MOTORSPORT: Kiwi aiming for WRC title

Despite winning last time out, New Zealander Haydon Paddon has written off his chances of claiming the 2016 drivers’ world rally championship.

But next year is another story entirely.

Paddon, who defeated the three-time and defending WRC champion and points leader Sebastien Ogier in a dramatic straight fight in Argentina three weeks ago, is back in action from today (May 18) in the Rally of Portugal.

Despite now sitting only 39 points behind Ogier with 10 events still to be run, the Hyundai i20 WRC driver says he will be going full-tilt for the crown in 2017.

“This is our third year in a world rally car with Hyundai so we have built up a good relationship with the team and we are learning the cars a lot,” the 29-year-old from Geraldine on NZ’s South Island told motoring.com.au in an exclusive interview.

“This year is our last learning year and that then gives us 2017 and ’18 to put all that learning to good use and do what we are here to do.

“We still have a lot of learning to do. We still have a lot of building blocks to put in place so we can actually get a championship.

“It’s all about continuing the progress, particularly on tarmac, which is a weak area of mine, and then hopefully we can have a decent crack at the championship next year.”

That assessment sounds surprisingly dry considering Paddon has only recently broken through for not only his, but New Zealand’s, first ever WRC win.

But Paddon is the ‘overnight sensation’ that has literally been 20 years in the making. He started in karts, transitioned to rallying at the age of 15 and first contested his home round of the WRC in 2007.

“It has taken over 20 years since I first started driving go-karts. It’s taken a hell of a lot of sweat and tears and fund raising and it’s been a long road,” Paddon said.

“We have just been progressively building up to it for some time. We haven’t just come out and rushed things, we have done things in our own manner and had our own goals along the way.”

Having approached the task of becoming a world rally champion methodically, Paddon is just as methodical, measured and realistic in assessing the window of opportunity that he expects to open for him in 2017.

“The next three or four years are our prime years,” he said.  “This is going to be our opportunity to win the championship.

“Beyond that you want to consolidate and win more championships, but to win that first championship you have got to do it reasonably early in my mind.

“If you take too long to do it then maybe you are not capable of winning it in the first place.”

For all his matter-of-factness, Paddon’s first WRC win demonstrated he has the determination and sheer driving skill needed to star in this championship.

On Saturday evening in Argentina he clashed with Ogier after a press conference, when the factory Volkswagen Polo R WRC driver made clear his objections to the WRC regulations that require the championship leader to run first and ‘sweep’ the roads on the first two days of competition.

Paddon led the Frenchman by only 2.6 sec going into the final stage of the rally and was expected to be passed. Instead he blasted his way to the fastest time in his 225kW turbocharged all-wheel drive i20 and won the rally by 14.3 sec with co-driver John Kennard.

“I just confronted him to see where he actually stood and he didn’t like that,” Paddon recalled of his Saturday stoush with Ogier. “It was an altercation that really put fire in my belly. I was going into that last stage thinking ‘I don’t want him to beat us’.

“It was sort of a ‘win it or bin it’ scenario going into that stage. Normally you would be worrying about breaking the car because the conditions were quite rough, generally maybe be a bit on the safe side looking after the car.

“But I just had the mentality going into that stage that I really do want to win and threw caution to the wind and didn’t worry about the car, didn’t worry about the ruts and the rocks. I just drove it like it was a perfectly smooth New Zealand stage.

“But Ogier is the ultimate master of pulling something out of nothing, so we didn’t really think we had done enough until we saw the time.”

In tandem with his pursuit of more wins in the 2016 WRC, Paddon is also involved in testing the 2017 i20 WRC contender.

New technical rules have tempted Toyota back into the WRC with the Yaris alongside Hyundai, Volkswagen and Citroen (C3). Paddon believes the fundamental changes for 2017 could mean the end of VW’s domination of the championship.

“I think it opens it up again because every team is starting from a clean sheet of paper so all the development work that has been done on the current car is out the window and everyone is in the same boat starting from scratch, including Toyota.

“When you are developing a brand-new car like that for new rules it’s not only performance that has to be factored in, it’s also reliability.

“So I think the first part of next year will be quite interesting and you won’t see any definite patterns emerge till halfway through the year because the developments will be happening very quickly on cars and speed might be changing between teams depending on development.”

And being a driver, Paddon is relishing the prospect of having what is forecast to be a significantly faster car at his disposal in 2017.

“I think all drivers want to go faster and I am no definite. The current WRC cars are very impressive to drive. But it’s like anything, once you get used to it, it becomes like an old glove and starts feeling slow.

“So to make the car faster is better from the driving perspective. But the biggest part of it all will be a much better spectacle for the spectators. The cars will look faster, sound faster and look more aggressive. I think it is going to be quite spectacular.”

The 2016 Rally Australia WRC round takes place at Coffs Harbour on November 17-20.