Motorsport: Paddon sees off rivals

New Zealander Hayden Paddon put all-comers to the sword at the third round of the Asia Pacific Rally Championship held on the roads in and around Whangarei.

The event was also round three of the New Zealand Rally Championship and incorporated three other awards.

When the dust had settled yesterday afternoon at the end of the International Rally of Whangarei, Paddon had won the event outright, grabbed the lead in the NZRC, won the Pacific Cup, qualified for the Pirelli Star Driver Asia Pacific final and now leads the local Rising Stars International Award.

Not bad for two days in the office.

"It was cool to be able to hit five bullseyes this weekend," said Paddon. "I couldn't have wished for a better result but it was a bit unfortunate what happened to Richard [Mason], but that's rallying."

It was third time unlucky for Mason at the weekend. He has struggled in recent years on the Kaipara district roads, not having finished the rally before, and this year was no exception.

For a day and a half, Mason showed three-time FIA Asia Pacific rally champion Cody Crocker, his fellow international drivers and his domestic challengers a clean pair of heels. When his turbo let go during stage 13 yesterday afternoon, Mason had a commanding 46-second over Paddon and now must be wondering what mechanical Gods he's offended.

"When the turbo goes you can't keep going. It's made a bit of a dent in our championship hopes but the pressure is now on Hayden to make sure he finishes each round."

Eventual day two winner, Paddon had almost given up on catching Mason during the final day of the rally.

With Mason's demise, he inherited the lead complete with a comfortable one-minute buffer over Crocker and drove the remaining three stages well within himself.

"The last couple of stages were a bit of a problem as the jack had broken and we couldn't change the tyres. We couldn't afford to get a puncture, so it was fingers crossed and drive sensibly," said Paddon.

The next best-placed Kiwi, Emma Gilmour, drove a steady race to finish fifth overall and third in the APRC category, gaining valuable points in both the APRC and NZRC series'.

"We had a great weekend and the APRC car handles fantastically. It's maybe not as quick as my New Zealand car but there's room for improvement. We had a few problems today as the engine was a bit down on power."

Day one honours went to Mason followed by Paddon and Australian Reeves came home in third.

Crocker leads the APRC series on 32 points from Katsu Taguchi, 23 points, and Gilmour, 16 points.

In the domestic championship, Paddon leads on 200 points from Mason, 173 points, and Gilmour, 162 points.