Attitude is key and it is one of the talents that Kiwi Hayden Paddon has amongst other ingredients that will bring him success in both motorsport and life. There is a quiet confidence about himself and his own ability, one that does not appear ego driven, rather fuelled by maturity and a balanced outlook on his life and a quest to drive in the World Rally Championship. This in turn is backed up by very good results.
The 23 year old will this year compete in the Production World Rally Championship (PWRC). His goal: To win the 2011 PWRC title.
It was a privilege to attend the media conference and fundraising dinner in Timaru recently when the new NZ World Rally Team announced that its driver (Paddon) will compete in the 2011 PWRC and drive a Subaru run by the top European team Symtech Racing.
At first the announced switch from Mitsubishi to Subaru didn’t register because one knew that given any decent machinery this driver was capable of winning.
More intriguing was the way Paddon talked about his test drive of a Subaru PWRC car one week before competing in the 2010 Rally of Great Britain (GB).
Last year Paddon drove a Mitsubishi in the PWRC after becoming a recipient of the Pirelli Star Driver scheme. Winners from different regions around the world were given a fully funded drive in the PWRC in similarly prepared Mitsubishi Evo10’s. While in Britain preparing for his final rally of the season he had the opportunity to test the opposition brand.
Paddon said that when he got out of the Subaru after his limited test he said to the team, “If I had that car next week I would win Rally GB.”
It’s not just what he said but the quiet unassuming confidence in himself given the right machinery to do the job. This is a key ingredient for his success this year.
He finished third in the 2010 championship, his first outing in both the series and its rallies. What we didn’t know was that he had to drive a car that was prepared for him by the Pirelli team, that he had no say in its setup.
Paddon will start his own PWRC campaign with the Vodafone Rally de Portugal at the end of March (24-27). He can win this.
