Months of work went into the establishment of a new company with investors/shareholders prepared to back Hayden’s next goal on the World Rally Championship ladder: winning the Production World Rally Championship. With the new company structure came a change that surprised many – Hayden and John would contest the PWRC in a Subaru!
Their first of six PWRC rounds was Portugal in March. Following a constructive pre-event test with Symtech, the Belgium-based team who supplied and ran the car, Hayden went into his second season of international competition feeling positive. Hayden and John won five of the six stages on Rally de Portugal’s first day to lead the 18-strong PWRC field, many also in Group N Subarus, by 30 seconds. On day two, the Kiwis extended their class lead to 6 minutes, 35 seconds. They wrapped up the slippery, dusty rally with a PWRC class win and the largest winning margin – 7 minutes, 39.3 seconds – in the history of the feeder series to the World Rally Championship!
Two local events came next as Hayden learned all he could about the Impreza WRX STI – using a NZ-built version of the model he was driving in the PWRC. First was the Otago Rally in April with seven stage wins and the rally victory – perfect preparation for the next target of winning Rally New Zealand in May – which they did! New Zealand’s iconic rally was in a non-World Rally Championship year, meaning Hayden and John’s names are now engraved on the RNZ trophy alongside some of rallying’s greats, including Hayden’s hero Colin McRae.
At the end of May came their first-ever rally in South America – Rally Argentina, and their next PWRC challenge. Hayden relished competing on new roads for the first time and together he and John worked hard on their pace notes. Argentina’s notoriously rough and rocky roads were one challenge, a lack of turbo boost in their Subaru another, but they led the PWRC category virtually from start to finish to secure a 7 minute, 50.3s winning margin over second-placed PWRC competitor Patrik Flodin from Sweden to move Hayden into first equal in the PWRC standings. Finishing ninth overall, they also earned two prestigious WRC points.
Back in New Zealand for the International Rally of Whangarei, they won the NZRC category and had to drive flat out to try and catch overall winner Chris Atkinson was great preparation for their next PWRC, Rally Finland in July. The Subaru wasn’t handling to Hayden’s liking early in the rally dubbed the Finnish Grand Prix, but with hard work from the team and Hayden’s consistent determination, they came through to win the PWRC category again and take a healthy 25-point lead in the PWRC standings.
Rally Australia in September offered an extraordinary opportunity – to wrap up the PWRC with two rounds to spare. Hayden was conscious of his 14-strong production category competitors, some of whom were familiar with the roads around Coffs Harbour, NSW, but was determined to run his own rally in the NZ-built Subaru. Hayden and John came through the slippery first day in first place. Mechanical issues on day two saw them lose the category lead, then regain it by just 3 seconds by day’s end. On the final day, they extended their lead to win the PWRC category AND the PWRC title, creating motorsport history at the age of 24. Hayden was the first person from the Southern Hemisphere to ever win a world rally championship. His PWRC title with four consecutive category wins created another record. And they were sixth overall, earning eight WRC points in a Group N production car!
October’s first attempt at the all-tarmac Rally Spain started with a major challenge – not even one stage completed on the first day due to an electrical fault. But they got stuck in on day two, winning five of six stages, and then four of six stages on Sunday to take many positives from the Spanish event.
Hayden and John wrapped up their second international season at Wales Rally GB in a brand-new R4-spec Subaru rally car that was completed by Symtech literally days before the start. While not an official category, they compared themselves to other Super 2000 class competitors and weren’t entered in the PWRC having already won that championship. The event offered different challenges and development opportunities, as they finished 13th overall and second to SWRC class leader Kevin Abbring.
In December, Hayden announced new plans for 2012 with support from key sponsors such as the Giltrap Group – a tilt at the Super 2000 World Rally Championship in a Skoda with Spanish team ASM Motorsport.