1. Hayden Paddon was born on 20 April 1987 and is a New Zealand rally driver.
23 Facts About Hayden Paddon
1. 2.
Hayden Paddon was PWRC world champion in 2011 and won the New Zealand Rally Championship in 2008,2009,2013,2018,2021,2022 and 2023.
3.
Hayden Paddon competed in his first rally in 2002, at the age of 15.
4.
Hayden Paddon finished 13th overall and fourth in PWRC on his home round of the WRC.
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Hayden Paddon was the fastest of the drivers on the opening day's stages, meaning he won the Pirelli Star Driver scholarship, giving him a fully funded programme for six events of the 2010 World Rally Championship season.
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Hayden Paddon's event got even better when he finished ninth overall, ahead of all of the PWRC regulars.
7.
Hayden Paddon won a $50,000 International Rising Stars Scholarship run by Rally of New Zealand, giving him the additional funding needed to complete a full 2010 PWRC campaign in addition to the PSD events.
8.
In 2010, Hayden Paddon won the PWRC category of Rally New Zealand in his own Evo IX, finishing 14th overall.
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In 2011, Hayden Paddon contested a full PWRC season, consisting of 6 Rounds; Portugal, Argentina, Finland, Australia, Spain and GB.
10.
Hayden Paddon competed under his newly formed team New Zealand World Rally Team and in a surprising move, Paddon switched to a Subaru for the 2011 season, as he had usually run in a Mitsubishi.
11.
Hayden Paddon drove a STR11 Subaru Impreza N4 run by Belgian Team Symtech Racing.
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The 2012 season saw Hayden Paddon move to the S-WRC championship in a Skoda Fabia S2000.
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In 2015, Hayden Paddon took his first ever lead of a WRC event in the Rally d'Italia.
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Hayden Paddon was the first New Zealander to lead a World Rally Championship event since Possum Bourne held the lead in the 1999 Rally New Zealand and the first one to do so outside of his country.
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Hayden Paddon finished second overall, behind Sebastien Ogier, after a careful performance and many stage wins.
16.
In 2016, on the 4th round, the YPF Rally Argentina, Hayden Paddon took his - and New Zealand's - first WRC win by 13.3 seconds from Sebastien Ogier.
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Hayden Paddon's intent was to distinguish the New Zealand flag from the Australian flag, where confusions still exists, even when, at the time of the victory, he was not competing against Australian drivers or co-drivers.
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Hayden Paddon led round 7 in Italy, until retiring late on day 2 after hitting a bank and breaking his right rear suspension.
19.
In March 2022, Hayden Paddon teamed up with Hyundai New Zealand to enter a car into WRC2.
20.
Hayden Paddon managed to fight off many international drivers to win the WRC2 class in his home country.
21.
In 2023 Hayden Paddon joined the Italian BRC Racing Team, and with the support of Hyundai New Zealand and Pirelli Tyres, put a 2023 European Rally Championship together.
22.
Hayden Paddon fought on his home grounds to win the 2023 New Zealand Rally Championship.
23.
Hayden Paddon managed to win the 2024 FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship with up and coming New Zealand co-driver Jared Hudson.