Never mind the All Blacks' opening win over Tonga last Friday night (dilemmas for the selectors maybe, but no injuries to ABs, thank goodness), nor the stunning spectacle of England taking on Argentina in our fabulous new stadium on Saturday (rubbish game, saved by the great big-match
atmosphere).
The highlight of my sporting weekend came late on Sunday afternoon when I logged on to the world rally championship results site, to find that Hayden Paddon had made it to the end of Rally Australia at the head of the Production World Rally Championship field.
As most of New Zealand should now know, Paddon's production class win across the ditch has secured him the PWRC title for 2011.
With that, he becomes the first Kiwi to win a world rally drivers' title, and the first New Zealand driver (and the first South Islander) to win a major world title on four wheels since Paul Radisich secured the world touring car cup in the early 1990s.
Radisich's title, though, was claimed on the basis of a single weekend of racing on one track in Europe.
Paddon's has come through the hard grind of sustained success on four events, across three continents.
He's won PWRC honours in every round, which has given him the luxury of a title with two rounds to spare, but don't let that trick you into underestimating the challenges associated with winning this title.
Rally Australia was a case in point.
This, as far as I can recall, was the first round of this year's series in which Paddon was definitively the fastest driver and, when he reached the end of Friday's opening leg with a solid PWRC lead, it was tempting to conclude the excitement was all over.
Then came the drama of a split turbo hose that dropped him to second place, and a comeback drive for the PWRC win that could so easily have been permanently halted by a collision with a wallaby.
Fortunately, the Kiwi and his Subaru Impreza WRX STI forged on to claim a thoroughly deserved championship crown.
Paddon is still set to line up and contest the two further PWRC rounds in Spain next month and in Wales in November.
Gaining further experience on both events will play an important part in cementing his appeal as a driver worthy of a place in one of the top-ranked factory world championship teams.
I'm not expecting that dream of a top WRC drive to come to fruition next year; a more likely scenario is that Paddon will spend next year driving the Super 2000 section of the WRC, where he will get the chance to gain further familiarity with the various events that comprise the series before
making the step up to the full WRC.
All of that, like the final round of this year's PWRC, lie ahead.
In the meantime, I am sure Drivesouth readers will join me in offering the heartiest of congratulations to Hayden, his co-driver John Kennard, and the wider team of family, crew and supporters that have made this 2011 world title possible.
David Thomson
Editor
Drivesouth
Bookmark/Search this post with:
