Paddon perfect as he prepares to leave NZ
Hayden Paddon has completed a third successive victory in the New Zealand Rally Championship and has taken care of what he can control before heading off overseas.
The EX-WRC rally winner has maximum points after taking victory by more than four minutes in his Hyundai I20AP4 at the Stadium Finance South Canterbury Rally on Saturday.
Alongside stand-in co-driver Jared Hudson, who becomes the youngest round winner in NZRC history, Paddon has done all he can do before heading off to Europe to start his international campaign.
He led home Ben Hunt (Skoda Fabia R5), who had to work hard on the final two stages after his buffer was erased with a puncture on stage seven.
Hunt did enough to hold off Matt Summerfield (Mitsubishi Mirage AP4) and Ari Pettigrew (Holden Barina AP4) to give his title chances a significant boost.
Summerfield was awarded the Dunlop Drive of the Rally after his first podium finish of the season while Pettigrew kept his title chances alive.
Phil Campbell drove a sensible rally to secure fifth in his Ford Fiesta AP4, which keeps him well in the championship battle, while Jack Hawkeswood grabbed sixth in a Toyota Yaris AP4.
Glenn Inkster battled back after a slow start to record a solid seventh in his Mazda AP4 while Andy Martin was delighted with eighth on debut
in the Volkswagen Polo R5.
Raana Horan suffered two punctures to ruin his rally as he debuted his new Skoda R5 but he did manage to finish just outside the top 10.
Josh Marston (Holden Barina AP4) also suffered from a costly puncture and then a late mechanical failure at Levels Raceway while Robbie Stokes had a forgettable rally as he suffered mechanical dramas in his Ford Fiesta
AP4 before rolling the car later in the afternoon.
Marcus van Klink celebrated his return to the championship by claiming first overall 2WD in his Mazda RX8 while Jeff Ward (Subaru Impreza) was the Rally Challenge 4WD winner. Ward led home Sean Haggerty (Subaru) and Paul Cross (Subaru) in the class.
Jordan Grant snared a breakthrough class win in the NZRC Group N 2WD category and secured an impressive second overall 2WD result as well in his Suzuki Swift.
Charlie Evans (Honda Civic) edged Dylan Thomson (Ford Fiesta) in the battle for second in the NZRC 2WD).
Jonty Brenssell was third overall 2WD and claimed a comfortable win in the Rally Challenge 2WD class.
John Silcock was the sole finisher in the Historic 2WD class after championship rivals Anthony Jones and Shane Murland suffered problems early in the day.
The championship heads back to the North Island next month for Rally Hawke’s Bay. — Supplied content