Paddon releases aptly titled book
Hayden Paddon, the boy who grew up in Geraldine with a love of cars, has become New Zealand’s most successful rally driver. His autobiography Driven is released today. Rachael Comer caught up with him.
As a young boy growing up in Geraldine could you ever have imagined the remarkable journey your life has taken you on?
In the early days – no. Back then it seemed like a dream, something out of reach. Geraldine was a long way from the multimillion-dollar global manufacturer teams in Europe. To be honest, I probably didn’t even then realise the enormity of what was actually involved to get to that level.
How influential was your South Canterbury upbringing?
Without South Canterbury we simply would never have achieved what we have. From the time with my first Mini at the age of 13, the first ‘‘Shop Geraldine’’ sponsorship campaign we had, many many Timaru businesses helping us through our national rally campaigns, and 75 per cent of our shareholding funding machine for the World Rally Championship
‘‘I hope this book can provide some inspiration to others.’’
The Timaru Herald has a copy of Driven by Hayden Paddon to give away. To go in the draw email editor@timaruherald .co.nz with your name, address and a daytime phone number. (WRC) being from South Canterbury, the community embraced and encouraged what we were doing. I’m forever grateful for that.
Are there any people in SC you can attribute your success to?
There are simply too many to list and thank. There are literally hundreds: from the four businessmen who got us back on track when our Evo4 burnt to the ground in 2005, to the directors of HPRG (Rallysport Global) six years later to get us into the WRC.
Why should people read this book?
There is a common misconception that rally drivers must have it easy or have significant wealth behind them. That was never the case for me. I was a pretty normal country kid with a lot of the same difficulties as other people, and faced those challenges head on – while never losing sight of what my passion was. I hope this book can provide some inspiration to others: that if you really believe in something and are prepared to work for it, then anything is possible. If I can do it, anyone can.
How long have you been planning to write a book?
It’s been in the back of my mind for a while. So often we have to bite our tongue and can’t say what we truly think or feel. This book is not a whole life story, as we have a lot more yet to come. This book is about the journey over the past 20 years to achieve something many told us wasn’t possible. I felt now was the right time to tell that story, as things are at a kind of crossroads. What next for you?
We have a lot going on with our new venture, Paddon Rallysport, in Cromwell. We have some exciting projects. We are putting the building blocks in place to be one of the leading motorsport teams from this part of the world, and the dream is to go back international in five to 10 years, but with our own Kiwi team. Short term, we are still working on WRC and hoping for some more events this year and next.
What is your proudest moment? It’s hard to go past that Argentina win – to win a WRC rally was the accumulation of 20 years of work.