Outstanding third place for Paddon and Kennard in Croatia

New Zealand rally stars Hayden Paddon and John Kennard secured third place at WRC Croatia Rally, an unexpected and bittersweet podium finish for the pair after their Hyundai Motorsport teammates crashed out of the rally lead on the final stage.

This was the first time that the Kiwis had contested this rally and only their second start for Hyundai this year, and Paddon’s second WRC start in eight years.

Croatia’s narrow tarmac roads took their toll from Friday’s first stages with stones and dirt being pulled onto the road creating challenging conditions for all competitors. Punctures and crashes impacted one WRC competitor after another. Meanwhile, Paddon and Kennard stuck to their plan of driving to the conditions and getting to the finish, earning praise as one of the standout drives of the rally.

Paddon paid credit to the team’s hard work and admitted it was going to take a little while for the podium finish to sink in.

“It’s a bittersweet way to be on the podium. That wasn’t our expectation at the start, but we stuck to our plan all weekend. It turned out to be one of those rallies that you had to survive. I had thought it wasn’t going to be an attrition rally, but I couldn’t have been more wrong on that. I’m gutted for the team when I know how much is going on behind the scenes and the hard work everyone puts in. They deserved the victory, Thierry as well.

“Our plan this weekend was to be within 0.5 seconds per kilometres of our teammates and to get to the finish. We did that, and we were there to pick up the pieces – we didn’t want to be picking up ‘these’ pieces, so it’s going to take a bit for this podium finish to sink in after seeing Thierry crash out on the final stage.”

Paddon’s last podium finish in a WRC event was in Australia in 2018 with British co-driver Seb Marshall; Kennard was with Paddon when they finished third in Poland for Hyundai Motorsport in 2016.

With the start order for Friday and Saturday being determined by the driver’s championship standings, Paddon and Kennard started Friday’s eight stages ninth on the road. They knew they’d be dealing with debris being pulled onto the stage. While other Rally1 competitors hit problems, they kept it clean on the tricky stages, getting more comfortable in the car with every stage to finish the day in fourth position.

They went into Saturday’s eight stages knowing the roads were slippery with debris and even more challenging than Friday’s. They weren’t immune to problems either, getting a puncture on the day’s longest stage. While they lost time on this stage, they had enough of a margin over fifth place to keep their fourth place by day’s end.

“It was an afternoon of survival, especially the variable grip levels and a puncture on the long stage. Knowing we had to bring the car home, to make no mistakes adds to the stress levels. From my side, it’s finding that happy middle ground with enough pace and still bringing the car home to get points for the team.”

Going into Sunday’s four stages with Hyundai teammate Thierry Neville in the lead, Paddon’s plan was to stay focused and secure fourth place. Neuville’s unexpected and sudden crash on SS20, the final stage, put Paddon and Kennard in the perfect position to finish as the top Hyundai competitor and secure their first WRC podium finish in nearly ten years.

“It is hard to comprehend that we’re back on the WRC podium. A bit surreal to do this again with John and it’s been a journey together over the last 20+ years.

“As a tarmac rally, it’s been challenging. The difference when you’re at the WRC level, you’ve got to be on the limit so much and that’s when mistakes happen a lot more – punctures, etc. Other ERC rallies are equally challenging as this rally, and you’ve got to treat them with respect. In the WRC, you’re trying to drive hell for leather but sometimes you’ve also got to drive to the conditions.”

This result puts Paddon and Kennard into 11th place in their respective driver’s and co-driver’s championship standings.

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, Design Windows, MITO, Repco, Machinery House, King Gee, KiwiFibre, Hankook, Z Energy, and Blaster.