From AP4 to WRC Rally2 -
New Zealand’s only WRC event winner steps up.
Paddon won the Rally of Whangarei in May 2022 to become New Zealand’s all-time most successful rally driver.
He broke Richard Mason’s standing record of 28 national rounds – and he’s not finished yet. But the Geraldine-born driver has taken a break form the New Zealand championship to return to the World Rally Championship. As an ‘eye-opener’, he contested the Rally di Alba in June driving an older-spec Hyundai i20 R5 and finished sixth overall.
Paddon has shown images of the new Hyundai i20 Rally2 car he is using for his limited 2022 World Rally Championship campaign in Europe, resplendent in its all-black colour scheme.
AP4 Hyundai i20
In New Zealand, Paddon is the leading proponent of the AP4 (or AP4+) category that has taken over the national championship in the past 3-4 years.
The concept for the AP4 category took shape when MotorSport New Zealand (MSNZ) and the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS) looked to replace group N and group A with an affordable local specification for Australasian rallying.
The Hyundai i20 AP4 Paddon most recently took to the 2021 New Zealand title was the first-ever New Zealand-developed Hyundai rally car.
It was built and developed by Paddon Rallysport with well-known rally driver and fabricator Andrew Hawkeswood of Force Motorsport during 2015-16. Paddon and navigator John Kennard debuted the Hyundai i20 AP4 at Rally Otago in April 2016, winning the event outright.
Engine: 1.8 Litre Force Motorsport, fuel-injected, turbocharged/intercooled
Power: 215kW.
Drivetrain: 6-Speed Sadev sequential transmission with paddle shifters; permanent four-wheel drive.
Custom MCA fully adjustable coil-over suspension
AP Racing brakes.
15X6.5” Speedline Racing wheels (gravel).
Pirelli P Zero rally tyres.
Rally2 Hyundai i20
Rally2 cars compete in the international FIA WRC2 class of the FIA World Rally Championship. Paddon’s new Hyundai i20 N Rally2 has been built by Hyundai Motorsport in Germany and will be developed and run by Paddon Rallysport in the Championship. The car is based on the new road-going Hyundai i20 N chassis.
Engine: 1.6-litre, fuel-injected, turbocharged/intercooled.
Power: 212kW.
Torque: 425Nm.
Drivetrain: 5-speed sequential gearbox; permanent four-wheel drive, mechanical limited slip diffs front and rear. An electro-hydraulic control on the inter-axle clutch allows front and rear axles to be disengaged when the handbrake is used.
Brakes: 300mm diameter disc brakes for gravel, 355mm for asphalt; four piston calipers
Wheels: 15X7” (gravel).
Pirelli Scorpion or P Zero rally tyres.
Mandated minimum weight: 1230kg, or 1390kg with driver and co-driver. To be eligible for the Rally2 category, manufacturers must have made at least 2500 examples of the road-going version in the previous 12 months.
