Hayden Paddon and co-driver John Kennard entered the final stage of Rally Barbados trailing local driver Dane Skeete by 1 second, relying on a spirited effort on SSS20 over the 2.5km Bushy Park to take honours.
A time of 1:35.00 was enough to pip Skeetes by 2.2 seconds on the stage for the Kiwis to take a 1.2-second rally win.
The Kiwi entered the day with a 14.8-second lead, having won all nine of Saturday’s stages, only to spin at high speed on the day-opening SS11 and lose 12.8 seconds on his closest rival. Minor losses followed over the next three stages, leaving the Kiwi facing a 2.2-second deficit heading after SS14.
Paddon and Skeete split the remaining stages, with Paddon’s biggest gain coming on SS18, eating 1.9 seconds into the Subaru’s lead. He took a further 0.1 seconds off on the penultimate stage to set the scene for a thrilling victory that followed.
“Whether we won or finished second, it has been a cool day, to be honest,” said Paddon in his post-race interview on hearing news of his victory. “It’s been an adventure. We definitely had to push this arvo.
“We had to push. Dane’s been doing an awesome job and had all the power on these roads, but you can have all the power in the world, but you still have to drive the car. He’s made us push really hard on these last three stages, and we had to put everything into it.
The rally ends an extended trip to the island nation for the Kiwi duo, who also won the First Citizens King of the Hill event last week.
“I loved our time here, and I loved our weekend. Today’s actually been really good for our tarmac driving before we go to Rome and some ERC rallies because today’s the hardest I’ve pushed in a car on tarmac before, so that’s got to be good for the future.
“It’s been a rally holiday. It’s been relaxing and fun, and everyone’s been so welcoming. We really enjoyed it here, its been good.”
Header Image: Hayden Paddon
