Hayden Paddon
Hayden Paddon was born in Geraldine, Canterbury Region, New Zealand on April 20th, 1987 and is the Race Car Driver. At the age of 36, Hayden Paddon biography, profession, age, height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, measurements, education, career, dating/affair, family, news updates, and networth are available.
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Hayden Paddon (born 20 April 1987) is a New Zealand rally driver.
He was a PWRC world champion in 2011 and 2018 and won the New Zealand Rally Championship in 2008., 2009, 2013, and 2018.
Career
Paddon was introduced to motorsport at an early age, his father Chris being a rally driver, and he started his career in karting. He rode in his first rally in 2002 at the age of 15. In 2005, he rode and set fire to his vehicle in Rally Canterbury. In 2006, he began competing in the New Zealand Rally Championship with a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII, winning both the Junior and Rookie titles. He made his World Rally Championship debut in 2007 as a wildcard entry in New Zealand and then as a member of Team Jordan in Rally GB. He retained his Junior crown and came within a point of winning the New Zealand championship outright. He competed in a new Mitsubishi Evo IX in 2008, winning the New Zealand title. On his home round of the WRC, he also placed 13th overall and fourth.
He defended his New Zealand title, won the Pacific Cup, and qualified for the Pirelli Star Driver Asia-Pacific final at the 2009 Rally Australia. Paddon was the fastest of the competitors on the first day's tracks, implying he received the Pirelli Star Driver scholarship, giving him a fully funded program for six events of the 2010 World Rally Championship season. Paddon's performance was even better when he finished ninth overall, behind all of the PWRC regulars. Paddon was also awarded a $50,000 International Rising Stars Scholarship by Rally of New Zealand, giving him the additional funds needed to complete a complete 2010 PWRC campaign in comparison to the PSD's.
Paddon achieved the PWRC category of Rally New Zealand in 2010, finishing 14th overall. In the Pirelli Star Driver Evo X, he then finished third and second in PWRC on Rally Finland and Rallye Deutschland.
Paddon won a complete PWRC season in 2011, consisting of 6 Rounds; Portugal, Argentina, Finland, Australia, Spain, and GB. Paddon travelled with his newly formed New Zealand World Rally Team, and in a strange move, he switched to a Subaru for the 2011 season because he had previously run in a Mitsubishi. Paddon rode a STR11 Subaru Impreza N4 by Belgian Team Symtech Racing. Paddon's 2011 season was a triumph as he took 1st place in four rallies a row: Portugal, Argentina, Finland, and Australia, where he became the 2011 P-WRC Champion.
Paddon won the S-WRC championship in a koda Fabia S2000 during the 2012 season. He won his first S-WRC victory in his second rally in the country at 2012 Rally de Portugal, despite several competitors, including Paddon, having breakdowns, after placing him 4th in 4th place among the S-WRC finishers in Sweden.
Paddon won the Rally Catalunya in Spain for the first time in the World Rally Championship in 2014.
Paddon became the first WRC representative to lead a WRC rally in Rally d'Italia in 2015. Paddon was the first New Zealander to lead a World Rally Championship event since Possum Bourne took the lead in the 1999 Rally New Zealand and the first one to do so outside of his country. After a careful display and several stage wins, he came in second place overall, behind Sébastien Ogier.
Paddon, the YPF Rally Argentina, won his first WRC victory by 13.3 seconds from Sébastien Ogier in 2016 in the 4th round. John Kennard, his co-driver, also became the oldest co-driver to win a WRC round at 57 years of age. Following the unsuccessful flag referendum held earlier this year, notably and perhaps he celebrated the victory with a black and silver fern flag rather than the flag of New Zealand. His aim was to distinguish the New Zealand flag from the Australian flag, where confusions persist even when he was not competing against Australian drivers or co-drivers.
Paddon crashed out on the first stage of the 2017 Monte Carlo Rally, losing control of his Hyundai. In the incident that occurred right behind Paddon's motorcycle, a spectator was killed. Despite Paddon's car being less reliable and should not have continued, the Hyundai team dropped Paddon from the rally as a mark of honor. Paddon's long-time co-driver John Kennard decided to retire due to illness, and British Sebastian Marshall was swapped to replace him in Portugal, ahead of round six. Paddon had a difficult season this season, winning only two podiums in Poland and Australia. He led round 7 in Italy before ending early on day 2 after hitting a bank and breaking his right rear suspension.
In October 2020, it will be the tenth anniversary of the National Guard. One of the world's first EV rally cars, based on the Hyundai Kona, has been produced by Hayden Paddon and Hyundai New Zealand.
Hayden Paddon, 22, teamed up with Hyundai New Zealand in March 2022 to enter a car into the WRC2. The vehicle will be driven by Hyundai New Zealand Rally, with the previously established team of engineers, computer, and team leadership.
Paddon organized and won the inaugural Ben Nevis Station Golden 1200 hillclimbing festival in Central Otago, where he was driving a specially built Hyundai AP4++ with a custom 2.1L turbo 4 cylinder engine with 800 horsepower.