There’s a motto that exists in motorsport: just send it.
Only in this case, it didn’t apply to the attitude of his car on the stages. Rather the email in his ‘drafts’ folder.
Eight years had passed since Hayden Paddon last drove for Hyundai in the World Rally Championship. While magnanimous enough to realize his dreams of being world champion are likely gone, there remained an itch the New Zealander wanted to scratch.
His pedigree in Rally2 is more than proven – what could he still do in Rally1?
Ott Tänak telling the world he was off for 2026 at minimum after Rally Japan opened a door. Hyundai needed a driver: ‘Surely it wouldn’t be me?’ Paddon wondered.
But you don’t win the lottery without purchasing a ticket. So with that in mind, Hayden shot his shot.
“To be honest, I’ve been in touch with Andrew [Wheatley, sporting director] a bit,” Paddon told DirtFish. “When I heard about the Ott thing, I was sort of in two minds [about] what to do.
“I wasn’t going to do anything, and then I knew I’d regret it if I didn’t send a note. So I flicked a note through and I was pretty upfront with Andrew going, ‘this is a long shot, I know I’m an outsider, but I’d regret if I didn’t at least email you and just say, hey, look, I’m still very motivated for the sport and this is my life. And if there’s any opportunities, I believe I could bring some value to Hyundai, not only on the rallies, but, you know, maybe even work away from rallies.’
“So, yeah, that all started as soon as that announcement came out.”
And wouldn’t you know it, Paddon now finds himself back in Hyundai’s WRC setup – sharing an i20 N Rally1 with Esapekka Lappi and Dani Sordo in 2026.
“It all happened very quickly and caught me by surprise,” he added. “I guess it wasn’t something I was expecting. I’m the first to admit that there’s probably faster young drivers around, but I think what we can offer nowadays is very different in that respect.
“And, you know, I’m very conscious about that stuff as well. I’m conscious about what’s good for the sport and what’s good for Hyundai and everything. But when you actually look at where the sport is at at the moment and, you know, if I put the shoe on the other foot and if I was a young driver, I’d actually stand back and go, well, as a young driver you’d potentially argue the best place to be in ’26 in a Rally2 car, getting yourself up to speed to be ready for ’27 versus going into a one-year regulation car, which is obviously one’s dream to drive for a factory team. But if you want to be a future world champion, is that actually the best pathway for ’27 in the future?”
Paddon was back representing Hyundai Motorsport last weekend, for the first time since 2018
What’s clear is Paddon’s objectives aren’t the same as they were back in 2018.
“I think the last eight years of my life have put a lot of things in perspective,” he said, “and obviously I think you see life in a different sense.
“When you’re there as a factory driver, you just lived and breathed driving and winning and that was all you lived for. Whereas nowadays it’s about the business side of things. It’s about the commercial side. There’s just so much more to the sport than just driving a car.”
But last weekend was solely about driving a car, as Paddon drove an i20 N Rally2 at Rallye National Hivernal du Dévoluy.
That was another late call (just nine days before the rally began!), but the objective was solely to get acquainted with Hankook’s tires and readjust to wintry conditions like those on the Monte.
“We didn’t really focus on any car setup stuff last week,” Paddon explained. “The focus was on obviously tires but, yeah, probably more so for myself trying to get comfortable with conditions. Because I’m not going to beat around the bush, Monte’s not my favorite event, but that’s what we’ve been given and it’s the opportunity.
Paddon got valuable seat time in a Rally2, but will upgrade to a Rally1 next season
“And so we’ve got to get on with it and try and prepare as best as we can for it.
“I definitely feel a lot better after doing an event,” he added. “It’s hugely valuable just for seat time and doing stages and getting mileage, trying to read the grip and what tire choices to make.
“It definitely puts me a lot more at ease before Monte. Obviously, there’s still a lot of work to do, but it’s a good first step.”
The best first step, however, was sending that email off. If ever there was an example of the need to make opportunities happen for yourself, let it be Hayden Paddon.
