New Zealander Paddon clinched the PWRC crown with his fourth win out of four starts in Australia last month. In the process he left a lasting impression on his co-driver John Kennard, a former employee of Prodrive, the company responsible for running McRae’s Subaru team in the world championship back in the 1990s.
“Inside the car the demeanour of Hayden and Colin is so similar,” said Kennard. “I had rides with Carlos [Sainz] and Colin during my time with Prodrive but Colin was always the calm one, leisurely and never flustered. That’s what Hayden is like.”
Paddon, who is driving a Symtech Racing Subaru Impreza WRX STI under the New Zealand World Rally Team banner this season, is a graduate of the Pirelli Star Driver training scheme. Kennard says the joint initiative between the FIA, motorsport’s world governing body, and the Italian tyre firm, has played a key role in Paddon’s success in 2011.
“Coming to places for the first time was just mind blowing for Hayden last year but through the scheme he developed and going back to places this year is so comfortable for him,” said Kennard. “He used to worry about things he couldn’t change but he’s no longer like that. He just does his own thing and sets the times as a result.”
WRC.com