Hayden Paddon and leading rival Ben Hunt have both confirmed they will compete in
national/World Rally Championship event campaigns this year.
Paddon (34) is a former Hyundai WRC team driver and will run a Hyundai i20N prepared to the international FIA Rally2 category rules. Paddon and long-time co-driver John Kennard will contest selected events of the WRC2 category of the 2022 FIA World Rally Championship and undertake a full seven-event campaign the following year with the aim of winning the 2023 WRC2 Championship.
He was PWRC world champion in 2011 and won the New Zealand Rally Championship in 2008, 2009, 2013, 2018 and 2021. Rally2 is the category of rally cars specified for the WRC2 class of the FIA World Rally Championship.
The Hyundai i20 N Rally2 is built by Hyundai Motorsport in Germany and will be developed and run by Paddon Rallysport in the WRC2 Championship. It is based on the new road-going Hyundai i20 N.
Rally2 cars run 1.6-litre, fuel-injected, turbocharged 4-cylinder engines with a power output of around 212kW (285bhp). They have permanent 4WD and a 5-speed sequential gearbox. Minimum weight is 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 of their nominated vehicle model in the previous 12 months.
Meanwhile Ben Hunt, a former national rally champion and long-time Subaru driver, has confirmed he will switch to a Škoda Fabia R5 rally car for 2022. Ben Hunt has been in the New Zealand rally scene since 2008. He was 2WD national champion in 2011 and 2012, then won the 2015 Gold Star NZ Rally championship. Driving a Subaru WRX, he was Zealand Rally Champion in 2019
Now he steps up to a six-round campaign in a factory-spec Fabia, competing in the NZRC including the 2022 World Rally Championship (WRC) at the end of September/early October.
Hunt and navigator Tony Rawstorn have secured official backing from Škoda and will compete at a higher level than ever in a factory-spec Fabia prepared to the international FIA R5 rules.
“I’m excited to announce our new partnership with ŠKODA NZ and the Giltrap Group and officially say we are the Škoda New Zealand Rally team,” he says.
The Škoda Fabia has been a feature of rallying in New Zealand at national level for several years, with drivers including Raana Horan and Job Quantock competing in the quick hatchbacks.
Hunt’s previous car, a Subaru WRX, had been progressively upgraded and lightened using factory STI components, but was lagging behind locally-built ‘AP4+’ cars. Subaru has confirmed there will be no further WRX versions of its vehicles as the company focuses on new drive technologies.
Cars complying with R5 category rules compete on a par with the local AP4+ cars and Hunt says there is an added benefit: the major teams are all committed to developing R5s as ‘customer’ rally cars, meaning the resources of the official rally operations are directed into ongoing development.
The engine of the Fabia R5 is based on a 1.8-litre production unit that has been comprehensively redeveloped for motorsport. De-stroked to 1.6-litre capacity, the turbo powerplant produces up to 214kW (290 bhp) with maximum torque of 425Nm.
Most of the components of the car’s all-wheel drive transmission are common. The drivetrain features a five-speed gearbox with no centre differential and mechanical limited slip differentials front and rear, helping to reduce running costs.
“This is a big step up and forward for us, and I’m really grateful for the support of both Škoda and the Giltrap Group.”
Hunt is excited by the new opportunity.
“Today I can officially say we are the ŠKODA New Zealand Rally team. Over the last couple of months, it’s become the best worst kept secret in the New Zealand’s rallying and motorsport community, but today that all changes,” said Hunt.
