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Hayden Paddon and John Kennard are on the verge of rallying history as they look to clinch the 2023 FIA European Rally Championship in the Czech Republic.
If former South Cantabrian Paddon and Kennard (Blenheim) can secure the ERC title in the August 18-20 event they’ll become the first New Zealanders and the first non-Europeans to win the drivers’ and co-drivers’ championship titles in the ERC’s 70-year history.
Paddon goes into Barum Czech Rally Zlin as the number one seed and the kiwi pairing hold a 55-point lead over second-placed Latvian Martin Sesks.
He was not worried about his final position in this rally, other than in relation to where Sesks finished.
“The target in Zlin is to wrap up the championship,” Paddon said.
“The rally result will be irrelevant; it’s all about being strategic with our driving to try and win the championship.
“We go into this rally with quite a different mindset.
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Hayden Paddon and John Kennard on their way to winning the Rally Serras de Fafe in Portugal, the first round of the 2023 European Rally Championship in March.
“We are in a position where we can try and win the European championship and that’s solely the target we are going into this rally with.
“We will drive whatever is required to win that championship.
“We can lose up to 15 points and still win the championship for this event, so this is our focus. It has obviously been our focus for all the season.”
Paddon said he and Kennard have had a good run in the previous six rallies. They have been on the podium in each event starting with a win in Portugal, then four straight seconds in the Canary Islands, Poland, Latvia and Sweden and a third place in Sweden.
“That has put us in this position that we can try and manage it and try and control it, but obviously we’ve got the hard work ahead to make sure we have a clean rally. That’s probably the biggest things, a clean rally with no mistakes, get to the end and get those points and try and celebrate a championship at the end of it.”
Paddon and Kennard have not previously driven any of the special stages of this two-day rally in and around the city of Zlin.
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Hayden Paddon celebrates a win in the Rally Serras de Fafe in Portugal, the first round of the 2023 European Rally Championship in March.
“It’s our first time rallying in the Czech Republic, and it certainly looks like the most challenging rally we will encounter this year.
“I have heard a lot of positive things about how passionate the fans are there and look forward to being a part of that.”
Paddon said the stages look to be very bumpy, narrow, slippery and fast.
“That’s quite a challenging combination and maybe don’t play to my traditional strengths, so it’s important John and I, together with our team BRC Racing deliver on our clear target, which is championship focused rather than rally focused.”
The Czech Rally, first held in 1971, was described as a tarmac test like no other due to the bumpy and sometimes broken nature of the road surface.
The rally will begin Friday evening with an opening super special stage in the streets of Zlín. Saturday’s schedule comprises six stages, three stages repeated morning and afternoon. Another six stages on Sunday will complete 200.43km of competition.
If the championship race goes to the final round, it will be held in Hungary on October 7-8.
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