Nope - official third car and factory driver according to this release - http://www.hyundai.co.nz/new-thinking/m ... rc-program
Printable View
Nope - official third car and factory driver according to this release - http://www.hyundai.co.nz/new-thinking/m ... rc-program
Come to think now though: if Hyundai will continue to enter 3 cars, only 2 of them will score manufacturer points. It looks logical to have a seperate team for a 3rd car....
Seems that he will be the 3rd official car according to this link
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The crew will drive alongside the two Hyundai Shell World Rally Team i20 WRC branded cars, driven respectively by Thierry Neuville and Juho Hänninen while Dani Sordo and Chris Atkinson sharing the drive in the other car.
June's Italian WRC event, Rally Italia Sardegna, will be Paddon and Kennard's first rally with Hyundai but the Kiwis head off to next week's Rally Mexico to complete pre-event reconnaissance to further their learning of all WRC event routes.
Rallies in Poland in late June, Finland in early August, Australia in September and Great Britain in November are also confirmed with the other two yet to be decided from the remaining three events (Germany, France and Spain).
Ad Feedback
"From Rally Sardegna onwards, we will be contesting all but one of the events until the end of the WRC season. They are all events that I am looking forward to, and other than Italy and Poland, events that we have experience of. I am particularly excited to also contest Rally Australia, a huge market for Hyundai and also the closest event we now get to home.
"It is literally a dream come true to have a good programme in a world rally car within one of the most exciting teams and manufacturers in world motorsport," says Paddon.
"This is culmination of 18 years of work, with a lot of sweat and tears and a lot of support from New Zealanders to help make this possible. Now we have to take this massive opportunity with both hands, maximise the potential learning and results from our seven events in the Hyundai i20 world rally car and build our career in the WRC."
Hyundai Motorsport team principal Michel Nandan says he is pleased to have the two Kiwis on board.
"Hayden is one of the very talented drivers on the WRC scene at the moment and we will support him as much as we can to reach the highest level possible. We are very pleased to welcome him and John to our WRC adventure and we look forward to seeing them in action at the wheel of the Hyundai i20 WRC in a couple of months' time."
Paddon says he is keen to set modest targets.
"To begin, our targets will be to simply learn, particularly as our first event in Italy is not a rally we have before done. It is also vital for the team to get as many miles and data as possible for the continued development of the car.
"As the season progresses we will certainly be measuring and hopefully matching some of our team-mates. But it's also important to work hard with the team who are still relatively new to the WRC, to learn, develop and grow with them, as a team."
Kennard, who's been Paddon's co-driver since Paddon entered the New Zealand Rally Championship for the first time as a 17-year-old, is equally excited by the opportunities before them.
"This is an incredible chance for Hayden to take his career to the next level," Kennard says.
Hayden Paddon’s 2014 competition schedule with Hyundai Motorsport N
NB. Only two of the TBC events will be contested
WRC Round 6 – Rally Italia Sardegna – 5-8 June
WRC Round 7 – Lotos Rally Poland – 27-29 June
WRC Round 8 – Neste Oil Rally Finland – 1-3 August
WRC Round 9 – ADAC Rallye Deutschland – 22-24 August TBC
WRC Round 10 – Coates Hire Rally Australia – 12-14 September
WRC Round 11 – Rallye de France-Alsace – 3-5 October TBC
WRC Round 12 – RallyRACC-Rally de Espana – 24-26 October TBC
WRC Round 13 – Wales Rally GB – 14-16 November
- © Fairfax NZ News
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/motorsport ... -WRC-drive
no third car in Argentina (Michel Nandan, Autohebdo)Quote:
Originally Posted by Simmi
Sordo is third driver in Portugal, Hänninen and Neuville for manu points.Quote:
Originally Posted by Simmi
But maybe Sordo for "N" team in Portugal
Plenty of room in the service area for 4 cars, plus the spectator viewing area.
So now they have four drivers for 2/3 cars and one driver for another car - cannot follow their politics?
And two drivers from Oz/New Zealand - so it´s car sale marketing I suppose, not from a sportive point of view (becaus then they would have choosed Bouffier, which in my opinion is very much faster - as we´ve seen in ERC last year).
Good to have an extra car close by, in case one of their cars gets lost in that service tent.Quote:
Originally Posted by rallyfiend
I agree Bouffier has proven himself in RMC and deserves more. But they may be looking for a driver who is not in his mid thirties. At his age only a few others can be compared to Paddon at the moment. He is 26 which seems to be the age (26-29) when you can jump up to be a top level contender or prove you never will be. Also I think there is a funding link with Hyundai's NZ organisation, which along with Aus has been a big growth market for them, so his car may not cost as much as another driver.Quote:
Originally Posted by WUff1
I wonder if they are also looking for future drivers to build a career with them, just like Citroen did with the Seb's and VW are doing with Andreas. They have their ace in Neuville and some old hands in the form of Sordo, Atkinson and Juho. The latter three all come from relatively lengthy careers and two of them from countries that are probably quite desirable for sales growth to Hyundai too?
Now they are starting to look for their future talent. So doing half a season is a pretty safe, small scale (comparatively) way to do this with Paddon. And I imagine there is a fair bit of money being provided towards that from various parties in NZ who want to see him get the chance he deserves.
So really it seems win-win for everyone. If he does well, they can consider signing him long term maybe in a third car or taking the second car? And if he doesn't perform, they can distance him from the main team and effectively treat it as a customer operation. Then next year do it again with someone else?