New Zealand rally stars Hayden Paddon and John Kennard overcame intense competition and muddy conditions to win the Forest Rally, 23 to 25 May, in Western Australia.  

This second round of the 2025 EROAD Australian Rally Championship was run as two single day events, like the first round in Canberra. The Kiwi stars worked hard to secure the maximum available 50 points each day and take out the rally win in their Hyundai i20 Rally2 car.  

Paddon now leads the ARC drivers’ series by 7 points over Lewis Bates and his brother Harry a further 11 points behind after two of the six championship rounds.  

Seeded fourth on the road for Saturday’s heat one, Paddon and Kennard were amongst the top-runners from the outset as expected but the competition was hot with 2020 FIA Junior World Rally Champion Tom Kristensson winning the first stage, three-time ARC champ Harry Bates taking the second, and Paddon the third.

A lot of rain made conditions very slippery in places, but high grip in others, and nothing like the iconic loose, ball-bearing surface typical of this rally run in the forests near Nannup, south of Perth near Margaret River.

Into the afternoon loop, Rally of Canberra winner Scott Pedder took the fourth stage win, then Paddon and Kennard were able to wrap up the day to their satisfaction by winning the last two stages with a margin of 12.3 seconds over Pedder, and secure maximum points for heat one.  

Sunday morning’s loop of three stages were very wet and muddy, but Paddon says drying conditions in the afternoon suited them and the car better. Four different stage winners – Kristensson, Pedder, Harry Bates and Paddon – throughout the day highlighted the intense competition with Paddon ultimately the day’s victor by a margin of just 5.4 seconds over Bates.  

Paddon was delighted to take the rally win and maximum points for the team.

“It was a really good weekend and we’re really happy to come away with the win on both days. It was more than we expected especially as the conditions were very challenging. Conditions with rain on both Saturday and Sunday made the first pass very slippery and probably didn’t work to our strengths with the car, but on the afternoon loops we were able to bring it back in some very close battles with Scott yesterday and Harry today. We had to really dig deep to try and get the result. To get the win in that fashion is very satisfying. It’s been a huge effort from everyone in the PRG team being over here for the week. It’s great to get our bid to win our first Australian championship back on track with our next challenge taking place at Rally Queensland near Gympie next month [early July].”  

Kiwi fans can follow Paddon and Kennard during all six ARC events thanks to the championship organisers providing 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, TrialLite, Hankook, Z Energy, Blaster and Signbiz.  

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

New Zealand rally stars Hayden Paddon and John Kennard head into new challenges with the second EROAD Australian Rally Championship round taking place in Western Australia this week.  

The Forest Rally runs 23 to 25 May around the towns of Busselton and Nannup, south of Perth near Margaret River. The two day rally features a stacked entry list of 39 crews including international stars like 2020 FIA Junior World Rally Champion Tom Kristensson and co-driver Andreas Johansson of Sweden and regular local top-runners like the Bates brothers.  

With the roads described as “unique, ball-bearing gravel”, Paddon and Kennard are expecting plenty of fast, sideways-sliding action on the stages in their refreshed Hyundai i20 Rally 2 car.  

The Kiwi pair again have the support of their Cromwell-based PRG crew in Australia, with Paddon being fresh from taking the outright win at Rally South Canterbury with Jared Hudson co-driving in the team’s Hyundai i20 AP4.  

While the pair’s first Australian outing this year didn’t go to plan in March, thanks to some local wildlife, they’re looking for maximum points this coming weekend and have been working through their pre-event preparation with their usual thoroughness.  

“This is our first time competing in Western Australia,” says Paddon who’ll be starting number four on the road. “We’ve heard a lot about the loose marbles here that make it slippery, but from what we have seen from our homework, the stages look generally smooth and flowing.  

“We’ve been working on a couple of small upgrades on the car, so we are looking forward to trying to get our championship bid back on track. That means we really need to target maximum points here, but we are also expecting a lot of fast teams here like the first ARC round in Canberra. Our goal is to focus on doing the best job we can from when recce starts on Thursday until the end of the rally on Sunday night.”  

The Forest Rally gets underway with a rally show on Friday evening near the Busselton foreshore. Saturday’s six special stages take competitors into the Nannup forest and comprise two repeated loops of three stages with a total competitive distance of 103.28 km. Sunday’s six stages are also three tests repeated morning and afternoon, total 81.02 km, before the rally finish and podium celebrations in Nannup later in the day.  

Kiwi fans can follow Paddon and Kennard during all six ARC events thanks to the championship organisers providing 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, TrialLite, Hankook, Z Energy, Blaster and Signbiz.  

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