Paddon revved up for triple-header
Life is flat-tack for New Zealand rally star Hayden Paddon.
The Cromwell-based ace is about to contest three very different rallies over three consecutive weekends in three countries with three different co-drivers.
Rally Queensland, running July 4-6 near Gympie, north of Brisbane, has been booked in all year.
Paddon is set to continue his bid to win his first Australian Rally Championship title with longtime co-driver John Kennard alongside in the PRG-run Hyundai i20 Rally 2 car.
Paddon and Kennard took the lead of their respective drivers' and co-drivers' championships at the previous ARC round in Western Australia and know they face a challenge in Queensland as most of the frontrunners have considerable experience on the rally's gravel, forestry plantation roads.
Two more dates unexpectedly popped up on the calendar.
Paddon received an invitation to compete in the Ypres Rally in Belgium, June 28-29, an event he contested in 2013 at the start of his international career.
One of the longest-running rallies in Europe, Ypres is a high-speed, all-tarmac rally that regularly attracts top international drivers.
Paddon will be joined by New Zealand co-driver Jared Hudson in a Hyundai i20N Rally2 car prepared by last year's Belgian champions, BMA.
Finally, just this week, a late change in the entry list for Ireland's most competitive motorsport rally, the Donegal Rally, provided Paddon with the opportunity to drive another Hyundai i20N Rally2 with co-driver Dave Moynihan.
The car will be run by C&M Motorsport and the event takes place on June 20-22.
Described as the ultimate three-day tarmac rally, Donegal attracts over 70,000 spectators and close to 400,000 viewers on television and online.
Being the only three-day tarmac rally in Ireland and the United Kingdom, it attracts the best Irish, British and international drivers from around the globe every year.
Paddon is understandably excited.
"It's fantastic to be heading back to Europe for some rally action again during what will be one of the busiest three-week windows of my life," he said.
"There's certainly a challenge ahead with three different cars, three different co-drivers and teams across the three events that span halfway round the globe.
"Donegal and Ypres are very famous events where the locals are extremely fast on demanding stages.
"Then, on our return to Australia, we are going into a rally where most of the ARC competitors are familiar with the stages from last year.
"We are going to have to prepare and push hard at all three events. It's a challenge I'm definitely up for.
"The dream is to try and challenge for victories across all three events, but the challenge to do that is huge.
"Together with my three co-drivers and teams, I know we'll give it everything we have and try our best to keep up with the locals.
"It's a unique and exciting privilege, to get outside your comfort zone and try new challenges, and for me, that is motivation to push us to try even harder." — APL
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