Newly crowned double FIA ERC champion reflects on successful season

2024 was the year that Hayden Paddon became only the fourth driver to successfully defend their FIA European Rally Championship title*, adding another success to list of victories for the i20 N Rally2. Now the dust – literal and figurative – has settled following the season finale in Rally Silesia, the Kiwi looks back on the campaign in his own words.

How did you approach the final weekend of the season, and then how did that approach change with the weather conditions?

When it was dry it was quite a nice rally. Everything was quite predictable in terms of the grip, and you could still drive at a decent speed and be competitive. But yeah, as soon as the weather changes and the conditions change, it becomes very dicey here. The grip’s changing a lot and when you know you have a lot to lose and you just have to get it home it, it changes your mindset quite a lot. So, you go into this very protective driving mode, just to make sure you make no mistakes and get it home. Up until last night it was going well, and then today, certainly it was more of a challenge than what we would have liked.

What was going through your mind during the few spins on the Sunday afternoon stages?

The spin on the start of the penultimate stage we were lucky to not get stuck off the side of the road. That was my big reality check to go, ‘OK. These are not the conditions to be trying to pull time back on’. Obviously, we were still on the hunt for the win at that point so that that spin is probably what reigned me in to go ‘OK, we’ll just need to get the car home now’. At the end of the championships is what was important and that’s what we’ll remember for a long time.

At the start of the season did you feel like you could retain the title, and did you feel the same way throughout the year?

We started very confident. We wanted to come out and try and dominate. That was the goal at the very start of the season, but it came apparent pretty quickly that was not going to be that easy. I guess Rally Islas Canarias was probably the moment of realisation. When we could see how much more competitive field was this year, that the gaps that were behind was similar to last year, but all of a sudden we were sixth instead of second. So yeah, we could see everyone else had made a big step forward and we were trying to fight to find that same step forward. It took some time to find that.

Would you say that that this season, with the field of drivers was more challenging than last year?

Oh, certainly. There’s so many elements. You know you’ve got a target painted on your back when you come back as a defending champion, so everyone’s out to beat you. There are more expectations. There’s more pressure. And then of course we’re trying to, I guess, beat their own demons as well, because when we’re not doing well, you’re eating at yourself going ‘why are we not doing better?’ So yeah, this year was certainly a lot more mentally tough. I feel like I’ve mentally aged a bit this year compared to last year, so it’s been a bit demanding.

What would you say was the high point of your ERC season?

Definitely Wales [Rali Ceredigion]. I think, if you’d even pinpoint it on a certain spot, probably the Qualifying Stage at Wales because it became apparent that we’d hit the nail on the head, and we finally had a competitive package. From there it sort of just clicked a lot easier, so that was definitely the turning point. And yeah, winning in Wales and winning in a dominant way was certainly the highlight.

And on the other end, what was going through you mind at the lower end of the year, such as after the punctures in Hungary and Sweden?

It certainly plays on your mind a little bit with some of those small tyre problems that we had at the start of the season, especially in the first half of the year when we were struggling, you know, for momentum, we were throwing away quite a few points. So, we’ve made it more difficult for ourselves to share than what we needed to, to be honest. But to pull through is, I guess everything coming together.

How important has all the work that that John and the team have put in around you this this year?

Yeah, it’s been a huge team effort this year. We certainly had our backs against the wall for the first half of the season and then everyone’s dug so deep. The team they’ve given us such a good car in the last couple rallies to drive and we’ve been able to be consistent and have a bit more speed in the latter part of the season. It’s a huge credit to everyone involved. The biggest thing for us all this year is not giving up. It’s very easy to get demoralised and get a bit down, but we’ve just stuck at it and stayed positive and made the best out of every situation.

You’ve flown back and forth between Europe and New Zealand, competing in both championships. How difficult has it been to jump back and forth between the two time zones and series?

Yeah, it’s certainly challenging, but we knew the challenge we were getting into. We did the same last year, So, we’re practised if you like, but it doesn’t get easier, especially as the season gets on. You start getting a bit more tired as the season goes on and there’s a lot more travel and the jet lag, but I love it – I love the opportunity. I’m very lucky to have the opportunity to travel back and forth and rally in both parts of the world and drive a cool car and both New Zealand and Europe. I’ve no regrets and I’ll keep doing it if I can.

Would you say there’s something unique about the FIA ERC in your experience?

For me, it’s just a great championship. The fact that you get fast local drivers on each and every rally, so you competition is always changing. All the rallies are very different events that all have their own unique character. There’s just a good vibe within the community. It’s friendly, good exposure with the PR and the media as well. All in all, for me, it’s value for money. It’s one of the best rally championships in the world. So yeah, I’ve loved the last two years here.

*All results are subject to final FIA confirmation