Hayden Christopher Paddon (born 20 April 1987) is a New Zealand rally driver. He was PWRC world champion in 2011 and won the New Zealand Rally Championship in 2008, 2009, 2013, 2018, 2021, 2022 and 2023. In 2023 he became the first non-European to be crowned European Rally Champion. Following that up by retaining the European Rally Championship title in 2024 and winning the FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship.
Career
Paddon was introduced into motorsport at an early age, his father Chris being a rally driver, beginning his career competing in karting. He competed in his first rally in 2002, at the age of 15. In 2005, he rolled and burnt his car in Rally Canterbury 2005. In 2006 he began competing in the New Zealand Rally Championship in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII, winning both the Junior and Rookie titles. In 2007 he made his World Rally Championship debut competing in the Production World Rally Championship category at his home event in New Zealand as a wildcard entry, and then in the Team Jordan entry for Rally GB. In the New Zealand championship he retained his Junior title and came within a point of winning the championship outright. In 2008 he competed in a new Mitsubishi Evo IX, winning the New Zealand title. He also finished 13th overall and fourth in PWRC on his home round of the WRC.
In 2009, Paddon retained his New Zealand title, won the Pacific Cup, and also qualified for the Pirelli Star Driver Asia-Pacific final at the 2009 Rally Australia. Paddon was the fastest of the drivers on the opening day's stages, meaning he won the Pirelli Star Driver scholarship, giving him a fully funded programme for six events of the 2010 World Rally Championship season. Paddon's event got even better when he finished ninth overall, ahead of all of the PWRC regulars. Paddon also won a $50,000 International Rising Stars Scholarship run by Rally of New Zealand, giving him the additional funding needed to complete a full 2010 PWRC campaign in addition to the PSD events.
In 2010, Paddon won the PWRC category of Rally New Zealand in his own Evo IX, finishing 14th overall. He then finished third and second in PWRC on Rally Finland and Rallye Deutschland in the Pirelli Star Driver Evo X.
In 2011, Paddon contested a full PWRC season, consisting of 6 Rounds; Portugal, Argentina, Finland, Australia, Spain and GB. He competed under his newly formed team New Zealand World Rally Team and in a surprising move, Paddon switched to a Subaru for the 2011 season, as he had usually run in a Mitsubishi. Paddon drove a STR11 Subaru Impreza N4 run by Belgian Team Symtech Racing. Paddon's 2011 season proved to be a breakthrough as he took 1st place in four rallies consecutively: Portugal, Argentina, Finland and Australia, where he became 2011 P-WRC Champion.
The 2012 season saw Paddon move to the S-WRC championship in a Škoda Fabia S2000. After a 4th place among the S-WRC finishers in Sweden, he took his first S-WRC win in his second rally in the car at 2012 Rally de Portugal, which saw many competitors, including Paddon, have breakdowns.
2014 saw Paddon's first stage win in the World Rally Championship during the Rally Catalunya in Spain.
In 2015, Paddon took his first ever lead of a WRC event in the Rally d'Italia. Paddon was the first New Zealander to lead a World Rally Championship event since Possum Bourne held the lead in the 1999 Rally New Zealand and the first one to do so outside of his country. He finished second overall, behind Sébastien Ogier, after a careful performance and many stage wins.
In 2016, on the 4th round, the YPF Rally Argentina, Paddon took his - and New Zealand's - first WRC win by 13.3 seconds from Sébastien Ogier. His co-driver, John Kennard also became the oldest co-driver to win a WRC round at 57 years of age. Notably and perhaps controversially he celebrated the victory with a black and silver fern flag rather than the flag of New Zealand, following the failed flag referendum held earlier in the year. His intent was to distinguish the New Zealand flag from the Australian flag, where confusions still exists, even when, at the time of the victory, he was not competing against Australian drivers or co-drivers.
In the first rally of 2017, the 2017 Monte Carlo Rally, Paddon crashed out on the first stage, losing control of his Hyundai. A spectator was killed in the incident having been hit by the right rear of Paddon's car. Although Paddon's car was not severely damaged and could have continued, the Hyundai team withdrew Paddon from the rally as a mark of respect. Prior to round 6 in Portugal, Paddon's long-time co-driver John Kennard decided to retire through injury, and he was replaced by Briton Sebastian Marshall. Overall, Paddon endured a frustrating season, picking up just two podiums in Poland and Australia. He led round 7 in Italy, until retiring late on day 2 after hitting a bank and breaking his right rear suspension.
In October 2020, Hayden Paddon and Hyundai New Zealand reveals one of the worlds first EV rally cars, based on the Hyundai Kona. Paddon both organised and won the 2020 inaugural Ben Nevis Station Golden 1200 hillclimbing event in Central Otago, where he was driving a specially prepared Hyundai i20 called the AP4++ with a custom 2.1L turbo 4 cylinder engine making 800 hp.
In March 2022, Paddon teamed up with Hyundai New Zealand to enter a car into WRC2. The car will be run by Hyundai New Zealand Rally, with the previously established team of engineers, technician and team management. Hayden managed to fight off many international drivers to win the WRC2 class in his home country. In 2023, Paddon joined the Italian BRC Racing Team, and with the support of Hyundai New Zealand and Pirelli Tyres, put a 2023 European Rally Championship together. Winning the first event of the season in Portugal, Hayden and John Kennard fought their way to a maiden European Rally Championship Title, becoming the first non-European driver to win said championship. Paddon also fought on his home grounds to win the 2023 New Zealand Rally Championship.
2024 saw Paddon and John Kennard put together another European Rally Championship title fight in the BRC Racing Team with the support of Hyundai New Zealand, Pirelli Tyres, and HMS Customer Racing. Hayden and John had a tough fight throughout the season, taking their first and only win of the season at round 7 in Rali Ceredigion. Fighting off title fights from Mathieu Franceschi and Mikolaj Marczyk, Hayden managed to win back-to-back European Rally Championships. Paddon also managed to win the 2024 FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship with up and coming New Zealand co-driver Jared Hudson.
In 2026, with co-driver John Kennard, Hayden stepped back into the Hyundai World Rally Team as their 3rd driver for select rounds of the 2026 World Rally Championship, sharing the 3rd Hyundai with drivers Esapekka Lappi and Dani Sordo. He competed 4 rounds of the 2026 championship, 3 tarmac rallies, and 1 gravel rally. Hayden went on to pick up 2 podiums in the 2026 season. A 3rd place at Rally Croatia, and a 2nd place at the Rally del Paraguay.
WRC victories # Event Season Co-driver Car 1 36° Rally Argentina 2016 John Kennard Hyundai i20 WRC
ERC victories #EventSeasonCo-DriverCar1 Rally Serras de Fafe e Felgueiras2023 John KennardHyundai i20 N Rally22 Rali Ceredigion2024 John KennardHyundai i20 N Rally2
Results WRC results Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 WDC Points 2007 Paddon Direct Green Team Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII MON SWE NOR MEX POR ARG ITA GRE FIN GER NZL49 NC 0 Team Jordan Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX ESP FRA JPN IRE GBRRet 2008 Paddon Direct Green Team Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX MON SWE MEX ARG JOR ITA GRE TUR FIN GER NZL12 ESP FRA JPN GBR NC 0 2009 Hayden Paddon Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX IRE NOR CYP POR ARG ITA GRE POL FIN AUS9 ESP GBR NC 0 2010 Pirelli Star Driver Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X SWE MEX JOR TUR26 POR20 BUL FIN21 GER19 FRA35 ESP GBR19 NC 0 Hayden Paddon Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX NZL14 JPN12 2011 New Zealand World Rally Team Subaru Impreza WRX STi SWE MEX POR11 JOR ITA ARG9 GRE FIN19 GER AUS6 FRA ESP34 18th 10 Hayden Paddon Subaru Impreza STi R4 GBR13 2012 Hayden Paddon Škoda Fabia S2000 MON SWE23 MEX POR16 ARG GRE NZL12 FINRet GER GBR26 FRARet ITA ESP20 NC 0 2013 Hayden Paddon Škoda Fabia S2000 MON SWE MEX POR ARG GRE ITA FIN11 GER8 AUS17 FRA GBR 18th 8 Qatar M-Sport World Rally Team Ford Fiesta RS WRC ESP8 2014 Hyundai Motorsport N Hyundai i20 WRC MON SWE MEX POR ARG ITA12 POL8 FIN8 GER AUS6 FRA ESP9 GBR10 14th 19 2015 Hyundai Motorsport Hyundai i20 WRC MONSWE5 AUS5 GBR 5 9th 84 Hyundai Motorsport N MEX17 ARG16 POR8 ITA2 POL4 FINRet GER9 FRA5 ESP6 2016 Hyundai Motorsport N Hyundai i20 WRC MON25 MEX5 ARG1 GER5 CHNC FRA6 ESP4 GBR4 4th 138 Hyundai Motorsport SWE2 PORRet ITARetPOL3FIN5 AUS4 2017 Hyundai Motorsport Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC MONRet SWE7 MEX5 FRA6 ARG6 PORRet ITARet POL2 FINRet GER8 ESP GBR8 AUS3 8th 74 2018 Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC MON SWE5 MEX FRA ARG PORRet ITA4 FIN4 GER TUR3 GBR7 ESP AUS2 8th 73 2019 M-Sport Ford WRT Ford Fiesta WRC MON SWE MEX FRA ARG CHL POR ITA FINWD GER TUR ESP AUS NC 0 Ford Fiesta R5 Mk. II GBR38 2022 Hayden Paddon Hyundai i20 N Rally2 MON SWE CRO POR ITA KEN EST FIN BEL GRE NZL ESP JPN 21st 8 2026 Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT Hyundai i20 N Rally1 MON SWE KEN CRO3 ESP POR JPN GRE EST FIN PAR2 CHL ITA SAU 8th* 34*
PWRC results Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 PWRC Points 2007 Paddon Direct Team Green Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII MON SWE ARG GRE NZL17 JPN IRE NC 0 Team Jordan Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX GBRRet 2008 Paddon Direct Team Green Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX SWE ARG GRE TUR FIN NZL4 JPN GBR 21st 5 2010 Pirelli Star Driver Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX SWE MEX JOR NZL1 JPN2 3rd 97 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X FIN3 GER2 FRA7 GBR3 2011 Hayden Paddon Subaru Impreza WRX STi SWE POR1 ARG1 FIN1 AUS1 ESP8 GBR 1st 104
SWRC results Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 SWRC Points 2012 Hayden Paddon Škoda Fabia S2000 MON SWE4 POR1 NZL1 FINRet GBR7 FRARet ESP5 4th 78
WRC-2 results Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Points 2013 Hayden Paddon Škoda Fabia S2000MONSWEMEXPORARGGREITA FIN3 GER3 AUS5FRAESPGBR 13th 40 2022 Hayden Paddon Hyundai i20 N Rally2 MON SWE CRO POR ITA KEN EST FIN BEL GRE NZL ESP JPN 10th 43
WRC-2 Pro results YearEntrantCar1234567891011121314Points 2019 M-Sport Ford WRT Ford Fiesta R5 Mk. II MONSWE MEXFRA ARG CHL PORITAFIN GER TUR GBR4 ESP AUS 8th 12
European Rally Championship results Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Points 2013 Symtech Racing Ford Fiesta S2000 JÄN LIE CAN AZO COR YPRRet ROM ZLÍ POL CRO SAN VAL 62nd 5 2022 Paddon Rallysport Hyundai i20 N Rally2 AZO1 AZO2 CAN POL LAT6 ITA CZE ESP 33rd 15 2023 BRC Racing Team Hyundai i20 N Rally2 PRT1 CAN2 POL2 LAT2 SWE2 ITA3 CZERet HUN 1st 163 2024 BRC Racing Team Hyundai i20 N Rally2 HUN4 CAN6 SWE3 EST5 ITA6 CZE12 GBR1 POL3 1st 145
References
External links
Official website Paddon Rallysport