Paddon sets hillclimb record

Rally star Hayden Paddon defended his title and set a new record of 51.20 seconds when he won the Ashley Forest Rallysprint for a seventh time.

The New Zealander, driving a Hyundai i20 AP4++, beat the previous record of 52sec that he set on the 1.7km hillclimb course in the same car in 2023.

The annual Ratec Motorsport Inc-run club event in Canterbury has attracted hundreds of competitors since it started in 1979, with entrants completing three qualifying runs on day one before elimination-style, knockout rounds the following day.

Paddon suffered a mechanical issue in the first qualifying run before clocking 55.53sec on his second effort and got progressively faster over the weekend.

“Really great to come away with a new record,” says Paddon. “A shame to miss our goal of setting a sub-50 second time this weekend. 

“It just means we’ll have to come back for a third attempt at setting a sub-50 time next year. We’ll keep having fun pushing the envelope and seeing what we can develop over the next 12 months.

“The highlight of the weekend has to be how many people showed up to support the event and how many young people were enjoying it. Amazing atmosphere and to see the event continue to grow.”

Neil Webb finished second after the final runs on September 20 and Michael Tall was third, both driving a Mitsubishi Mirage, with their best times being 56.58sec and 57.07sec respectively.

Motorsport star Emma Gilmour was part of the Paddon Racing Group’s six-car effort at the event and the Dunedin car dealer came home fifth in a Suzuki Swift and 17th in a Citroen C3 Rally 2 car.