Between countless racing events and endless pace notes, it's easy to see why Hayden Paddon is New Zealand's Rally Champion. We caught up with Hayden before the World Rally Championship in Australia.
How did you get into rally driving?
I was brought up around rallying as my dad, Chris, had started before I was born. Even as a toddler I was at the events and eventually when was old enough I would help as a service hand. For me, it’s the only way I know to life.
What was your first car?
I started in go-karts at the age of six and as soon as I could get a motorsport license (which in New Zealand is 12) I jumped into cars. My first car was a Mini, which I spent three years learning how to drive and how to work and maintain cars.
Tell us a little bit about the car you'll be driving the FIA World Rally Championship in Australia:
The cars that we drive now are Group N, or production based cars. We are currently driving the latest model Subaru STI, which is a 2 litre turbo, 4WD car. To comply with regulations, we are very limited on what we can modify to the engine, but the cars have a lot of safety equipment added along with heavy duty racing suspension, gearbox, diffs, brakes and chassis strengthening. There are also a lot of computers in the cars which not only control the engine, but also the diffs.
Do you do some physical training for the Rally?
I work hard on my fitness — is hard training during the peak season with time commitments but every day I do a cardio workout which I enjoy. I also do some weights and flexibility exercises. Cardio fitness is very important with driving to be able to cope with the heat, fatigue and to be mentally alert all the time. During training it also gives me a chance to reflect and think about the rally ahead and visualise the roads.
Is it important to eat the right food?
Certainly, particularly during the rally. WRC events are now a Monday to Sunday event, with recce, media and testingin the first part of the week — they’re all just as important as the actual rally particularly recce where we write our pace notes. The days are also long, so making sure we are fuelled on carbs is very important before and during the event. Between events I generally just eat sensibly.
When you're not training, what do you do to relax?
To be honest, when I’m not training there is plenty of other things to do with the rallying, from sponsorship work, PR, media work, guest appearances and speeches, studying upcoming events, rebuilding rally cars etc. I love every aspect of a sport and work every day from 8am to midnight. I easily get bored and am not a big one on relaxing. Often the long haul flights to the events are my time to relax.
You're at odds-on to become Production Car World Rally Champion this year. If you win you'll be the first antipodean world champion in rally — what does that mean?
We still have some work to win it, but if we were it would be a dream come true. Obviously I still want to go a lot further in the sport, but short term this was our goal this year and it would be a huge credit and repayment to everyone that has invested a lot of time and money into us.
FIA World Rally Championship is coming up in a couple weeks, how are you feeling going into the competition?
I am feeling good. We are using our New Zealand CR Properties/Placemakers Subaru for this event rather than the European car. We have spent the last few weeks rebuilding the car and it’s looking great. It is also a brand new event for everyone which is a good leveller, and we have also enjoyed new events where you have to rely on your pace notes that you are driving on for the first time. It is still a little unknown what the roads and conditions will be like but generally I am really looking forward to it.
Do you know the track you'll be driving in Coffs Harbour for the championship?
No — it is a new event for everyone. Some of the locals may have some knowledge, but other than that it is the same for everyone. I expect the roads not to be too different to parts of New Zealand, also for them to be fast.
How do you and your co-driver prepare for a new track?
We are very limited. Rather than studying previous years in-car footage and pace notes, we would study our pace note system and changes we can make to that. We will also work on the car set-up. Other than that we make sure we are ready for recce, have a clear mind and make sure that we write a good set of pace notes.
Would you consider racing rally a dangerous sport? Do you see yourself as a bit of an adrenalin junkie?
Of course it is a dangerous sport, but that is also what drives us and gives us that adrenalin rush. As a driver, I always want to be going faster. There are dangers but the cars and the sport has now become safe, with a lot of protection equipment built into the cars. We don’t think about the dangers too often as that could slow you down. We just concentrate on what is important. which is the road ahead and going as fast as possible.
Any pointers for someone out there thinking of getting into Rally?
I think it’s a fantastic sport and until you have experienced it from the inside of the car you don’t know what you’re missing out on. It also doesn’t have to be expensive to get into to — most cases a local car club will accept road cars into local autocross and paddock events where you can have some fun going sideways. That is where we started and have taken 12 years to get to where we are today.
You've won a slew of rally championships and recently won International Rising Stars Scholarship run by Rally New Zealand. Is that the pinnacle for you or is there something else that would top that?
Winning the New Zealand Rally Championship in both 2008 and 2009 ranks up there for us — particularly as we did it with our small local team, working out of the back shed on a relatively low budget. Our New Zealand team has been with me and helping me since day dot and to see us all go to the top in New Zealand was a fantastic feeling. Third on debut in last year’s PWRC was also great although at the time I was a little disappointed that we didn’t win it. Some event results also stick out for me, our victories in Whangarei, our maiden PWRC victory at Rally New Zealand last year and our three PWRC victories this year in Portugal, Argentina and Finland.
What’s your ultimate rally goal?
My ultimate goal is to be World Rally Champion. Yes it will be difficult and it’s still a long way away, but I believe that we can do it and just have to get working 110% on everything, keep improving and keep learning. There are now more manufacturers coming into the sport which means more opportunities.
World Rally Champion will be held in Coffs Harbour in Australia from 8-11 September 2011.
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