John Kennard (co-driver) explained

John Kennard
Birth Date:	11 February 1959
Birth Place:	Christchurch, New Zealand
Nationality:	New Zealander
Years:	1985, 1987–1989, 1991, 1998, 2007–2017, 2019, 2022
Teams:	Pirelli Star Driver, Hyundai Motorsport, M-Sport
Races:	77
Championships:	0
Wins:	1
Podiums:	5
Stagewins:	22
First Race:	1985 1000 Lakes Rally
First Win:	2016 Rally Argentina
Last Win:	2016 Rally Argentina
Last Race:	2022 Rally New Zealand

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

Rally career

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 .^[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

WRC victories

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
1989	Chris Birkbeck	Peugeot 205 GTI									FIN Ret	AUS	ITA	CIV	GBR				NC	0
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
2007	Team Jordan	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX												ESP	FRA	JPN	IRE	GBR Ret	NC	0
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
2010	Hayden Paddon	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX					NZL 14					JPN 12							NC	0
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
2011	Hayden Paddon	Subaru Impreza STi R4													GBR 13				18th	10
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
2013	Qatar M-Sport World Rally Team	Ford Fiesta RS WRC												ESP 8					18th	8
2014	Hyundai Motorsport N	Hyundai i20 WRC		SWE	MEX			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
2015	Hyundai Motorsport N	Hyundai i20 WRC			MEX 17	ARG 16	POR 8	ITA 2	POL 4	FIN Ret	GER 9		FRA 5	ESP 6					9th	84
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
2016	Hyundai Motorsport	Hyundai i20 WRC		SWE 2			POR Ret	ITA Ret	POL 3	FIN 5						AUS 4			4th	138
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			NC	0
2019	M-Sport Ford WRT	Ford Fiesta R5 Mk. II												GBR 38					NC	0
2022	Hayden Paddon	Hyundai i20 N Rally2	MON	SWE	CRO	POR	ITA	KEN	EST	FIN	BEL	GRE	NZL	ESP	JPN				21st	8

* Season still in progress.

External links

eWRC

Notes and References

Web site: John Kennard – Hyundai Motorsport Official Site . Motorsport.hyundai.com . 11 February 1959 . 14 March 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170315002702/https://motorsport.hyundai.com/drivers/john-kennard/ . 15 March 2017 . dead .
News: Paddon claims maiden win. Córdoba, Argentina. 2016-04-24. 2017-03-07. wrc.com. World Rally Championship.
Web site: Hayden Paddon splits with long-time co-driver John Kennard . . 14 March 2017.
Web site: Hayden Paddon confirms Brit Sebastian Marshall as replacement for outgoing co-driver John Kennard . Stuff.co.nz . 18 March 2017.
Web site: Kennard hands over to Marshall. wrc.com . 30 May 2017 . 6 June 2017.
News: Jones . Peter . Kennard picks up top sports award . 15 October 2017 . . 22 November 2016.