Hayden Paddon competes in the hillclimb near Bannockburn at the weekend. PHOTO: TAYLOR BURKE
New Zealand rally star Hayden Paddon was in golden form again at the weekend.
Paddon raced to his second Ben Nevis Station Golden 1200 Hillclimb title in the high country above Bannockburn.
Driving the Paddon Rallysport-run Hyundai i20 AP4 car, he delivered a superb final run of 2min 6.1sec, taking 4sec off his best time over the same stretch of road at the inaugural event in 2020.
Paddon’s combined time of 4min 14.3sec gave him top spot on the podium ahead of two competitors driving nimble, high-powered Semog Crosscars — Christchurch’s Matt Penrose and Cromwell’s Ari Pettigrew.
“I had six clean runs across the two days and was able to take quite a bit of time off our best time from two years ago," Paddon said.
"I was pleased to put together a nice, clean run on the last one. I’m really happy for the team and big thanks to them for a car that ran faultlessly all weekend.”
Paddon paid credit to Roger Laird and other members of the Eastern Southland Car Club for the on-the-ground event organisation that attracted more than 70 competitors to line up for the unique hillclimb.
“The event went well, and I think everyone enjoyed the weekend. Conditions got a little bit rough as the gravel got swept off the road, exposing some bedrock in the latter runs.
"It was both trickier and interesting to get a clean run as the car was reacting differently each run, so I had to adapt."
This year, the hillclimb course was shortened to 3.6km, from the original 6km course first run in 2020.
The shortened course started at the same place on Ben Nevis Station and included 22 challenging corners as the road rises from the Nevis Valley towards Bannockburn.
The decision to shorten the course meant competitors had less time to wait between the six runs scheduled across two days.
On Sunday, 68 competitors lined up for the fourth of six timed runs over the weekend. Superquad star Ian Ffitch was scratched due to a blown engine.
Conditions were fine but very windy, and not many competitors set faster times than their third run on Saturday, presumably saving their best efforts for the sixth and final run later in the afternoon.
Paddon led the fourth run with 2min 9.1sec, followed by Penrose (2min 19.9sec) and Pettigrew (2min 22.8sec).
The fifth run featured Paddon with 2min 8.4sec, Penrose with 2min 19.9sec and Christchurch driver Michael Tall (Mitsubishi Mirage) with 2min 20.5sec.
After Paddon and Pettigrew topped the time charts for the sixth and final run, Penrose was third-quickest with a 2min 17sec.
Other class winners were John Spencer (rally 4WD, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo7), Terrie Taylor (club 4WD, Subaru Impreza), Chris Hey (2WD 2301cc and over, Toyota MR2), Ian Warren (2WD 0-1600cc, Nissan Pulsar), Jeff Judd (classic rally 2WD pre-1986, Ford Escort), Stu Weeber 9clasic raly 2WD pre-196, Subaru 555), Mark Wilis (quads, Honda TRX700), Matt Penrose (crosscars, Semog) and Andrew Rudd (motorcycles, Gas Gas MC450).
- STAFF REPORTER
