The New Zealander Paddon, known from the World Rally Championship, has one WRC event win from the 2016 Rally Argentina.
Paddon lost his WRC seat after the 2018 season but has continued his international rally career with determination. Last season, Paddon clinched the ERC title, becoming the first champion from outside Europe.
This year, Paddon will compete in the ERC with a Hyundai i20 N Rally2 car, teaming up with the Italian BRC Racing Team.
“We’ve been working to confirm our return to the European Rally Championship over the New Zealand summer and I’m very pleased, that with the support of BRC Racing Team, Hyundai Motorsport, Hyundai New Zealand and Pirelli, we are now heading back to Europe to try and defend our title,” Paddon rejoices.
“Returning for this second ERC season, I expect that John (Kennard) and I will have targets painted on our backs with other competitors striving to beat us. We expect a tougher fight this year, but John and I will look to lift our performances this year on some of the events we will now have experience of – it will be an exciting year.”
Paddon long dreamed of returning to the WRC, but now he has found a “new home” a step down. Paddon feels that he has even better conditions for success this year.
“The European championship is pretty much what rallying is all about to me. The ERC is the best fit for us, where I am in my career. We contested half of the eight (2024) rallies last year so at least we have more experience than we had 12 months ago.”
“That leaves half as new-to-us rallies with more tarmac events than gravel. We’re up for that challenge because our performance on tarmac has come a long way in the last few years. We back ourselves to be equally as competitive on tarmac as we are on gravel,” Paddon says.
The opening round of the ERC season in Hungary will take place from April 12 to 14.
