Geraldine's Superstars, Hayden Paddon

Rallying is in Hayden Paddon blood. Starting at the age of six racing a go-cart made by his father that was powered by a chainsaw engine. He then when on the compete at his first rally aged 15 with his learner plate on his car.

Hayden Paddon has gone on to make a name for himself on the international stage. He made his World Rally Championship debut in 2007 as a wildcard entry. Since then he has gone from strength to strength and took home his first World Rally Championship win in 2016. After a tough 2017 season, he is back and is currently competing in the 2018 season.

Along the way he has faced many challeges which he has had to over come. Something which we where lucky enough to talk to him about.

It's hard to pick just one challenge as motorsport has many of them. I guess one of the key ones was the funding battle we face to break into the world scene to prove ourselves.

Essentially as we had to raise 1 million dollars per year for the first 2 years while competing internationally. It was something that had not been done before from this part of the world and many people told us it was impossible. But our train of thought never thought ‘what if’ - we were dedicated and passionate to make it happen and it was always a matter of having a positive outlook.

The challenge of this funding was it was gathered in bits and pieces throughout the year, and the better results we achieved - the more opportunities that existed for funding. So trying to separate the commercial and sporting side was very difficult - trying to be 100% focused on the driving and performance while in the back of the mind also knowing a good result could be the difference between the end or start of our professional career. The funding battle included phone calls to Nz (from Europe) the night before the competition to ensure we could pay the team before we went over the start line 12 hours later.

Looking back now it was certainly a challenge, but at the time it just seemed like another sacrifice to achieve the dream and not something we thought twice about. Even when it seemed we were digging a hole, we remained positive, patient and kept our head above ground.

Ultimately it was all made possible by many South Canterbury people believing in my dream and passion and that trust and faith is what also pushed us to perform that little extra.

Thank you so much for talking to us Hayden. Check out Hayden amazing website www.haydenpaddon.com and like his Facebook page for update on his racing.