John Kennard (co-driver)

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

John Kennard
Personal information
NationalityNew Zealand New Zealander
Born (1959-02-11) 11 February 1959 (age 65)
Christchurch, New Zealand
World Rally Championship record
Active years1985, 1987–1989, 1991, 1998, 2007–2017, 2019, 2022
TeamsPirelli Star Driver, Hyundai Motorsport, M-Sport
Rallies77
Championships0
Rally wins1
Podiums5
Stage wins22
First rally1985 1000 Lakes Rally
First win2016 Rally Argentina
Last win2016 Rally Argentina
Last rally2022 Rally New Zealand

Rally career edit

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

Kennard has been a co-driver to numerous drivers, the most notable being Hayden Paddon at Hyundai motorsport. They had their first win at Rally Argentina in 2016.[2]

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.[3] The replacement was confirmed the day after to be Kevin Abbring's co-driver Sebastian Marshall.[4]

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.[5]

Kennard was voted Marlborough Sportsperson of the Year in 2016, succeeding Sophie MacKenzie.[6]

Rally victories edit

WRC victories edit

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

Rally results edit

WRC results edit

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

* Season still in progress.

References edit

  1. ^ "John Kennard – Hyundai Motorsport Official Site". Motorsport.hyundai.com. 11 February 1959. Archived from the original on 15 March 2017. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  2. ^ "Paddon claims maiden win". wrc.com. Córdoba, Argentina: World Rally Championship. 24 April 2016. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  3. ^ "Hayden Paddon splits with long-time co-driver John Kennard". Newshub.co.nz. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  4. ^ "Hayden Paddon confirms Brit Sebastian Marshall as replacement for outgoing co-driver John Kennard". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 18 March 2017.
  5. ^ "Kennard hands over to Marshall". wrc.com. 30 May 2017. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  6. ^ Jones, Peter (22 November 2016). "Kennard picks up top sports award". The Marlborough Express. Retrieved 15 October 2017.

External links edit