John Kennard (co-driver)

For other people named John Kennard, see John Kennard (disambiguation).

John Kennard

Personal information
Nationality	New Zealander
Born	(1959-02-11) 11 February 1959 (age 66) Christchurch, New Zealand
World Rally Championship record
Active years	1985, 1987–1989, 1991, 1998, 2007–2017, 2019, 2022
Teams	Pirelli Star Driver, Hyundai Motorsport, M-Sport
Rallies	77
Championships	0
Rally wins	1
Podiums	5
Stage wins	22
First rally	1985 1000 Lakes Rally
First win	2016 Rally Argentina
Last win	2016 Rally Argentina
Last rally	2022 Rally New Zealand

Personal life

John Kennard (born 11 February 1959) is a rally co-driver born in Christchurch, New Zealand.^[1]

In 2024 John lives between his homes in Marlborough, NZ and Finland with his wife Satu Lappalainen. They own and run New Zealand vineyard Vicarage Lane^[2] producing Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Sauvignon, and Pinot Noir wines. ^[3]

Rally career

John Kennard (left) and Hayden Paddon (right) at 2016 Rally Sweden.

Kennard's first taste of the WRC came at the 1985 1000 Lakes Rally where he co-drove in a Toyota Starlet for Brent Rawstron. Kennard is a well-known co-driver to numerous drivers, the most notable being Hayden Paddon at Hyundai motorsport. The pairing had their first win at Rally Argentina in 2016, bring New Zealand to the top step of the WRC podium.^[4]

In March 2017 it was announced that Kennard would step down as Paddon's co-driver after Rally Finland and that a replacement for Kennard would be announced soon.^[5] The replacement was confirmed the day after to be Kevin Abbring's co-driver Sebastian Marshall.^[6] Kennard suffered a hip injury prior to the 2017 Rally de Portugal, which meant Marshall had to substitute for Kennard for the rally. On 30 May, Kennard retired as co-driver earlier than what was planned, because of the injury.^[7]

Kennard was voted Marlborough Sportsperson of the Year in 2016, succeeding Sophie MacKenzie.^[8]

2023 saw John compete with Hayden Paddon in the 2023 European Rally Championship. The pair came out on top claiming their first European Rally Championship Title, and becoming the first non-european team to win the championship. John and Hayden also fought off local competition to win his 6th New Zealand Rally Championship Co-Drivers Title.

In 2024 John stepped down from his NZRC co-driving duties, allowing up and coming co-driver Jared Hudson to sit with driver Hayden Paddon in New Zealand, with John sitting with Hayden, and claiming a back-to-back European Rally Championship Title.^[9]

Rally victories

WRC victories

#	Event	Season	Driver	Car
1	36° Rally Argentina	2016	Hayden Paddon	Hyundai i20 WRC

ERC victories

#	Event	Season	Driver	Car
1	Rally Serras de Fafe e Felgueiras	2023	Hayden Paddon	Hyundai i20 Rally2
2	Rali Ceredigion	2024	Hayden Paddon	Hyundai i20 Rally2

NZRC victories

#	Event	Season	Driver	Car
1	Hella International Rally of Whangarei	2007	Hayden Paddon	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII
2	Rally Nelson	2007	Hayden Paddon	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII
3	Rally Hawkes Bay	2008	Hayden Paddon	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
4	South Canterbury Spring Rally	2008	Hayden Paddon	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
5	International Rally of Otago	2009	Hayden Paddon	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
6	NAC Insurance International Rally of Whangarei	2009	Hayden Paddon	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
7	Trust House/Racetech Rally Wairarapa	2009	Hayden Paddon	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
8	Rally Nelson	2009	Hayden Paddon	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII
9	International Rally of Whangarei	2010	Hayden Paddon	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
10	DriveSouth International Rally of Otago	2011	Hayden Paddon	Subaru Impreza STi N14
11	Rally New Zealand	2011	Hayden Paddon	Subaru Impreza STi N14
12	International Rally of Otago	2013	Hayden Paddon	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
13	International Rally of Whangarei	2013	Hayden Paddon	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
14	Trust House/Racetech Rally Wairarapa	2013	Hayden Paddon	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
15	International Rally of Otago	2015	Hayden Paddon	Ford Escort RS 1800 MKII
16	DriveSouth International Rally of Otago	2016	Hayden Paddon	Hyundai i20 AP4
17	Rally New Zealand	2017	Hayden Paddon	Hyundai i20 AP4
18	International Rally of Otago	2018	Hayden Paddon	Hyundai i20 AP4
19	Rally of South Canterbury	2018	Hayden Paddon	Hyundai i20 AP4
20	International Rally of Otago	2019	Hayden Paddon	Hyundai i20 AP4
21	City of Auckland Rally	2020	Hayden Paddon	Hyundai i20 AP4
22	International Rally of Otago	2021	Hayden Paddon	Hyundai i20 AP4
23	International Rally of Whangarei	2021	Hayden Paddon	Hyundai i20 AP4
24	Rally of South Canterbury	2021	Hayden Paddon	Hyundai i20 AP4
25	Rally Hawkes Bay	2021	Hayden Paddon	Hyundai i20 AP4
26	International Rally of Otago	2022	Hayden Paddon	Hyundai i20 AP4
27	International Rally of Whangarei	2022	Hayden Paddon	Hyundai i20 AP4
28	Repco Rally New Zealand	2022	Hayden Paddon	Hyundai i20 N Rally2
29	International Rally of Otago	2023	Hayden Paddon	Hyundai i20 N Rally2
30	International Rally of Whangarei	2023	Hayden Paddon	Hyundai i20 N Rally2
31	Daybreaker Rally Manawatu	2023	Hayden Paddon	Hyundai i20 N Rally2
32	Rally Bay of Plenty	2023	Hayden Paddon	Hyundai i20 AP4

Rally results

WRC results

Year	Entrant	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	WDC	Points
1985	Brent Rawstron	Toyota Starlet	MON	SWE	POR	KEN	FRA	GRC	NZL	ARG	FIN 44	ITA	CIV	GBR Ret					NC	0
1987	Stuart Weeber	Toyota Starlet	MON	SWE	POR	KEN	FRA	GRE	USA	NZL 7	ARG	FIN	CIV	ITA	GBR				46th	4
1988	Malcolm Stewart	Audi Coupé Quattro	MON	SWE	POR	KEN	FRA	GRE	USA	NZL 3	ARG	FIN	CIV	ITA	GBR				20th	12
1989	Simon Davies	Subaru Leone	SWE	MON	POR	KEN	FRA	GRE	NZL Ret	ARG									NC	0
	Chris Birkbeck	Peugeot 205 GTI									FIN Ret	AUS	ITA	CIV	GBR
1991	Greg Taylor	Mazda 323	MON	SWE	POR	KEN	FRA	GRE	NZL Ret	ARG	FIN	AUS	ITA	CIV	ESP	GBR			NC	0
1998	Juha Kangas	Subaru Impreza WRX	MON	SWE	KEN	POR	ESP	FRA	ARG	GRE	NZL	FIN	ITA	AUS	GBR 24				NC	0
2007	Paddon Direct Green Team	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII	MON	SWE	NOR	MEX	POR	ARG	ITA	GRE	FIN	GER	NZL 49						NC	0
	Team Jordan	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX												ESP	FRA	JPN	IRE	GBR Ret
2008	Paddon Direct Green Team	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX	MON	SWE	MEX	ARG	JOR	ITA	GRE	TUR	FIN	GER	NZL 12	ESP	FRA	JPN	GBR		NC	0
2009	Hayden Paddon	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX	IRE	NOR	CYP	POR	ARG	ITA	GRE	POL	FIN	AUS 9	ESP	GBR					NC	0
2010	Pirelli Star Driver	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X	SWE	MEX	JOR	TUR 26		POR 20	BUL	FIN 21	GER 19		FRA 35	ESP	GBR 19				NC	0
	Hayden Paddon	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX					NZL 14					JPN 12
2011	New Zealand World Rally Team	Subaru Impreza WRX STi	SWE	MEX	POR 11	JOR	ITA	ARG 9	GRE	FIN 19	GER	AUS 6	FRA	ESP 34					18th	10
	Hayden Paddon	Subaru Impreza STi R4													GBR 13
2012	Hayden Paddon	Škoda Fabia S2000	MON	SWE 23	MEX	POR 16	ARG	GRE	NZL 12	FIN Ret	GER	GBR 26	FRA Ret	ITA	ESP 20				NC	0
2013	Hayden Paddon	Škoda Fabia S2000	MON	SWE	MEX	POR	ARG	GRE	ITA	FIN 11	GER 8	AUS 17	FRA		GBR				18th	8
	Qatar M-Sport World Rally Team	Ford Fiesta RS WRC												ESP 8
2014	Hyundai Motorsport N	Hyundai i20 WRC	MON	SWE	MEX	POR	ARG	ITA 12	POL 8	FIN 8	GER	AUS 6	FRA	ESP 9	GBR 10				15th	19
2015	Hyundai Motorsport	Hyundai i20 WRC	MON	SWE 5								AUS 5			GBR 5				9th	84
	Hyundai Motorsport N				MEX 17	ARG 16	POR 8	ITA 2	POL 4	FIN Ret	GER 9		FRA 5	ESP 6
2016	Hyundai Motorsport N	Hyundai i20 WRC	MON 25		MEX 5	ARG 1					GER 5	CHN C	FRA 6	ESP 4	GBR 4				4th	138
	Hyundai Motorsport			SWE 2			POR Ret	ITA Ret	POL 3	FIN 5						AUS 4
2017	Hyundai Motorsport	Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC	MON WD	SWE 7	MEX 5	FRA 6	ARG 6	POR	ITA	POL	FIN	GER	ESP	GBR	AUS				13th	33
2019	M-Sport Ford WRT	Ford Fiesta WRC	MON	SWE	MEX	FRA	ARG	CHL	POR	ITA	FIN WD	GER	TUR		ESP	AUS C			NC	0
		Ford Fiesta R5 Mk. II												GBR 38
2022	Hayden Paddon	Hyundai i20 N Rally2	MON	SWE	CRO	POR	ITA	KEN	EST Ret	FIN 11	BEL	GRE	NZL 6	ESP	JPN				21st	8

ERC results

Year	Entrant	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Pos.	Points
2013	Symtech Racing	Ford Fiesta S2000	JÄN	LIE	CAN	AZO	COR	YPR Ret	ROM	ZLÍ	POL	CRO	SAN	VAL	62nd	5
2022	Paddon Rallysport	Hyundai i20 N Rally2	AZO1	AZO2	CAN	POL	LAT 6	ITA	CZE	ESP					29th	15
2023	BRC Racing Team	Hyundai i20 N Rally2	PRT 1	CAN 2	POL 2	LAT 2	SWE 2	ITA 3	CZE Ret	HUN					1st	163
2024	BRC Racing Team	Hyundai i20 N Rally2	HUN 4	CAN 6	SWE 3	EST 5	ITA 6	CZE 12	GBR 1	POL 3					1st	145