Paddon lured in by the forest roads
In two weeks, he will be racing through the Welsh forests in one of the most prestigious rallies in the world but before that, it’s a forest much closer to home that has Hayden Paddon’s attention.
Despite his looming assignments in the World Rally Championship (WRC) at Wales Rally GB and Rally Australia, Paddon is chasing a record-breaking performance in the 40th running of the Ashley Forest Rallysprint this weekend in North Canterbury.
For Paddon, who won the 2011 title, the course record has become somewhat of an obsession since he returned to the event in his Hyundai i20 AP4+ rally car in 2017 and ‘‘caught the bug’’.
In the event’s heyday in the late 1980s and early 1990s, it was televised live and a young Paddon was fixated on the box.
In its 40-year history names such as Possum Bourne, Kim Austin (both three) and Rod Millen (two) have been multiple winners.
‘‘The history is a big part of it. So many legends of the sport have all competed in the event,’’ Paddon told Stuff.
A second victory for Paddon, who first competed at Ashley Forest when aged just 14, would be the ideal way to finish the two-day event tomorrow but of more significance is the course record.
Sloan Cox, the 2017 winner, broke Austin’s 17-year-old course record in 2016 and still holds it at 54.96 seconds – set in 2017.
For Paddon, lowering that record is far more important than winning the elimination-style event.
He was on track to lower it in 2018 before terminal engine failure struck in the top 16 runs.
There was even talk of a time in the 52-second range but despite chasing the record with some confidence, Paddon is cautious about setting the bar too high following some last-minute issues.
‘‘We definitely think 52 is possible.
‘‘I don’t know if we’re going to be able to do it this year.
‘‘Unfortunately, we probably don’t have quite the engine consideration we wanted. We’ve had a few hurdles thrown in last minute but we can definitely go under the record, just how far under is the big question.’’
Paddon said the car had been refined with the learnings of last year and had the advantage of more horsepower and an improved aero package. It’s not just the prestige of the event that has Paddon fired up to hold the record.
Because he contests the unlimited 4wd class, there are few limitations on what can be modified on his Hyundai and with the rallysprint format, it allows time to makes changes to the car in between each run.
‘‘It’s a real opportunity to showcase how fast we can make the car go,’’ Paddon told Stuff.
‘‘The event’s an engineer’s dream because we can essentially do what we want with the car. The whole team really embraces this event.’’