Hayden Paddon has seen this car from all angles. Literally. On the biggest Sunday of his life, he lay underneath it for 20 minutes preparing himself to take on Sébastien Ogier across Argentina’s infamous El Condor stage.
He won then. And, eight years on, he won again last Sunday.
When the chance came for Paddon to be reunited with the Hyundai i20 N WRC, he jumped at it. But told nobody. Watching the Kiwi’s social channels last week, it was clear there was something coming as he talked of unveiling a mystery car in Christchurch ahead of the Ashley Forest Hillclimb. Nobody saw this coming.
“I was surprised at how much the car meant to people,” Paddon told DirtFish. “Obviously, it’s a big thing for me, but I didn’t realize how much that result in this car affected people at home.”
Paddon never realized just what an impact his WRC victory in Argentina had eight years ago
Back at home, back in the day, Paddon and co-driver John Kennard had just won Otago, taken a week off and then flown east along the bottom of planet earth to land into Buenos Aires for round four of the 2016 World Rally Championship. This was Paddon’s first full season as a factory WRC driver and a tricky Monte had given way to a strong second in Sweden and a solid top-five in México. Now for Argentina.
Despite this being only his third start in Villa Carlos Paz, he was immediately in contention and moved into the lead on Saturday’s penultimate stage.
By the close of play, he was all-but half a minute ahead of defending champion Sébastien Ogier. That meant sitting alongside the Frenchman at the Saturday evening meet the crews session.
Championship leader Ogier spent his time on the mic complaining about the rules which forced him to run first on the road for two days. Paddon bided his time, but admitted to increasing frustration as he listened to his Volkswagen rival undermining him and his lead. Pleasantries complete, the drivers started to walk back to their team areas. Feeling a little insulted, Paddon asked Ogier what the answer was. What should be done?
It’s fair to say, the champ lost it. He fired into the New Zealander and told him no uncertain terms what he thought of him and the rules. The pair were right up in each other’s faces and, just for a moment, it looked like things might spill over. Hyundai and Volkswagen’s PR folk stood and stared, open mouthed. As did the rest of us.
“I’d never felt so much anger inside me,” said Paddon. “Then I had to go back to the hotel, try to forget about it and get some sleep before leading the rally into the final day. Before the first stage on Sunday, we pulled up behind Séb. I knew he would play some mind games. Before the start of the stage, some of us used to go for a short run to warm up. He started running towards me. I turned around and went in the opposite direction. I didn’t want to play those games.”
Instead, Paddon focused on the day’s three stages and defending that 29.8 second advantage aboard that Hyundai. Usually quick and comfortable in the fog, Paddon struggled to find a rhythm in the high mountains out west of the rally’s base. He dropped seven seconds to Ogier in the first run at El Condor. Worse was to come as Ogier shredded Paddon’s advantage in the following 14-miler. Paddon arrived at end of the road from Mina Clavero to Giulio Cesare with just 2.6 seconds in hand.
Talking in his book, Driven, Paddon remembers coming out of that stage.
The car is in the exact specification as it was in Argentina 2016, including even the nuts and bolts,
“For 10 minutes after that penultimate stage, I despaired,” he said. “Along with probably 99% of the millions of viewers watching on TV, I accepted that Séb was going to catch me on the final stage.
“Then the red mist came down again.”
Going into the regroup ahead of the final stage, Paddon knew he would be waiting for an hour or so while the other crews went through the powerstage. Keen to revise ahead of the final El Condor test, Paddon fired up his tablet to watch the onboards all over again.
“The battery sign flashed 10% left,” said Paddon. “The display was so dim, I couldn’t see it. I lay down on the ground, halfway under the rally car, in the shade to see the screen properly. I stayed there for 20 minutes. People around the parc fermé were muttering about how strange it was. They wanted to know what I was doing under there, or if there was something wrong with the car.”
There was nothing wrong with the car and nothing wrong with Paddon.
It was one of the most incredible experiences I’ve ever had in a rally car and I’ve been trying to replicate it ever sinceHayden Paddon
“I wondered what my hero Colin McRae would’ve done in this situation,” he said. “In my head, I could see him smashing stage record after stage record on Rally GB and beating Carlos Sainz. At the time, the commentators talked about him entering some kind of semi-spiritual zone where he was completely present while racing and able to go with the flow, blending man, machine and speed.
“That’s what I found heading back down El Condor. When the greenlight flashed go on the start, I drove the stage of my life. It was surreal. At the time it felt like I was not there behind the wheel. It was the easiest it has ever been to drive the car, but I was on the knife-edge limit.
“Everything flowed from start to finish. It was one of the most incredible experiences I’ve ever had in a rally car and I’ve been trying to replicate it ever since.”
Landing himself squarely in the zone, nobody could touch Paddon. He took 11.2 seconds out of everybody on one of the most technical, challenging and his-pressure stages of his life.
Some of that pressure came back at Mount Gray Road, Rangiora on Sunday.
Paddon celebrated another super-close victory in his Hyundai i20 N WRC
“It did actually,” smiled Paddon. “It was nerve-wracking. I wanted to win, but it was so close. It really went to the wire with Sloan [Cox]. He was driving really well and I had to push a little more than I would have liked to with this special car.
“Most people would put a car like this one in a museum, but like I said, I’ve been surprised at how much it means to people. We’ll use it maybe once or twice a year – it’s special and this win adds to the car’s history in a fun way.”
In the car, out of the car, under the car, that Rally Argentina (and Ashley Forest Hillclimb)-winning Hyundai i20 N WRC will forever hold a special place in Paddon’s career. And New Zealand’s heart.
