Hayden Paddon:
Fighting for a
world rally
future

The winter months can be a tough time for rally drivers. Those fortunate enough to have a factory seat can relish the prospect of oodles of testing. For most, however, the off-season represents a period of uncertainty as the search to secure a ride for the upcoming campaign gets harder and harder.

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Hayden Paddon, a 23-year-old rising star from New Zealand, is one such driver facing that very struggle.

After landing an impressive third place in the Production Car World Rally Championship standings in his debut season in the series this year, Paddon is now trying to secure the funds to chase the P-WRC title in 2011.

He needs to raise 500,000 New Zealand Dollars (about 284,000 Euros) to clinch his preferred option of a drive in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X run by the Ralliart Italia team, which has guided Armindo Araujo to back-to-back P-WRC titles and oversaw the Pirelli Star Driver programme for the last two seasons.

Paddon, who took part on six WRC events as a member of the Pirelli Star Driver team plus two standalone rounds with his family-run operation in 2010, is planning to sell shares in himself to potential investors as part of his efforts to raise the necessary finance.

“We’ve got a number of people helping us to find the money,” said Paddon, who hails from Geraldine on New Zealand’s South Island. “One of the ideas is to sell shares in me to investors as part of a three-year plan to get into a World Rally Car. It’s created a lot of interest but no money so far but we’re not just relying on the share scheme. We’ve also got people approaching sponsors, businesses with interests in Europe who could really benefit from the massive number of spectators who watch the rallies over there.”

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