Hyundai sporting director Andrew Wheatley says there’s “no question” Hayden Paddon has done enough to earn a gravel round of the World Rally Championship – but that doesn’t guarantee he’ll get one.
Paddon’s initial deal to rejoin Hyundai Motorsport for the first time since 2018 was for three Tarmac rallies: Monte Carlo, Croatia and last weekend’s Rally Japan.
But with the 2026 WRC season front-loaded with asphalt rounds, there’s not currently a plan in place for Paddon to reappear in the second half of the year.
However the one-time WRC winner has made no secret of his desire to drive the i20 N Rally1 on gravel; the surface he feels most confident on.
“I’ve done a test day on gravel on doing a bit of development work, and straight away I just felt at home on gravel,” Paddon told DirtFish. “So I think it’s a completely different kettle fish to Tarmac. On Tarmac it still doesn’t quite feel 100% comfortable. So yeah, gravel would be up my alley.”
Paddon has only driven the i20 N Rally1 competitively on Tarmac
Dani Sordo has been picked to drive in Acropolis Rally Greece later this month with Esapekka Lappi confirming to DirtFish that he’ll compete in Estonia, with his home event in Finland seemingly a formality.
Wheatley told DirtFish: “We’re not confirming any third drivers until we put all the pieces into place. But Hayden’s done a great job. The difficulty is that we’ve also got two other very, very good drivers for those second half of the championship.
“So it’s a difficult balance, but there’s no question he [Paddon]’s done enough.”
Paddon added: “Obviously we’d love to do a gravel rally. The reality is I thin South America is probably the only options. EP’s I guess in for Estonia and Finland. Dani does well in Sardinia and Greece so it just leaves the two South American events.
“If we can try and get one it’d be amazing but at the end of the day we want the best for the team as well, so let’s see what happens.”
Paddon’s most likely opportunity to drive on gravel would be at one of the South American rounds in Paraguay and Chile.
Paddon has scored a podium finish for Hyundai in Croatia, but finished Japan seventh and Monte Carlo 11th.
Pressed if he believes he’s done enough to warrant another drive, Paddon replied: “That’s not a question for me. I’m a result-driven person, I’m a competitive person, so I don’t get excited about seventh or anything.
“Obviously we’ve got lucky in Croatia, but… I don’t know. The team’s got a long way to come back in the second half of the year, so really it needs to be podium lockouts on some events if Hyundai’s going to have any chance to come back [in the championship].”
Paddon’s next rally will be Ypres on the same weekend as Acropolis. He’ll drive a Hyundai i20 N Rally2 alongside Belgian co-driver Kris D’alleine, with former M-Sport Rally1 driver Grégoire Munster as his team-mate at BMA.
