Co-driver keeps Paddon on track

• Author: Rally Eric Thompson
• Published date: 01 October 2022
• Publication title: Bay of Plenty Times

Even nine-time World Rally Championship winner Sebastian Loeb acknowledged, when he last raced in New Zealand, how important the co-driver is. “He is an important part of course. We have started together, we have won everything together,” he said

After 10 years the WRC is back on some of the best gravel roads in the world.

To be able to win a round of the WRC everything has to be aligned and the co-driver has to as much on their game as the driver. When New Zealand’s most success rally driver won the Argentinian round of the WRC in 2016 his co-driver John Kennard played an integral part of the win.

Rally drivers may have driven over the roads they’re about to race on several times, but when there’s a year or more between races, remembering every little crest, kink, camber, junction and corner over hundreds of kilometres is just not possible.

If you think all a co-driver does is call out notes to help the driver remember what’s up ahead, you couldn’t be further from the truth. Without them, a stage will unravel faster than a woolly jumper caught on a nail.

“A lot of people think we make the notes, we don’t,” said Kennard.

“Hayden calls out the information on how he sees the road, breaking points, turn in points, gears, mapping and all the rest. I just write it down.

“The skill is getting the information back to Hayden at the right time in the right order. Good time keeping is critical as well. If you make mistakes and it costs a driver time, you could lose a round win.

“We also have to do keep things calm and collected both in and outside the car.

“You’ve got to be able to defuse any situations that may happen in or out of the car and keep the pressure to a minimum.”

Paddon was hoping to compete in a WRC1 car, but due to various factors had to settle...