Kiwi rally driver Hayden Paddon took full advantage of the opportunity to contest Rally Hawke’s Bay on 22 August as part of his preparation for his last outing in the 2026 FIA World Rally Championship.  

Competing with Jared Hudson as his co-driver in the PRG-run Hyundai i20 N Rally 2, Paddon won the weather-affected, shortened Hawke’s Bay rally. According to New Zealand rally statisticians, this was his 31st consecutive rally win in New Zealand driving a Hyundai.  

“It was a good weekend in Hawke’s Bay,” says Paddon. “The car and team; everything ran faultlessly. The main purpose of the rally was about seat time before we head to Paraguay. With our limited testing time and time on gravel with the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 car, the more seat time the better at this point, despite being different cars. Hawke’s Bay went well and I felt like my driving was more refined when comparing the Southland Rally a few weeks earlier. So in that respect, mission accomplished, and now full focus on Paraguay.”  

John Kennard returns to the co-driver’s seat for WRC Rally del Paraguay which gets underway on Thursday, 27 August.  

“We’re very excited for everything about rallying in Paraguay with Hyundai, but also cautiously mindful how big the challenge is that lays ahead,” says Paddon, who has contested three WRC events – Monte Carlo, Croatia and Japan – for Hyundai this year and is the only driver to have taken Hyundai’s third i20 N to the podium, following a run to third in Croatia.  

“We are incredibly thankful for the opportunity, which was never on the cards at the start of the year when the first three tarmac rallies were planned. To be back on gravel is where we are most comfortable, and even with just 100km of testing in the Rally 1 car on gravel in Europe recently, it immediately felt good and an environment where we can thrive.  

“Of course John and I want to be competitive in Paraguay, and as our last event in our Rally1, we want to give it our absolute best. But we don’t ever forget that we’re up against the world’s best drivers in cars they get to drive week in and week out. Plus most of them contested this event last year and the route is 60 per cent the same as last year, so it’s a tall ask. We will have to take more risks for this event and step out of our comfort zone to give ourselves the best chance of being competitive.”  

Based in the city of Encarnación, near the Argentina border, WRC Rally del Paraguay promises a mix of smooth red-earth stages and trickier technical sections through dense vegetation. While the surface is mostly soft and fast, deep ruts and sudden surface changes are expected to keep drivers guessing across the weekend.  

“The conditions are unique. For our preparation, we’ve used what’s available to us such as onboard videos from last year. While it’s a fast rally, there are a lot of grip changes on a hard-packed, clay base road. If wet, it can be incredibly slippery. These roads also don’t demonstrate quite the same road cleaning effects as a normal gravel rally, so while our road position – eighth among the Priority 1 drivers – will be a small advantage, it won’t be massive.”  

Paddon concludes, “We’re looking forward to the challenge to put our best foot forward, and to enjoy it. It’s also going to be special to have more than 30 Kiwis with us there in our tour group, so we’re looking forward to a good week all round.”  

WRC Rally del Paraguay runs 27-30 August and comprises 22 special stages and 358.99 competitive kilometres. The Service Park is in Encarnación, a city on the north bank of the Paraná River, in southern Paraguay. Competitors complete reconnaissance of the stages on Tuesday and Wednesday, before media activities on Thursday and the rally gets underway with SS1 on Friday morning.  

PRG appreciates the support of their partners including Hyundai New Zealand, Caltex Havoline Oil, Mitre 10 Trade, Winmax Brake Pads, Bar’s Bugs, EROAD, Ben Nevis Station, Wipertech, Design Windows, MITO, Repco, Machinery House, King Gee, KiwiFibre, TrialLite, Hankook, Z Energy, Blaster and Signbiz.  

Follow Hayden Paddon and his Hyundai Motorsport news and results via the Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/haydenpaddonwrc.

The 2027 calendar for the Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Championship has been confirmed with a similar look to this year.

The same six events have been locked in, with the same North Island/South Island split.

The only shift sees International Rally of Whangarei move later in the year, back to being the final round of the championship.

The season will kick off with the Otago Rally on April 9-11 before a sizeable break ahead of Rally Canterbury on Sunday June 6 - Kings Birthday weekend as usual.

The Barry Robinson Memorial Rally Southland will take place on Saturday July 17 before a second successive year in the Hawke’s Bay with that event set to run on Saturday August 28.

Rally Hawke’s Bay is pending organiser's commitment to run after evaluating this year’s event.

The championship continues with round five in the Bay of Plenty on Saturday October 2 before the season concludes at the two-day Whangarei event on October 29-31.

“I’m delighted to be able to keep a familiar schedule in place next year and to confirm the calendar this early in the year,” championship coordinator Blair Bartels said.

“The sport is fortunate to have such strong events, led by great organising teams, and it was a pretty straight-forward decision to assemble this calendar.”

MotorSport New Zealand has approved the 2027 calendar.

"It's pleasing to see stability and continuity for the 2027 New Zealand Rally Championship," said MotorSport New Zealand President, Deborah Day.

"Securing the same events as this current season give organisers certainty to plan ahead and build on the success of their 2026 events and aim for growth in 2027."  

2027 Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Championship

Friday 9-11 April Rally Otago

Sunday 6 June Rally Canterbury

Saturday 17 July Rally Southland

Saturday 28 August Rally Hawkes Bay (TBC)

Saturday 2 October Rally Bay of Plenty

Friday 29-31 October Rally Whangarei

Kiwi rally stars Hayden Paddon and John Kennard have been offered the exciting opportunity to contest WRC Rally Paraguay with Hyundai Motorsport.  

When WRC ueno Rally del Paraguay gets underway on 27 August, it will be 2839 days since Paddon’s last appearance on gravel in the top WRC class. That event was 2018 Rally Australia where he finished second for Hyundai with co-driver Seb Marshall.  

Making this event even more special is the opportunity to return to top level rallying in the continent where Paddon and Kennard made history, with their victory in the 2016 WRC Argentina Rally, as the only New Zealanders to ever win a round of the FIA World Rally Championship.  

Paddon is understandably excited to finally get a chance in the Hyundai i20 Rally1 car on gravel, just a week after he contests Rally Hawke’s Bay at home with Jared Hudson as his co-driver.  

“It was never in the initial plan this year; the original contract was for the three tarmac rallies,” he explains. “Obviously we’ve been pushing to have that opportunity on gravel. It’s where we feel comfortable and where I think things are going to happen and click a little bit easier.  

“It’s a privilege to have this opportunity and to return to South America where there’s some pretty fond memories of ten years ago. Obviously it’s a different country, different stages, but similar kind of vibe. We’re going into the rally in the supporting role, as before, but with nothing to lose and under no illusion how tough a rally it will be because there’s no substitute for seat time at this level. Ten years ago we were driving these cars most weeks, now it’s four times a year with some short test days.”  

Before the 27-30 August event, the Kiwis get one day testing in the Hyundai i20 Rally 1 on gravel.  

A large group of Kiwi rally fans will be travelling to Paraguay to support Paddon and Kennard.  

Based in the city of Encarnación, near the Argentina border, the event promises a mix of smooth red-earth stages and trickier technical sections through dense vegetation. While the surface is mostly soft and fast, deep ruts and sudden surface changes are expected to keep drivers guessing across the weekend.  

PRG appreciates the support of their partners including Hyundai New Zealand, Caltex Havoline Oil, Mitre 10 Trade, Winmax Brake Pads, Bar’s Bugs, EROAD, Ben Nevis Station, Wipertech, Design Windows, MITO, Repco, Machinery House, King Gee, KiwiFibre, TrialLite, Hankook, Z Energy, Blaster and Signbiz.

Kiwi rally stars Hayden Paddon and John Kennard wrapped up WRC Rally Japan with a clean seventh place finish.  

It’s been a rally of two halves, says Paddon of the seventh round of the 2026 FIA World Rally Championship which took place 28 to 31 May in and around Toyota City, to the west of Tokyo.  

While judging tyre choice for Friday’s six stages proved trickier than expected, the Kiwis were determined to keep learning and improving on their third event with Hyundai Motorsport in the Hyundai i20 Rally1 car.  

“It didn’t start too well on Friday, but we were able to make some setup changes overnight and get some good improvements for Saturday and Sunday,” says Paddon, who like all competitors spent Saturday trying to manage tyre wear in hot temperatures.  

“This meant we were a lot closer to our teammates in terms of stage times and overall results.  

“In the end, to finish seventh is still a good job done. I’m not sure the rally would have ended any differently even if it had started more positively. At the end of the day, we got the car to the finish on another rally we hadn’t done before when we’re still learning more about the car all the time. No scratches, no damage, a clean finish. We can tick a lot of boxes in competing here, where we enjoyed running a Rally1 car on tarmac for the last time.”  

With Hyundai Motorsport still to announce which of their third car drivers will compete in the remaining 2026 WRC events, Paddon acknowledges that the events that he and Kennard contested have been probably three of the most challenging tarmac rallies for them.  

“There’s no secret in that, but with each rally – Monte Carlo, Croatia and here in Japan – we’ve been trying to take the challenges in our stride and do the best we can. We’ve kept improving, our speed’s improved with each rally and we’ve secured a couple of good results. I think we’ve done everything that’s been asked of us. So now we look forward to the next steps.”  

PRG appreciates the support of their partners including Hyundai New Zealand, Caltex Havoline Oil, Mitre 10 Trade, Winmax Brake Pads, Bar’s Bugs, EROAD, Ben Nevis Station, Wipertech, Design Windows, MITO, Repco, Machinery House, King Gee, KiwiFibre, TrialLite, Hankook, Z Energy, Blaster and Signbiz.