Hayden Paddon will tick a bucket list item and give rally fans an incredible show during the Central Machine Hire Otago Rally this April.

After finishing the event in the Classic section, he will return to the start of the final stage, the famous Kuri Bush, to complete a second run in his famous Hyundai i20 World Rally Car – the car in which Paddon outdrove Sebastien Ogier on the final stage to win the 2016 Rally of Argentina.

It will be the first time a World Rally Car will run down the famous 15-kilometres, and it’s sure to be a huge delight for spectators lining the stage.

“Firstly, a big thank you to the Otago Rally organisers for allowing this opportunity,” Paddon said.

“It’s always been a bucket list thing for me to drive a WRC car on Kuri Bush, one of New Zealand’s most famous and hair raising stages.

“We hope to put on a good show for the spectators and see what sort of time the car can do, but at the same time, we’ll drive with a degree of caution to not take risks and look after this unique and special car.”

Paddon imported his WRC-winning Hyundai to New Zealand in 2024 and plans to use it sparingly at events in the future, with the famous Kuri Bush stage being just the second of such instances.

Whether the car overhauls his existing stage record of 7m12.8s, set in 2023 (Hyundai i20 N Rally2), remains to be seen, however, he’s wary of keeping the car neat and tidy, given its historical significance and value.

“We hope to put on a good show for the spectators and see what sort of time the car can do, however, at the same time driving with a degree of caution to not take risks and look after the car.”

The itinerary for this much-anticipated run will be communicated prior to the event to ensure fans don’t miss out on their chance to witness history.

The Central Machine Hire Otago Rally is grateful to the Dunedin City Council for Premier Event funding.    

New Zealand’s most successful rally driver, Hayden Paddon, will light up the 2025 Central Machine Hire Otago Rally aboard a special rally car.

Ten years on from his record breaking outright win in an Escort BDA, Paddon will again drive the famed model when the rally runs from April 4-6.

Steering the eye-catching blue BDA owned by Tim McIver, Paddon will take the fight to international star, Kris Meeke, in a bid to wrestle the International Classic Rally crown back to New Zealand.

Recently announced to complete a full program in the Australian Rally Championship, Paddon will begin his New Zealand program with the Dunedin event, just two weeks after the Canberra opener across the Tasman Sea.

Having won the Otago Rally on 10 occasions, more recently in Hyundais, he has also competed in the Classic Rally on three occasions, with mixed results.

First competing in the class in 2012, Paddon finished fourth after a puncture, and a return two years later ended in retirement. 

It was 2015, though, where he delivered a stunning outright win to trump not only those in the Classic Rally, but also every New Zealand Rally Championship competitor.

Competition for the Classic win won’t be easy, especially with Kris Meeke travelling south to drive the Rossendale Wines BDA for the second year running.        

“I’m looking forward to tackling the Otago Classic again, 10 years after our win there last time” Paddon said. 

“Firstly, a big thank you to Hyundai NZ for allowing us to take up this opportunity, and Tim McIver for the use of his car.

“I have some very good memories from 10 years ago, and with Kris also being present this year, I think it will be a mega battle that will only amplify the experience. 

“First and foremost it’s about fun for us all, but the competitive side will for sure come out in the stages, and I think we will be egging each other on.”

The Paddon-Meeke battle is not the first between former World Rally Championship round winners to occur in classic cars at Otago. Bjorn Waldegard and Hannu Mikkola both contested the rally, seeded cars one and two, in 2003, while Didier Auriol would also go up against future WRC rally winner, Paddon, in 2014.

Intentions to enter the Otago Rally, regardless of class, have exceeded 130, with a great number coming from overseas. More than a dozen Australians are planning to make the trip, while other teams are hoping to come from the United Kingdom, Vanuatu, Japan, Ireland, and many others.

The Central Machine Hire Otago Rally is grateful to the Dunedin City Council for Premier Event funding.

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.

Organisers of the Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Championship are proud to announce the 2025 calendar that includes the return of two events to the championship for the first time post-pandemic.  

The season will, as has become traditional, kick off with the two-day Otago Rally on April 4-6, based in Dunedin.

The action will then resume at the South Canterbury Rally on May 10, based in Timaru, before a return to the Canterbury Rally in Christchurch on June 1.  

Following a mid-season break, teams will move to the North Island with another returning event, Rally Coromandel, to be held on August 23 from the seaside town of Whitianga.

The series then moves to the Tauranga-based Rally Bay of Plenty on October 11, before the second two-day round of the season, International Rally of Whangarei, to round out the season on November 7-9.  

“It’s really exciting to be able to release the calendar as we work into the 2025 season,” said NZRC Championship co-ordinator Blair Bartels.  

“To be able to welcome a couple of exciting events in Canterbury Rally and Rally Coromandel back onto the calendar alongside fantastic events like Otago Rally, South Canterbury Rally, Rally Bay of Plenty and the International Rally of Whangarei is very pleasing.  

“Book ending the championship with a pair of two-day events amongst four one-day events keeps things exciting right to the final round, while splitting the events into South and North Island with a mid-season break was very well received amongst the teams this season and offers numerous benefits.  

“Of course, we’re blessed to have so many rallies of a high calibre in this country and while keeping to a six-round calendar, unfortunately they can’t all fit in. On that note, we’d like to thank the organisers of the Daybreaker Rally and Southern Lights Rally for their efforts across the last two seasons, particularly stepping up at short notice to pull together the Daybreaker Rally in 2023.”  

“We’re pleased to see another New Zealand Rally Championship set for 2025,” said MotorSport New Zealand president Deborah Day.  

“New Zealand is lucky to have the best rallying roads in the world, and with Rally Canterbury and Rally Coromandel returning to the championship calendar we get to see more of those roads contested at our highest level.”    

Championship articles are in their final stages of preparation and will be released in due course.     

2025 Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Championship Calendar:

Rd 1: Otago Rally Friday April 4- Sunday April 6

Rd 2: South Canterbury Rally Saturday May 10

Rd 3: Canterbury Rally Sunday June 1

Rd 4: Rally Coromandel  Saturday August 23

Rd 5: Rally Bay of Plenty Saturday October 11

Rd 6: International Rally of Whangarei Friday November 7- Sunday November 9

The 2025 Central Machine Hire Otago Rally is already proving popular, with over 65 intentions to enter received so far. There have already been nine received from Australia, and seven from other countries including the UK and Japan.

Rally organisers are expecting to have a full field of over 100 entries for the April 5 and 6 event, with the rally’s “star driver” yet to be announced.

Welsh driver, Meirion Evans, has already confirmed his entry, as has Japan’s Fuyuhiko Takahasi in the Pacific Cup section of the rally.

Australians to show early interest include Richie Dalton in a Ford Escort RS1800, and Darryn Snooks in a Datsun Stanza.

Next’s year’s Central Machine Hire Otago Rally route is just about finalised and will offer competitors 280 kilometres over 15 special stages, finishing with the famed Kuri Bush stage.

The intention to enter is non-binding, so competitors are encouraged to get their name on the list at: https://otagorally.com/competitors/intention-to-enter/

Supplementary Regulations will be available soon for what promises to again be a bumper edition of the event.

The Central Machine Hire Otago Rally is grateful to the Dunedin City Council for Premier Event funding.

Defending champions James Ford and his co driver Neil Shanks held on to win the 2024 Silver Fern Rally, making it back to back wins.  Their winning margin after 7 days, and almost 1000 kilometres of special stages was 4 minutes 21 seconds.

Robbie and Amy Stokes finished in second place, 4 minutes 11 seconds ahead of Robert Gough and Jeremy Rogers in third. The top three positions were held by Ford Escorts.

James on his win: “It’s been a long week, we’ve had a few incidents but apart from that we’ve managed it. We have managed an engine problem since day 2. The last stage was very rough and a bit of a baptism of fire for the last stage of the rally.

“We did the same stage 2 years ago in the other direction so we knew what it was like. We had a big lead so went pretty steady”.

The 2WD Challenge was won by Chris Ramsay and Amy Hudson in Ramsay's self-built Toyota Corolla. Behind them by 9 minutes 33 seconds were Dave Strong and Rob Scott in Dave's one-off V6 Honda Jazz RS. Richard Galley and Claire Buccini in the BMW E30 just held onto third place another 5 minutes 42 seconds back.

Ben Huband and Corinne Cutler (Subaru Magnum H6) won the 4WD class from Tom Milliken and Chris Cunningham, having had a mostly trouble free rally.

The Irish pairing of Keith Hamilton and Glenn Alcorn (Subaru GC8) won the 3-Day Silver Frond by just 23.9 seconds from the Ford Escort of Stephen Gill and Grant Molloy.

The Porsche and the Lancia Stratos were repaired overnight after their heavy crashes on the penultimate day south of Dunedin.

It was all hands on deck to repair the cars for the final day.

Tuthill Porsche Team Manager: "The first job was to assess it and see what needed pulling out, then make it straight. Because it caught fire we had to redo the wiring loom too.  Luckly we had the car back (at Service) by mid-day so worked until about 10pm”.

The final day had the longest stage of the entire rally at a staggering 54 kilometres. This was one of three stages which took the survivors through some of the most picturesque landscape in the country.

Following these three stages and after lunchtime service the cars toured to Wanaka for the Ceremonial Finish at Paddons Paddock.

Of the 53 7-Day entries, 26 completed all 47 stages. James Ford showed his consistency winning 23 in the Historic section with Marcus van Klink - the only other leader for 5 stages - next on 8, while Dave Strong won 24 to Rambo's 21 in the Challenge.