RallySport Magazine September 2016

FIVE MINUTES WITH ...
5
minutes with ...
JOHN
KENNARD
The 2016 season has
been the best yet for the
WRC’s oldest co-driver
By PETER WHITTEN
You’re a resident of Finland when you’re
in Europe. Why is this, and do you see your
future in Finland or in New Zealand once
you’re out of the WRC?
My wife, Satu, is a Finn and we have
a “summer” cottage there, about 1.5
hours north of Jyväskylä, where WRC
Rally Finland is based.
As the cottage is also good enough
to stay in during winter, it’s a natural
location to base myself, rather than the
long haul back and forth to NZ all the
time.
Long term I’m sure I’ll end up back
in NZ, as both Satu and I consider it
home and our wine business is based in
Marlborough.
You spent some time with the Subaru World
Rally Team in the 90s. What did that involve,
and did that benefit you once you became a
WRC regular?
I was logistics co-ordinator, and
occasional team manager, for SWRT
from the mid 90s, then, just before
the millennium, when WRC changed
to central service and some of the
challenge of the job disappeared, I
swapped over to do the same job
for the customer side of Prodrive,
mainly on the French and Polish
championships.
In the beginning much of the job
involved not only getting people,
vehicles and parts to and from events,
16 | RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE - SEPTEMBER 2016
“(Hayden) had a calm,
analytical approach,
and a level of skill that
reminded me of some
champions I’d already
worked with.”
but also service planning to get vans
and/or trucks to service areas after
every few stages, on rallies with up to
40 stages, in places like the French Alps,
Corsica and even in Kenya, for Safari
Rally.
It was often like a puzzle to make it
all work, and, with much less in the way
of communications, one you had to get
right from the start, as there was little
opportunity to put it right once things
were underway.
Having been in this role, I had a
great understanding of both how WRC
worked, the places and the people,
which I think was a help in finding
Hayden’s path into it all.
When Hayden first approached you to codrive
for him, did it take some convincing to
get you in the seat?
During my time at Prodrive I worked
with some young customer drivers,
usually from wealthy backgrounds, who
weren’t the easiest people to deal with,
so I was a bit reticent. But as soon as
we got in the car together I realised he
was the polar opposite, very grounded
and mature, with a huge passion to
reach his ultimate goal, WRC champion.
He also had a calm, analytical
approach, and a level of skill, even then,
that reminded me of some champions
I’d already worked with, and together it
all suggested he could go a long way.
What’s been the most noticeable
improvement in Hayden’s driving in 2016,
and do you think there’s still more speed to
come?
I don’t think there’s been one big
improvement. When you’re looking
for those last fractions of a second
it’s always about looking at the many
things you need to go that quick, and
improving each and every one if you
can.
How much of an improvement has the “New
Generation” i20 been this year?
The New Generation i20 WRC has
been a great step forward in many
areas, but especially the engine.
Hayden also felt quite at home in the
car from our first test, so I think this has
also been a plus for us.
On gravel, the VWs run a lot lower to the
ground than the Hyundais. Does this give the
VWs an advantage, and why don’t the team
run your i20s that low?