Paddon wins Ashley Forest Rallysprint in Kona EV

Kiwi rally star Hayden Paddon piloted the Hyundai Kona EV rally car to its second victory in two events, winning the Ashley Forest Rallysprint 1.7km gravel hill climb north of Christchurch on September 17 and 18.

Paddon’s 55.64 seconds time in the unlimited 4WD category was just ahead of another former Ashley Forest winner, Rotorua’s Sloan Cox, who recorded 55.92 seconds on the final run.

Road conditions weren’t conductive to the Cromwell-based Paddon being able to better his record 52.77 seconds set in his Hyundai i20 AP4 rally car in 2019, but he was very happy with the win in the Kona EV.

“The win is awesome for the whole team and our supporters,” he says.

“We had some challenges and it’s not as straightforward as you’d normally expect on an event like this in terms of managing the car, the battery, and the software.

“That makes the win even more rewarding for the team when we’ve been up against some of the fastest hill climb cars in New Zealand like Sloan’s. He delivered a great performance so for an electric car to win is something to be proud of.”

Paddon says part of Paddon Rallysport’s learning curve with the electric technology is about how to extract the best performance in an efficient way.

“We were trying to draw quite a bit of power out of the car which is designed as a rally car, so we’re trying to draw more power out of it than in rally mode.

“That increased running temperatures somewhat so it’s about trying to manage those temperatures, particularly with quick turnaround between runs so that adds in a few challenges. We expected and prepared for this, but on the day at an event you can only do so much. The team did everything we could and luckily it was just enough.

“Considering the time that we’ve had the Kona, we still haven’t done too much with it really, given we’ve been waiting on parts and so on, so every time we’re out testing or competing, we learn something new.”

Paddon says people asked many questions about how the car works.

“They’re interested in the ingenuity of this project and the technology which gives us the opportunity to educate people. As they see it out in action, they might have a different appreciation for electric cars and what they’re capable of.”

Next up for the Hyundai Kona EV is a series of demonstration runs at the WRC Repco Rally New Zealand in Auckland September 29 to October 2, then Paddon aims to win the Waimate 50 hill climb October 21-23.

Click here for more information about Paddon Rallysport

Photos by Tayler Burke/Shotz by TayB