i20 N Rally2 driver closes in on championship leader

i20 N Rally2 pairing Hayden Paddon and Jared Hudson dominated Rally Bay of Plenty (October 5). The duo cruised to a second consecutive victory in the New Zealand Rally Championship, winning nine of the ten competitive stages, including the event’s Power Stage on the single-day event as their car ran faultlessly over the gravel stages. Only a puncture on the final stage prevented Paddon and Hudson from completing another clean sweep in domestic competition, though fortunately they had amassed enough of a margin to be able to hold the lead, despite losing more than 20 seconds. The victory leaves the pair only 12 points behind in the race for the New Zealand Rally Championship title, with just a single round remaining.

Before that, however, Paddon has international matters to attend to, with the final round of the FIA European Rally Championship coming this weekend at Rally Silesia.