Star New Zealand rally driver Hayden Paddon has his eyes set on a potential 2024 Bosch Motorsport Australia Rally Championship campaign.
The highly credentialed former WRC star has shared his desire to join the Australian Championship, telling rally.com.au initial discussions have taken place to see if he can put together a plan and budget for a 2024 charge.
The continued growth and strength of the ARC has caught the eye of the Kiwi, who said he was eager to join the best Australian drivers to showcase the talents of his New Zealand rally crew.
“We would love to bring our team to Australia and compete against the top teams,” Paddon told rally.com.au.
“We have always closely watched the ARC and with the connection of what Possum Bourne achieved in the ARC, it would be great to try and emulate that.
“At the moment it’s just an idea until we see if we can find the commercial partnerships to make such a campaign possible.”
Paddon’s rally resume is impressive, including winning this year’s European Rally Championship and winning a number of New Zealand events.
His most recent performance in Australia was in 2022 as part of the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) at the Supercheap Auto Coffs Coast Rally. Paddon won that event, edging out Lewis Bates and Richie Dalton in the final APRC standings.
The Kiwi also had an impressive WRC career, winning an outright WRC round in 2016, along with eight WRC podiums during his time at the pinnacle of the sport. He also won the WRC2 round of Rally New Zealand last year.
