Kiwi rally driver Hayden Paddon has been invited to compete in the Race of Champions (ROC) in Sydney next year.
Paddon would become the first Kiwi to compete at the international motorsport event.
The 2025 edition of the ROC is set to be held at Accor Stadium in March next year, which is also the first time the event has been held in the Southern Hemisphere.
The ROC invites some of the best racing and rally drivers from around the world to compete in identical cars around a stadium track.
Paddon said he was delighted to be the first Kiwi to compete in the international motorsport event.
“To be part of the Race of Champions and especially represent the first Team NZ in ROC is a dream come true for me,” Paddon said.
“I’ve been watching the Race of Champions every year since my hero Colin McRae won ROC in Gran Canaria, always hoping that one day I would be invited to compete."
The ROC Nations Cup features two drivers from the same nation competing and the Sydney event will be the first time that New Zealand have a team competing in the Cup. Paddon’s teammate is yet to be announced.
“It’s a true honour to be able to represent New Zealand and compete against some of the best of the best. New Zealand has always proudly punched above its weight in world motorsport and this will be a chance for myself and my teammate, whoever that ends up being, to really fly the Kiwi flag on the world stage."
The Race of Champions is set to run over two nights with a purpose built one kilometre tarmac track built in the middle of Accor Stadium.
“I hope many New Zealand fans will join me in Sydney now that this unique event is coming to this part of the world for the first time. March cannot come soon enough.”
Last year, Paddon became the first non-European to be crowned European Rally Champion.
The 37-year-old recently won back-to-back titles securing the 2024 ERC Title in the final event in Poland.
Paddon will also be chasing his eighth national title in the International Rally of Whangārei from November 8-10.
Alongside Paddon, champion rally driver Sébastien Loeb has been announced as another competitor at the Sydney event.
The Frenchman has won nine consecutive World Rally Championships and will be chasing his fifth Champion of Champions ROC title next year.
Paddon will also be up against a German powerhouse duo of Sebastian Vettel and Mick Schumacher.
More drivers from Formula 1, IndyCar, Le Mans, Supercars, World Rally and Rally X are set to be announced in the coming weeks.
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