Two weeks later he competed in is first rally, in Hamner. Aged 15, Hayden competed in the event with ‘L’ plates, which created a bit of interest and laughter. Seeded 24, he managed to end the event in 18th overall and 4th in class. Later that same year he competed in his local Timaru rally where he got quicker and quicker by the stage. By events end he had raced up to 18th overall and took class victory by over a minute. So 2002 was a year that wasn’t going to be forgotten in a hurry. Victories in the Mini, his first crash, first rally, and first rally class victory.

So onto 2003, and his first full rally series, competing in the Mainland rally series. Driving his fathers Toyota, he missed the first round at Otago, but joined the championship at Southland. After a 6 month absent from behind the wheel he finished 19th overall and 4th in class. This was backed up by a class victory at Christchurch and a 4th in class at Catlins. With no one dominating the class, Hayden found himself in a strong championship position. He finished 3rd in class at Nelson and then won the final round, Westland rally. The consistent results and the 2 victories allowed him to win the Mainland 2WD championship and tied on points in the 1301-1600c championship.

With more sponsors, 2004 was promised to be a bigger and better year. Once again driving his Dad’s car (who had now moved from the drivers seat to team manager) they started their championship bid at round 3 of the 7 round series in Timaru. Unfortunately a puncture cost them 20 minutes on stage 2, and then slid off the road and out of the event on the rally’s 5th stage. So after round 3 the team had 1 point, while the class leaders had already collected 45 points. Hayden then did what was thought to be the impossible. The whole team put in a huge effort and won the final 4 rounds in Canterbury, Catlins, Nelson and Westland to take the 2004 1600cc Mainland rally championship. His pace during the end of the season was outstanding, beating the more powerful national 2WD cars on stages at Nelson, and on the verge of top 10 overall rally victory’s at Canterbury and the Coast.

So two successful seasons in the Levin under his belt, and he thought that it was time to step up. Selling his Toyota, Chris then purchased the 1997 New Zealand championship winning Mitsubishi Evo4. Partnered by new co-driver Nicole France (who also co-drove in the final 2 events in the 2004 championship) the team and Hayden attacked the 2005 Mainland series and New Zealand rally extreme championship. The year was targeted at solely being a learning year, but after a 3rd overall finish at the opening round in Southland, the team soon realized that event victories were a possibility. Their strong result was soon backed up by another strong 4th overall finish at Timaru after many dust problems. Hayden went into the 3rd round of the Mainland series leading the championship. Catlins was a start of a bad luck trend that would last till the end of the year though. Hayden retired from the event while leading with a blown clutch. They then ventured to the north island for the rally extreme round. Unfortunately they had to retire after stage 2 from extensive frontal damage after an off road excursion on slippery wet tarmac. The crew did an amazing job and got the car back out for the afternoons gravel stage, where they set some competitive times considering they were well down on power.

The 4th round of the mainland series was the Nelson rally, but once again their progress was hampered by mechanical gremlins. A bad engine mis-fire caused them to loose 5 minutes over the opening two stages. Hayden did manage later in the event a 3rd fastest stage time amongst the New Zealand national field behind two national champions.

The darkest day of Hayden’s life came on the 25th of September 2005. Competing in the 5th round of the championship, Hayden and co-driver Nicole left the road on stage 5 while leading the event. The car came to a holt on its side, and 10 minutes after the accident the car caught fire. Despite everyone’s best efforts, the fire could not be controlled and the car burnt to the ground. It was a total loss, and the team and Hayden ended the season a rally early and without a car. Their 2005 season included 11 stage wins while they lead on 4 different rallies.

Motorsport is a huge part of Hayden’s life. From watching video’s 24/7 as a young kid, to driving cars at a top level in New Zealand, Hayden is sure to achieve greater success. Watch this space for Hayden’s story to continue.

So to 2006, and what seemed like an up hill battle to get any sort of campaign together after the disasters of 2005 was made possible thanks to the support of the New Zealand rally community and sponsors. A new Group N Mitsubishi Evo8 was the weapon of choice to attack their debut year in the New Zealand rally championship, the premier rally class in New Zealand. The car and team sported the same Green colour scheme as the previous three years, and a new team name, “Team Green” was born. Also 2006 brought a new co-driver, John Kennard. John has had a wealth of overseas experience in various world rally teams, and his experience and knowledge was going to be a great help to Hayden’s development, and help achieve his goals of making it to the WRC. So with a new lease of life, new car and new championship the team goals were to win the New Zealand Junior and Rookie titles in preparation for an all out assault in 2007. The championship opener in Dunedin was a mixed bag for the team, 10th and leading rookie on day 1, but a blown motor on the opening stage of leg 2 brought their run to an abrupt end. Due to financial restraints, the team could not make the journey north to the International rally of Rotorua, but did compete in a Mainland rally in Southland. Once again they retired to mechanical gremlins after stage 3 while holding a strong 2nd. So onto round 3 of the NZ championships, and after a bad start to the year it was time to change their fortune, and get them self’s back into contention for the rookie and junior titles. Taking maximum points in both championships at Whangarei, Hawkes Bay, and Wairarapa was jus what the doctor ordered, and along with two top 5 overall finishes in Wairarapa and Hawkes Bay the team had found a new confidence and reliability. Going into the final round in Nelson, the Paddon Direct Team Green were in the box seat to wrap up both titles. Day one was a relatively short leg, but the main priority was to get the necessary points for the championships. 4th on day 1, and their first stage victory was a good way to start the weekend. Then after the opening two stages of leg 2, Hayden and co-driver John held down a strong 3rd, but then problems hit the duo over the next set of 3 stages which dropped them to 5th.  They held onto 5th until the end which was enough to clinch both the 2006 New Zealand Junior and Rookie titles, and becoming the youngest ever title winner in New Zealand at the age of 19. It was a great year that the whole team made possible, and is sure to be a good platform for a strong showing in the 2007 New Zealand championship.

Then onto 2007. After a successful learning year in 2006 the goal for 2007 was to show some more speed and look towards outright victories. After successful development and testing of the car during the off season the team hit the ground running, with a fine 3rd overall at the opening round at Otago. It was a sign of bigger things to come as they headed to the Asia Pacific round in Whanagrei. It was a rally where everything clicked, and despite a birds best effort to go through the front window, Hayden and co-driver John steered there way to their first rally victory, and while doing so beating all the international teams home. Hayden described the victory as totally out of the blue and took some time to sink in. As championship leader at the third round in Wairarapa they had the honour of sweeping the road for the first time. And a steep learning curve it was but progressing and lifting their speed on a stage by stage basis they ended the rally in 3rd. Then on the single leg event in Hawkes Bay and in wet conditions, Hayden struggled to adapt to the conditions, but after a couple of new stage records clawed his way back to 4th and into the championship lead again. The 5th round was the international Rally of New Zealand where the team also had a wild card entry into the PWRC. After setting the 5th fastest Group N time on the opening stage they ground to a halt on the second stage with gearbox failure. Hayden described being totally gutted in such an important event for both the NZ championship and in front of the world audience. They rejoined for day 2 to collect points for their national campaign but would go to Nelson 20 points adrift of the championship leader and with only 32 points up for offer. Hayden drove his heart out, winning all but one stage and convincingly winning the rally. They ended up getting within one point of the championship victory, but did however again wrap up the NZ Junior title.

To top the year off Hayden had another PWRC experience, this time as Team Jordan driver in the season ending Wales Rally GB. Wanting to proof himself on the international scene, they got off to the worst possible start. After being in the top 5 in the early splits, they hit a culvert on the inside of a slow corner which broke the tie-rod and having them crawl through the stage with a wheel hanging off. Unfortunately they could not make the road side repairs, so their rally was short lived. They rejoined again for Day 2, only for the front sub frame to collapse and end their rally for good. Reflecting on a trying and devastating rally Hayden described it as character building and will be back bigger and stronger next time.

Onto 2008, and a new car. Hayden and the team built a brand new left-hand drive Mitsubishi Evo9, so that they could adapt to left hand drive early on in is career in readiness for any offshore opportunities Hayden may get. After coming so close to the NZ championship in 2007 the team were committed to going one better. The season did not get off to a great start, hitting a culvert only a few km’s into the opening stage of the opening round and crawling through the remaining stages before service with broken intercooler pipes. Throughout the remaining of the event they got more and more used to the left hand drive car and recovered to third for the weekend. In between rounds, Hayden competed in his local rally, Rally of South Canterbury. It has been a rally that Hayden had long wanted to win, and this year was his year, winning 6 of the 8 stages on their way to a convincing victory while testing and developing the car. Round two of the NZ championship was Otago, and immediately they showed improved speed from round one. A close fought 2nd place on day one was followed up by another 2nd on day two to move the team into 2nd on the championship ladder. Next was Whangarei, and as defending champions Hayden wanted to prove the their 2007 victory was no fluke. The team did just that, winning Day 2 and finishing second for the event overall, again betting all the international teams and taking the championship lead. The fourth round was a rain shortened Rally of Hawkes Bay which had been reduced to one day. After their car only arriving at the event only minutes before the first stage due to boat delays, Hayden and John went on to win 5 of the 6 stages in a convincing victory that allowed them to further extend their championship lead. Again at Rally of New Zealand they had the privilege of gaining one of the wild car entry’s for the PWRC. With a new control tyre for World Championship events and Hayden being violently ill leading up to the rally, Hayden struggled to adapt to the new tyres throughout the event. Frustrated that he wasn’t showing the speed that he knew he was capable of, they stayed in their and got to the end of the event. Despite the rally not going to plan it was a career best result. 13th overall, 1st Kiwi, 4th PWRC and the youngest ever New Zealand Rally Champion at the age of twenty-one.

“It is amazing to achieve a 3 year plan to win the championship and has been a massive team effort. It took some time to sink in but hopefully this is the start of a journey to achieving my ultimate goal of becoming a world rally champion” described Hayden after their Championship victory. Co-driver John also won the co-drivers championship, his second Gold star title after winning the Trails championship in the 80’s.

After winning the championship with one round remaining the team missed Hayden’s favourite rally, Nelson. They instead had the Pirelli Star driver final in Malaysia to concentrate on and the chance to win a fully funded scholarship into the World Rally Championship in 2009. The team and Hayden only had one result in mind, to win, but were also realistic about the challenges a new event would throw at them. The first stage got off to a good strong start despite a technical clitch with the car that was rectified at first service. They were comfortably lying in 2nd in the Pirelli standings and were ready to pounce. Unfortunately on the slippery third stage Hayden made a small driving error that left the car stranded in the middle of the road after hitting a road-side palm tree. Hayden was devastated, a life long dream would have to go on hold for another year. The team worked miracles to get the front end of the car completely rebuilt overnight so they could rejoin on Day two to gain experience. Even with a bent and battered car, they managed to win two stages outright and to move back into 3rd for the overall Pirelli standings for the weekend. But they still left feeling dejected but at the same time having learnt a lot for future events.

To date Hayden’s career has been full of highs and lows, but we hope this is only the start of the life story has Hayden continues to strive towards his ultimate goal. He loves the sport and is committed to giving it his all until the bitter end, no matter what length of time it may take. Watch this space for the continued story.