Hayden Paddon reveals that himself started the communication with Hyundai Motorsport for the 2026 WRC seat after Ott Tanak's announcement.
Paddon had been a factory driver of Hyundai Motorsport from 2014 to 2018 as he competed at the top level in World Rally Championship these four years, but he stayed loyal to the Korean brand after his departure from the team by competing with an i20N in WRC2 Class, in ERC and in New Zealand's championship. Ott Tanak announced at the end of this year's Rally Japan that he would retire from the WRC at the end of 2025, thus Hyundai was looking for its options ahead of the 2026 WRC season. The team preferred to announce three experience drivers (Paddon, Dani Sordo and Esapekka Lappi) to a young driver who does not have experience from the WRC stages. Finally, it must be mentioned that Paddon's season will start at Rallye Monte Carlo next month and already tested the i20N Rally2 in France as he and Adrien Fourmaux took part at Rallye National Hivernal du Dévoluy.
"To be honest, I’ve been in touch with Andrew Wheatley, sporting director a bit", Paddon said.
"When I heard about the Ott thing, I was sort of in two minds about what to do.
"I wasn’t going to do anything, and then I knew I’d regret it if I didn’t send a note.
"So I flicked a note through and I was pretty upfront with Andrew going, ‘this is a long shot, I know I’m an outsider, but I’d regret if I didn’t at least email you and just say, hey, look, I’m still very motivated for the sport and this is my life.
"And if there’s any opportunities, I believe I could bring some value to Hyundai, not only on the rallies, but, you know, maybe even work away from rallies.'
"So, yeah, that all started as soon as that announcement came out".
Source: DirtFish.com
Photo Credits: Hyundai
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