Paddon closes in on title

Hayden Paddon is in prime position to clinch the 2021 Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Championship after winning the one-day Rally South Canterbury.

Success at his home rally alongside co-driver John Kennard on June 19 means he is now five points away from securing the title with two rounds to go.

Paddon, who had already won the opening two rounds in Otago and Whangarei, claimed victory in South Canterbury with a winning margin of three minutes, 25.9 seconds.

The Kiwi rally star says the Paddon Rallysport team achieved all of their goals at the latest event, which were to win the rally, win as many stages as possible and to set new stage records. 

His only glitch of the day came on special stage eight when he stalled his car while crossing a river, which allowed Ben Hunt driving a Hydraulink Subaru to triumph in that section.

Hunt took second place in the rally overall, with Regan Ross third in his Virgin White Ford Fiesta R5. 

Paddon says: “It was a good day with no major issues. Everything went smoothly and we really enjoyed it.

“The stages were slippery this morning with ice and mud, so the forestry stages were a bit of a challenge. John and I tried to keep it clean and tidy to build up a bit of a gap.

“As a whole, we ticked all the boxes and are now just five points away from winning the championship.”

There was plenty of drama among the rest of the field with Robbie Stokes, Emma Gilmour, Kingsley Jones, Raana Horan and Matt Summerfield among those to suffer mechanical failures or slide off the road.

Josh Marston’s day was ruined when he collected a stray cow that had got loose from a nearby paddock, which left his RDL Holden too badly damaged to continue.

The next round of the New Zealand Rally Championship is the one-day Rally Hawke’s Bay on July 24.

Championship standings

Hayden Paddon, 118 points
Ben Hunt, 63pts
Regan Ross, 61pts
Duncan McCrostie 43pts
Josh Marston, 41pts