Nope - official third car and factory driver according to this release - http://www.hyundai.co.nz/new-thinking/m ... rc-program
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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).
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"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?
Stoked to see Hayden get the drive, been following him for ages, and had the pleasure of meeting and working with him a bit too, can't wait to see how he goes. As a graphic designer I thought it only fair I had a crack at a livery for his car!
http://i.imgur.com/rQZALNf.jpg
very nice design!
Thanks! Looks like I got the dimensions wrong (spot the newbie,haha) so the front has been cut off, no editing of posts on this forum?
stunning livery !
Nice livery, feel there will be more NZ black and the prominent Shell logos in the real version
I got the feeling the way Hayden has changed his branded logo to feature the blue gradient that it might be seen on the car. He's also backed by "Z Energy" (Shell became Z Energy in NZ a few years back), so not sure if that conflicts or it's all good, in his release he says he will still be supported by Z, so who knows if there will also be some Helix on there. Also just used his old number, not really sure what he'll run, maybe #20?
I might do a more "NZ" version tomorrow, went for the out and out Hyundai brand for this one.
Higher Res if anyone would like to see it: http://i.imgur.com/cHibBCS.jpg
Excellent livery, but why is not in Paddon's own thread?
his livery is better than the two other drivers.
if you open this photo in new page you can see whole car.Quote:
Originally Posted by biggyg
Mexico:Quote:
Originally Posted by Andre Oliveira
Chassis 3 to Neuville
Chassis 1 to Atkinson
This is from last week's Autosport Magazine:
http://www.imgdumper.nl/uploads7/531...b3-Hyundai.png
So, maybe that means four Hyundais on some events?
I think they announced 3 cars on some rounds before Paddon to join, so that makes 4 cars, yes.Quote:
Originally Posted by EightGear
How much more WRC cars during rallies is so much better for the fans. ;-)
Weird that their "home" event Germany is not included especially with Neuville, Sordo and Hanninen in their ranks who have all good pace on asphalt.
Hyundai Motorsport @HyundaiWRC
Exciting times!We are happy to welcome back Bryan #Bouffier and Xavier Panseri into our team as test crew for 2014!
welcome back??????
Hyundai Motorsport @HyundaiWRC 16 λεπ.
We are also taking part to Rallye Antibes with #Bouffier,a chance to test the Hyundai i20 #WRC & to prep for the asphalt rounds of the #WRC
Hyundai Motorsport @HyundaiWRC 17 λεπτά
Bryan & Xavier will participate in a series of development tests throughout the year to prepare the 2015 season.
Aaaa, poor Bryan. Again only test driver with one extra outing "only" on Antibes...
Yeah, don´t expect him in a WRC rally with Hyundai ever. And he´ll get sacked at the end of the year again. At least some money for him.
Quote:
Originally Posted by WUff1
Next year or the end of this year
Paddon and Bouffier in the N team
Neuville and Sordo the other
That's my pick
Bouffier wins. Is this Hyundai's first recorded win in the i20?
http://www.antibes-rallye.com/conten...385/1/lang,en/
Jepp
Paddon's car in sardegna with french plate :confused:
It was a bad move for Nueville to drive for Hyundai this year, if he was with Ford he could have been winning rallies.
orQuote:
Originally Posted by Langdale Forest
standing on the side of the road watching a Fiesta getting burnt. Fingers crossed - Neuville's long game for Hyundai pays off.
Absolutely true. Unfortunately M-Sport didn't have a € 3 million contract for him...Quote:
Originally Posted by Langdale Forest
Next season's i20:
I was wondering the same about Nueville? Is it the car? because every event we have a mechanical issue with i20 with at least 2 i20 cars!! I know its their first season but I am not sure if the car will be competitive with the others for the seasons to come!
I suggest we reserve judgement until after the tarmac rallies. I note that Sordo and Bouffier are listed unofficially as entries for Rally Deutschland. My view is that it was too early in Neuville's career for him to be given Team Leader responsibility.Quote:
Originally Posted by Frostmourne
I think to start a successful team you need at least one year just for everything technical to be running well, which is why Nandan kept referring to 2014 as their development year like how VW ran Ogier in a Fabia S2000 just to establish the mechanical and practical team running. I believe Neuville is the same driver who was on the podium regularly before Hyundai and from interviews with him it sounds like the car is still not there speed wise.Quote:
Originally Posted by Frostmourne
If the mechanical retirements are like this in 2015 then I think we know the car is not competitive. If the drivers are wrecking all the time in 2015 then we know the drivers are not competitive and the car may or may not be. But I think they will get to a competitive level, the resources they're putting into the programme are not incomparable to VW's WRC spending.