New Zealand rally driver Hayden Paddon, with Christchurch’s Jared Hudson in the co-driver’s seat, took a hard-fought second place at the Ypres Rally in Belgium, which took place 27 and 28 June. The Kiwis become the first non-Europeans to ever stand on the Ypres podium.  

The Kiwis competed in the famed Ypres all-tarmac event in a Hyundai i20N Rally2 car prepared by last year’s Belgian Champions, BMA. This year’s Ypres Rally attracted a raft of international stars such as Dani Sordo, Jos Verstappen, Freddy Loix and last year’s rally winner Stéphane Lefebvre.  

It was all on from the outset with milliseconds separating the frontrunners at times. Paddon and Hudson won Friday’s second stage, putting them into the overall lead. Despite intense challenges from Sordo and Lefebvre, the Kiwis’ consistency at delivering top three stage times throughout all of the day’s eight stages, kept them in the lead by day’s end.  

On Saturday, with 10 stages to tackle, Lefebvre chipped away at Paddon’s lead to top the standings by special stage three. Paddon and Hudson kept the pressure on and were stoked to finish on the podium, just 10.3 seconds behind Lefebvre.  

“We were very happy to come away with second in Ypres rally,” says Paddon. “We always knew it was going to be tough challenge this weekend being up against very fast locals and previous winners. Our goal was to try and get a podium finish, so we’re pleased to have done that. To be fighting for victory was probably more than we expected, particularly to be leading the rally for half of it. We put up a good fight and tried everything we could, just didn’t quite have enough at the end but, still, to be only 10 seconds shy of the winners was a good weekend for the team and car. It’s fair to say now we have unfinished business here, a bit like Ireland as well…”  

Now Paddon returns down-under for Rally Queensland which takes place 4 to 6 July near Gympie, north of Brisbane.  Paddon and longtime co-driver John Kennard now resume their bid to win their first Australian Rally Championship (ARC) titles.  

“The podium in Ypres is a good way to get a bit of momentum for Australia,” says Paddon. “It’s certainly going to be nice to be back on the gravel for the third round of the Australian Championship and back working with our PRG team and our Hyundai i20 Rally 2 car.  

“Like the first two ARC rounds, Queensland is another new event for us. We’ve got some good momentum off the back of winning the previous round in Perth, but it’s going to be challenging. What we’ll be facing in terms of road conditions will be influenced by the ballot draw between the top three seeded drivers, which includes me, Harry Bates and Scott Pedder.”  

Paddon’s goal is to get some strong points on the board. “We’re moving into the consolidation phase of the championship now where we need to make sure that we’re picking up points here – where we can earn points from each of the two days – ahead of the endurance rounds later in the season. I’m definitely looking forward to Queensland and being back working with our own team again.”  

The Kiwis each lead their respective drivers’/co-drivers’ championship points tables. Paddon has 160 points after two rounds, seven points ahead of second-placed Lewis Bates. Kennard also has 160 points ahead of Bates’ co-driver Anthony McLoughlin.  

The Queensland Rally is the third round of the six round 2025 Australian Rally Championship, and comprises 14 special stages and approximately 193 competitive kilometres. Crews complete reconnaissance of the special stages on Thursday and Friday, before Friday evening’s public rally show in downtime Gympie. Saturday’s action starts around 8.30am and the podium celebrations are planned for around 4.30pm Sunday.  

Keep up with all the action as Hayden Paddon competes in Ireland, Belgium and Australia over the next month via the Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/paddonracinggroup.   

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, TrailLite, Hankook, Z Energy, Blaster and Signbiz.

The 2026 Central Machine Hire Otago Rally has had a date change to avoid a clash with the round of the Supercars Championship also scheduled for Christchurch on April 18-19.

Both events were initially calendared for the same weekend, but Otago Rally officials were keen to avoid a clash with the South Island’s first ever Supercars race in order to give fans, mechanics, officials, competitors and the media the chance to attend both events.

The Central Machine Hire Otago Rally will now be held from April 10 to 12, a week earlier than originally announced.

Although this is the same weekend as the Supercars race in Taupo, Otago Rally organisers believe this is a more manageable clash.

“We appreciate Supercars reaching out to us once they were aware of a potential clash,” event spokesman, Roger Oakley, said.

“Next year is the 50th anniversary of the Central Machine Hire Otago Rally, and with plenty of pre-planning for the milestone event already underway, we were keen to get the date sorted and move ahead.”

The Central Machine Hire Otago Rally will now be a week after Easter, providing a bumper two weeks of motorsport for those in the lower South Island.

It gives both Dunedin and Christchurch the opportunity to co-promote their destinations.

“Kiwi motorsport fans have long asked for there to be two Supercars rounds in New Zealand, so while it is unfortunate we need to change our date, we are excited about Supercars coming to the South Island for the first time,” Oakley added.

“We appreciate the understanding of all those involved in the rally, and other adjacent events to allow the change of date.”

CEO of Supercars, Shane Howard, added: “We are well aware of the iconic status that the Otago Rally holds, and appreciate the organiser’s attitude to resolving a date conflict for 2026.”

A number of special features are already being planned for the 50th anniversary Otago Rally that will run on April 10 to 12. 

The Central Machine Hire Otago Rally is grateful for the support of Premier Event funding from the Dunedin City Council.

New Zealand rally stars Hayden Paddon and John Kennard overcame intense competition and muddy conditions to win the Forest Rally, 23 to 25 May, in Western Australia.  

This second round of the 2025 EROAD Australian Rally Championship was run as two single day events, like the first round in Canberra. The Kiwi stars worked hard to secure the maximum available 50 points each day and take out the rally win in their Hyundai i20 Rally2 car.  

Paddon now leads the ARC drivers’ series by 7 points over Lewis Bates and his brother Harry a further 11 points behind after two of the six championship rounds.  

Seeded fourth on the road for Saturday’s heat one, Paddon and Kennard were amongst the top-runners from the outset as expected but the competition was hot with 2020 FIA Junior World Rally Champion Tom Kristensson winning the first stage, three-time ARC champ Harry Bates taking the second, and Paddon the third.

A lot of rain made conditions very slippery in places, but high grip in others, and nothing like the iconic loose, ball-bearing surface typical of this rally run in the forests near Nannup, south of Perth near Margaret River.

Into the afternoon loop, Rally of Canberra winner Scott Pedder took the fourth stage win, then Paddon and Kennard were able to wrap up the day to their satisfaction by winning the last two stages with a margin of 12.3 seconds over Pedder, and secure maximum points for heat one.  

Sunday morning’s loop of three stages were very wet and muddy, but Paddon says drying conditions in the afternoon suited them and the car better. Four different stage winners – Kristensson, Pedder, Harry Bates and Paddon – throughout the day highlighted the intense competition with Paddon ultimately the day’s victor by a margin of just 5.4 seconds over Bates.  

Paddon was delighted to take the rally win and maximum points for the team.

“It was a really good weekend and we’re really happy to come away with the win on both days. It was more than we expected especially as the conditions were very challenging. Conditions with rain on both Saturday and Sunday made the first pass very slippery and probably didn’t work to our strengths with the car, but on the afternoon loops we were able to bring it back in some very close battles with Scott yesterday and Harry today. We had to really dig deep to try and get the result. To get the win in that fashion is very satisfying. It’s been a huge effort from everyone in the PRG team being over here for the week. It’s great to get our bid to win our first Australian championship back on track with our next challenge taking place at Rally Queensland near Gympie next month [early July].”  

Kiwi fans can follow Paddon and Kennard during all six ARC events thanks to the championship organisers providing a mix of on-stage action, interviews and analysis via live streams broadcast on the ARC’s Facebook and YouTube channels.  

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.  

Keep up with Hayden Paddon’s news via the Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/paddonracinggroup. 

New Zealand rally stars Hayden Paddon and John Kennard head into new challenges with the second EROAD Australian Rally Championship round taking place in Western Australia this week.  

The Forest Rally runs 23 to 25 May around the towns of Busselton and Nannup, south of Perth near Margaret River. The two day rally features a stacked entry list of 39 crews including international stars like 2020 FIA Junior World Rally Champion Tom Kristensson and co-driver Andreas Johansson of Sweden and regular local top-runners like the Bates brothers.  

With the roads described as “unique, ball-bearing gravel”, Paddon and Kennard are expecting plenty of fast, sideways-sliding action on the stages in their refreshed Hyundai i20 Rally 2 car.  

The Kiwi pair again have the support of their Cromwell-based PRG crew in Australia, with Paddon being fresh from taking the outright win at Rally South Canterbury with Jared Hudson co-driving in the team’s Hyundai i20 AP4.  

While the pair’s first Australian outing this year didn’t go to plan in March, thanks to some local wildlife, they’re looking for maximum points this coming weekend and have been working through their pre-event preparation with their usual thoroughness.  

“This is our first time competing in Western Australia,” says Paddon who’ll be starting number four on the road. “We’ve heard a lot about the loose marbles here that make it slippery, but from what we have seen from our homework, the stages look generally smooth and flowing.  

“We’ve been working on a couple of small upgrades on the car, so we are looking forward to trying to get our championship bid back on track. That means we really need to target maximum points here, but we are also expecting a lot of fast teams here like the first ARC round in Canberra. Our goal is to focus on doing the best job we can from when recce starts on Thursday until the end of the rally on Sunday night.”  

The Forest Rally gets underway with a rally show on Friday evening near the Busselton foreshore. Saturday’s six special stages take competitors into the Nannup forest and comprise two repeated loops of three stages with a total competitive distance of 103.28 km. Sunday’s six stages are also three tests repeated morning and afternoon, total 81.02 km, before the rally finish and podium celebrations in Nannup later in the day.  

Kiwi fans can follow Paddon and Kennard during all six ARC events thanks to the championship organisers providing a mix of on-stage action, interviews and analysis via live streams broadcast on the ARC’s Facebook and YouTube channels.  

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.  

Keep up with Hayden Paddon’s news via the Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/paddonracinggroup.