lot of logistics. A challenge I’m really looking forward to.
One of the key projects we are also working on this year, but a little more in the background, is the development of our Hyundai Kona EV rally car. While the build process was a big part of the project, the current development phase is equally as important as we learn about completely new systems, how to extract the most from it and how to develop the battery range and charging solutions. We have already completed phase 1 of the development program with five successful tests over the summer.
The car is nearing the completion of several changes and upgrades which are focused around some critical parts of the car, as we now go into phase 2 of development. By the end of the year we hope to see the car officially competing in some shorter style motorsport events, before targeting some rallies next year. It’s a project the whole team are thriving on and one we are very excited about with the potential of this car – which, already in testing, is faster than our AP4. The EV will also be at several of the NZRC and rallysprints, this year, on display and doing demonstrations.
As if the year wasn’t busy enough already, we also recently announced we would enter the one-round shoot out for the NZ TCR championship at Highlands Motorsport Park, next month. The plan was never to compete, as our focus is purely on our rally programs this year. However, with the championship being reduced to just one round as well as it being held on our back door step, plus our un-sold TCR still sitting in the shed, it made good sense to give it a crack. Of course, we prepare to be competitive in anything we do and this will be no different. My lack of circuit experience will provide some challenges. It’s proving to be an enjoyable weekend with some serious names alongside us on the grid.
Can’t wait to get our 2021 season officially started with the upcoming Rally Otago, more on this in my next column.
Comments