Reeves strikes gold after pal Paddon slips up
Australian Brendan Reeves grabbed bragging rights over Kiwi rival Hayden Paddon at the Goldrush Rally Coromandel yesterday.
Reeves, who works on Paddon’s gravel crew with his Hyundai World Rally Team, took full advantage of a small but costly error from the Kiwi and cruised to victory by 1m 15s in his Mazda AP4.
Andrew Hawkeswood moved top of the New Zealand Rally Championship standings by claiming second, while Subaru driver Ben Hunt completed the podium.
Reeves jumped his good mate in the opening test before Paddon responded to open up a one-minute lead midway through the day.
As afternoon rain came down conditions became difficult and Paddon made a slight error to lose the back end of his Hyundai i20 AP4+ and then watched in horror as the rather harmless spin saw the car slide towards a drop.
The 30-year-old’s shocking run of luck continued as the vehicle slowed near the drop.
“I just got caught out — the rear of the car snapped sideways on a righthander and I got stuck on the side of the road,” Paddon said yesterday. “Because it is 2017 the front tyres just went over the edge, meaning we got stuck.
“If it had been any other year it would have pulled up short and we would have been able to continue.
“At the end of the day we still enjoyed it here. From today we have got some good information from the car. There are a lot of things we need to develop on it to make it easier to drive.”
Reeves recorded his second successive win at the event having made a cameo appearance in 2016.
He piloted Hawkeswood’s brand new Mazda to a win on debut and secure a one-two finish for the team.
“It means the team has built a brilliant car — to come here both times and win — this time in a brand new Mazda 2 AP4 is pretty cool,” Reeves said.
“Mainly it is down to Andrew Hawkeswood inviting us over here to drive his awesome car.”
I just got caught out — the rear of the car snapped sideways on a righthander and I got stuck on the side of the road. Hayden Paddon