Hayden Paddon and co-driver John Kennard have successfully defended their European Rally Championship title with a third-place finish at Rally Silesia.
The duo entered the eighth and final round of the 2024 season only needing to finish eighth or better to defend the title. However, Paddon went five better, capping off his season with a fine podium at the all-tarmac event in Poland.
“Relief! A season of two halves, through determination and grit, the whole team did it,” said an emotional Paddon at the conclusion of the Power Stage.
“Halfway through, we were all disheartened, but we never gave up.
“Massive thanks to the team, great to have the whole team and the Kiwis with us. You take it a day at a time, but if this is our last European rally, then it’s a big thanks to all of our fans supporting us on the other side of the world. Also, a big thanks to everyone at home and the commentators and the broadcasters.
“We took this one off, we’re gonna go and enjoy it now.”
Paddon began his title defence with a fourth place in the season-opener Rally Hungary before finishing sixth at Rally Islas Canarias. His first podium came in Round 3 at the Royal Rally of Scandinavia, where he was third, before he was fifth at Rally Estonia and sixth at Rally di Roma Capitale.
A double puncture leading to a 12th-place finish at Barum Czech Rally Zlín was the team’s worst result of the season. Paddon bounced back strongly by winning Rali Ceredigion in Wales to enter the final round with a 27-point advantage in the standings over France’s Mathieu Franceschi.
The reigning champion began Rally Silesia in dominant fashion, topping five of the opening eight stages to lead by 6.8 seconds entering the final day. More importantly, his advantage over Franceschi had ballooned to 42.3 seconds with only six remaining stages, including the Power Stage.
He was still in the lead after SS10, but Andrea Mabellini flew through SS11 and was eight seconds faster than the field, elevating him to the lead.
Tricky conditions led to a cautious approach on SS12, where Paddon finished sixth before two minor incidents cost the Kiwi team nearly 20 seconds on SS13.
“We had an adventure in the stage,” he said. “Second corner, went off line in a bank and pretty much got bellied. I was just sitting there on full throttle trying to get out, had to reverse, going again and we dropped out 15 [seconds] there.
“Then, a couple of kays later, at a junction, I just went straight through the barriers, had to go down the road, loop around, come back. I don’t think I’ve had so many adventures in one stage, so we probably dropped a good 20-plus seconds. Tricky conditions, we’re here but at the time I was thinking ‘not now’.”
With only the Power Stage to run, Paddon sat second overall, 12.1 seconds off the lead, but still 48.6 seconds to the good of Franceschi.
Needing only to nurse the car home to secure the title, Paddon did just that, finishing the stage 12th and dropping to third overall to clinch championship victory over Franceschi by 21 points.
“I wasn’t going to risk the title by being drawn into a fight today. We just wanted to bring the car home,” he said.
“I knew what I was here to do, and the title is hugely important. We’ve worked all year to achieve it.
“We’ve had our backs up against the wall for the best part of the season with a performance deficit but the team has been working hard to bring that back and we’ve brought it back during the last couple of rallies.”
Italy’s Mabellini went on to win his first-ever rally, while Ireland’s Jon Armstrong secured his first ERC podium in second. He jumped ahead of Paddon after topping the Power Stage.
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