Kiwis have head for heights

Hayden Paddon has his sights set on the podium in this year’s WRC, after winning an extended programme with his Hyundai Shell World Rally team

The 27-year-old was impressive throughout his debut season, and while his performance attracted a rival offer from Citroen for the 2015 campaign, he has stuck with Hyundai.

“We learnt a lot and built some really good partnerships within the team this year; it was an obvious choice for us to develop more and chase better results together in 2015.”

Paddon and long-time co-driver John Kennard will be concentrating on gaining further experience in the first half of their extended nine rally campaign, which could be extended up to 12 events.

“I believe we can be very competitive this season and we’ll start fighting for podium spots when we return to the rounds we raced last year,” said Paddon. “By 2017, we’ll hopefully be in a position to challenge for the title.”

Paddon contested six events last year and bagged five Top 10 finishes, including a season-best sixth place at Rally Australia. He is also looking to build on his first WRC stage win at Rally Spain, where he briefly held onto a Top 3 spot before experiencing mechanical issues.