Inside Rally

We’ve been awaiting some good news from New Zealand’s finest Hayden Paddon. And finally the wait is over…

Hayden had officially announced that he will drive a Hyundai i20 WRC at 7 rounds of this year’s WRC… starting with Rally Italia Sardegna and including Rally Australia.

He’ll be an addition to the string of drivers used by Hyundai, led by Thierry Neuville.

The PWRC & New Zealand Champ Paddon says: “I’m really proud to be joining Hyundai Motorsport for seven events of the FIA World Rally Championship this year. It is an incredible opportunity to be part of the team in these very exciting times. It’s a chance that we are ready for and are going to work very hard to make the most of to meet the targets and objectives and help the team continue to develop towards 2015. Same as the team, I am here to learn my way through WRC and to succeed in the end. It is also a fantastic opportunity for me to work and learn alongside some very experienced people within the team and of course the other drivers.”

“Today is the day we have waited and worked towards for many years. I’m am thrilled to announce we have signed with Hyundai Motorsport, to contest 7 events of this year’s World Rally Championship, driving in a Hyundai i20 WRC. We will be entered under Hyundai Motorsport N and our first event will be Rally Italy in June. From there on in, we will compete in all but 1 event until the end of the season. It’s also awesome to know that we will be competing at Rally Australia with Hyundai.”

“This is an amazing opportunity and a journey many people have been apart of in getting to this point. Now we will make the most of this to try and build our career at the elite level of the WRC and continue growing with Hyundai. We are also now based in Frankfurt, Germany, near the team so that we can be involved and learn as much as possible. ”

“It will be a learning year for us and although we will have our own targets and objectives, it is also important to grow and work with the team to continue their development. We will be surrounded by very experienced team personnel and of course the other Hyundai drivers, so a great chance for us to learn as much as possible and for me to develop as a driver. Our first taste of the i20 WRC car is in April during testing – I’m already counting down the days!”

Team Principal Michel Nandan commented: “As a manufacturer investing in the World Rally Championship, Hyundai Motorsport aims to support the champions of the future. For this reason we decided to engage one more car at selected WRC events under the entry Hyundai Motorsport N. Hayden is one of the very talented drivers on the WRC scene at the moment and we will support him as much as we can to reach the highest level possible. We are very pleased to welcome him and John to our WRC adventure and we look forward to seeing them in action at the wheel of the Hyundai i20 WRC in a couple of months’ time.”

Hoonigan Racing

Hoonigan Racing Division’s Ken Block is proud to debut his 2014 livery and announce his full race schedule for the year.

“I’m stoked with how the new liveries for my Ford Fiestas have turned out, as well as the race schedule we’ve been able to put together for 2014,” said Block. “Once again I’ve been fortunate enough to put together a highly diverse schedule that has me going around the world. I’m competing in the full Global RallyCross Championship, doing a handful of Rally America events, competing in a WRC round in Spain, doing the Monza Rally Sprint for the first time ever with Valentino Rossi as a teammate, returning to the Monster Energy Gymkhana GRID finale in Madrid, heading back to Japan to do more Gymkhana demos and, most interestingly, racing in three of the World RallyCross Championship rounds for the first time ever. I’m pretty sure nobody has a better job than me this year!”

In addition to having an action-packed year planned, Block has once again reinvented his race look for the 2014 season with a graphics package that will be incorporated across a full line of signature product including apparel from Hoonigan, sunglasses from SPY and RC cars from HPI.

“Every year I’m challenged with outdoing my livery from the season before,” said Block. “Luckily, I think we were able to do it once again. This year’s livery mixes animal pattern and 8-bit, which I love. We’ve come up with a sort of digital zebra graphic that I think is awesome and also brings me back into that familiar black and white color scheme I had starting back in 2010. I think the fans are going to enjoy this look.”

To catch Block and his all-new livery in action, be sure to follow along this coming weekend as he takes part in Rally America’s Rally in the 100 Acre Wood, where Block will be looking to reignite his winning streak for that event.

Block’s 2014 schedule:

Global RallyCross Championship:

• – GRC Barbados: 5/18/14
• – GRC X Games Austin: 6/17/14
• – GRC Washington D.C.: 6/22/14
• – GRC New York: 7/20/14
• – GRC Charlotte: 7/26/14
• – GRC Detroit: 8/3/14
• – GRC Daytona: 8/23/14
• – GRC Los Angeles: 9/20/14
• – GRC Seattle: 9/27/14
• – GRC Las Vegas: 11/5/14

Stage Rally:

• – Rally America Rally in the 100 Acre Wood: 2/21-22
• – Rally America Suesquehannock Trail Performance Rally: 5/30-31
• – WRC Spain: 10/24-26
• – Monza Rally Show: 11/22-24

World RallyCross Championship:

• – WRxC Norway: 6/14-15
• – WRxC France: 9/6-7
• – WRxC Turkey: 10/11-12

Gymkhana demos:

• – Japan: 7/5-6
• – Gymkhana GRID, Madrid: 11/1-2

British Rally Driver Tom Cave will be 1 of 12 drivers (and the only driver from the UK) to enter this years Fiesta Dmack Trophy in partnership with Morris Lubricants.

Photo:D.Darrall

“I am incredibly excited by the prospect of contesting the 2014 Drive DMACK Fiesta Trophy. When it was announced, it was clear that this was the prime option for us this year. The series looks to be a superb concept – each rally runs over the full three days so we don’t lose any of the experience that the final day offers.”

The Fiesta Dmack Trophy will consist of 5 WRC rounds in M-Sport’s built Ford Fiesta R2 cars and offers cost effective competition under £100,000. The huge prize will see the winner campaign a Drive DMACK Fiesta R5 on seven rounds of the 2015 FIA World Rally Championship.

The Drive DMACK Fiesta Trophy will kick off with Rally Portugal in April where the 12 young challengers will tackle the tough gravel stages using DMACK’S DMG2 tyre. Competing in identical Fiesta R2s prepared by M-Sport, the series will allow individual talent to shine through on a mix of both gravel and asphalt stages.

Photo:D.Darrall