WRC
Paddon: Paraguay podium proves ‘there’s more there’
Hayden Paddon believes there is still more to come after rounding out his 2026 FIA World Rally Championship programme with a remarkable second place at ueno Rally del Paraguay.
The New Zealander’s return to Hyundai’s Rally1 line-up had been one of the surprise stories heading into the season, coming eight years after his previous factory WRC campaign.
Four appearances later, Paddon and long-time co-driver John Kennard have two podiums to show for it.
Third place in Croatia marked their first WRC podium since Rally Australia in 2018, before Paraguay produced an even more convincing demonstration that the 39-year-old remains capable of competing at the sharp end.
“It’s an incredible result and obviously unexpected,” Paddon told WRC.com.
“We knew we could be much more competitive on gravel compared to Tarmac, but I’m obviously thankful to even have this opportunity in the first place because initially the deal was just for the Tarmac rallies.
“Now, to be on gravel, to feel comfortable and for the car to perform very well on gravel as well, it’s amazing to come away with this result.”
Paddon did considerably more than simply survive Paraguay.
On his first top-level WRC gravel start since 2018, he was third-fastest on the opening stage before inheriting the lead amid Friday morning’s attrition. He remained at the head of the rally for three stages and, once eventual winner Sami Pajari moved ahead, never relinquished second place.
It was a performance based as much on judgement as speed.
© WRC
After the tyre dramas of Friday, Paddon recognised that trying to match Pajari kilometre-for-kilometre was unlikely to be the route to a result. Instead, he concentrated on protecting his position and keeping his Hyundai i20 N Rally1 away from trouble.
“We knew we weren’t going to do it on pace,” he explained. “We’re up against the best drivers in the world.
“So it was about managing the gap in front and behind, keeping the pressure on but also keeping the gap behind as well.
“We just did our own rally, focused on what we were doing and kept it really clean in the middle of the road. We ticked all the boxes.”
Perhaps the most intriguing part for Paddon was how comfortable the performance felt.
Despite finishing only 25.8sec behind Pajari after more than 350 competitive kilometres, he insists there was never a need to operate at maximum attack.
“Knowing that it was all done at a very safe speed and everything was just working well, there’s more there in the future if we ever get the opportunity.”
That opportunity is not currently guaranteed.
Paraguay completed Paddon’s four-event WRC programme for 2026, leaving his immediate competitive focus back home in New Zealand.
“No idea!” he laughed when asked what comes next.
“We have some events back in New Zealand and we’ve got some testing coming up with the team, so we’ll be helping the team towards the future as well.
“There are a lot of things happening, so we’ll see.”
