New challenge for Paddon in Australia

The New Year brings a new challenge for Kiwi rally star Hayden Paddon and the Paddon Racing Group (PRG) as they take their Hyundai i20N Rally2 car across the Tasman for an all-out tilt at winning the 2025 Australian Rally Championship (ARC).

Paddon has committed to contesting all six rounds of the highly-competitive Australian championship which starts in Canberra in March, and continues in Western Australia in May, Queensland in July, Victoria in August, South Australia in October and Tasmania in November. PRG personnel will join Paddon at each round.

Paddon is looking forward to the challenges of contesting more Australian rallies after the last two successful years in Europe with back-to-back FIA European Rally Championship titles to his credit. And while it’s a few years since he’s rallied in Australia, he’ll be drawing on earlier successes such as winning the 2022 Asia Pacific Rally Championship event in Coffs Harbour, finishing second overall in the 2018 Australian World Rally Championship event, and third overall at WRC Rally Australia in 2017.

“I’m really excited to finally put together a campaign for the Australian Rally Championship, something we have been trying to make happen for a couple of years. It’s a championship that we have not yet tried our hand at, and I’ve been following closely the level of competition and calibre of the events, watching from the other side of the Tasman.

“We are under no illusion that it will be a tough challenge, going up against some very fast competition on unfamiliar events and terrain, but we will treat it like any other rally or championship that we compete in, and know we have the best team with PRG and a strong package with the Hyundai i20N Rally2 to give it our best shot.”

As a longtime fan of Possum Bourne who won the Australian championship seven times from 1996 to 2002, Paddon remembers the intense competition between Bourne and four-time ARC title winner Neal Bates through this period.
Now, Neal Bates’ sons Harry and Lewis are stars of the ARC with Harry having won the title, which earns the champion the Possum Bourne Memorial Trophy, three times (2019, 2023 and 2024). Lewis also won the ARC title in 2022.

“It will be special to compete in Australia this year, especially after the many years of success that Possum Bourne had there and watching that as a kid. To now take our own Kiwi team across the ditch and rejuvenate that trans-Tasman rivalry is going to be an exciting and fun challenge. We know from previous times we have competed in Australia that everyone is very welcoming which adds to the experience.”

Kiwi fans will be able to follow Paddon in action during the six ARC events as championship organisers deliver a mix of on-stage action, interviews and analysis via live streams broadcast on the ARC’s Facebook and YouTube channels.

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 and Trial Lite.

Keep up with Hayden Paddon’s news via the Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/paddonracinggroup.