Hayden Paddon announces a participation in the GRC Europe

Having no full-time arrangement in the WRC, New Zealand’s rally driver and one-time WRC rally winner Hayden Paddon announced today his participation in the inaugural season of the GRC Global Rallycross Europe competition.

The new championship, which has a similar name to the former US-based Global Rallycross Championship and will be promoted by Max J. Pucher’s MJP Promotions, will be contested over six rounds at some of the world’s famous rallycross venues such are Lydden Hill, Estering or Montalegre.

The other venues in the six-event calendar are Dreux (France), MJP Arena (Austria) and Nyirad (Hungary). The championship will start on June 29-30 at Dreux and will end with the Grand Final on October 19-20 at Estering.

Hayden Paddon will make a switch from rallying to rallycross

Hyundai factory driver Hayden Paddon is the latest addition to the GRC Europe grid. He will drive a 550hp Pantera RX6 car with a Hyundai i30 body kit.

“I have been in rallying for a long time, so Rallycross is not completely new to me, but I will have to adapt to cars racing alongside me. GRC Europe will be a new challenge and I am looking forward to taking it on, joining the other drivers throughout the year and trying to be competitive”, the 31-year-old Kiwi said.

“We are delighted to have Hayden in our line-up now. He has always been one of my favourite drivers with a unique style. He is exciting to watch, so I am sure, the fans will love him,” GRC Europe CEO Max J. Pucher added.

The other drivers confirmed so far are Timmy Hansen and Kevin Hansen, Alex Wurz, Toomas Heikkinen and Reinhard Sampl.

The championship will offer the same cars for all teams with a possibility to change a body kit