Fresh Aussie challenge for Paddon and Kennard

New Zealanders Hayden Paddon and John Kennard are getting ready for another brand-new-to-them rally in Australia this coming weekend, 24 to 26 August, as they line up in their Hyundai i20 Rally 2 car for the Gippsland Rally, the fourth round of the 2025 EROAD Australian Rally Championship (ARC) in Victoria.

The Kiwis currently lead their respective drivers’ and co-drivers’ championship standings with 256 points, with this event and two more still to take place to finish the championship.

Paddon’s closest competition are the Bates brothers, Lewis with 221 points and Harry with 192 points, and he’s expecting plenty of pressure from both Bates and other top competitors on an event they know well.

Paddon says, “Gippsland is another new event and new conditions for us to learn during testing and recce. From what we have seen, the stages look to be medium speed and grip, but a bit smoother than some of the previous events. I’m looking forward to it.

“Unlike the first three ARC rounds, which were sprint events where you could earn points from your finishing position each day, this is an endurance round where your points are determined by your overall place across the two days – as happens in most rallies. This magnifies the importance of finishing the rally with no problems, with no second chance for points on this event.

“At this point of the championship, it’s important we protect our lead and keep scoring points. We are expecting a strong challenge from the Bates brothers again on stages they know well, so we will put our best foot forward to keep the pressure on.”

A unique feature of the Gippsland Rally is the running of four night stages, the first time in more than ten years that an ARC event includes night forest competition.

“I’m really looking forward to the night stages aspect of the rally – night rallying is my favourite, and will be a key part of the rally making up 25 per cent of the route.”

The Gippsland Rally starts with a rally show and ceremonial start in the eastern Victoria town of Sale, while the service park is based further west in Heyfield. The competition comprises 18 special stages and 216.6 competitive kilometres across two days on roads in Gippsland state forests. Saturday’s action comprises a 65 km daylight loop, a generous service and dinner break before 60 km of night competition and includes the Deep Creek rally stage which was voted by ARC competitors as their 2024 Stage of the Year. Sunday’s action includes 90.94 km of competition across eight special stages. Some of this rally’s special stages are repeated four times which could impact running conditions on the repeated runs.

Keep up with all PRG’s news and results via the Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/paddonracinggroup.

PRG appreciates the support of their partners including Hyundai New Zealand, Caltex Havoline Oil, Mitre 10 Trade, Winmax Brake Pads, Bar’s Bugs, EROAD, Ben Nevis Station, Wipertech, Design Windows, MITO, Repco, Machinery House, King Gee, KiwiFibre, TrialLite, Hankook, Z Energy, Blaster and Signbiz.