Autosportfoto

Paddon to debut new Hyundai in New Zealand

Kiwi Hayden Paddon will contest two rallies in his home country next month in an all-new car with the newly-formed Hyundai New Zealand Rally Team.

Paddon, who lies fifth in the WRC standings after three rounds, will compete at Rally Otago (8 - 10 April) before heading to the next world championship encounter in Argentina. He will also tackle International Rally of Whangarei (29 April - 1 May) the week after the South American event.

Alongside regular co-driver John Kennard, Paddon will debut the Hyundai i20 AP4 car. Fitted with a 1.8-litre turbocharged engine, it uses body panels from the Korean manufacturer's 2015 World Rally Car.

"AP4 technical regulations provide for a new, more affordable generation of four-wheel-drive turbocharged rally car which is eligible for competition in both national and international events within the Asia Pacific region," explained Paddon.

"With the ageing Group N cars on the way out, I feel this is a way forward for New Zealand and Australian rallying, with the chassis being able to be adapted to most small hot hatch cars."

Both events are part of the New Zealand Rally Championship and Paddon can't wait to debut the car, built and developed by Force Motorsport.

"Otago and Whangarei are my two favourite rallies in the world. The car is still early in development but has a lot of potential and we look forward to working closely with Force to help develop it into a rally-winning car," he added.

Zdroj: wrc.com