John Kennard (born 11 February 1959) is a

rally Rally or rallye may refer to: Gatherings * Demonstration (political), a political rally, a political demonstration of support or protest, march, or parade * Pep rally, an event held at a United States school or college sporting event Sport ...

co-driver A co-driver is the navigator of a rally car in the sport of rallying, who sits in the front passenger seat. The co-driver's job is to navigate, commonly by reading off a set of pacenotes to the driver (what lies ahead, where to turn, the severity ...

born in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

Rally career

Kennard has been a co-driver to numerous drivers, the most notable being

Hayden Paddon Hayden Paddon (born 20 April 1987) is a New Zealand rally driver. He was PWRC world champion in 2011 and won the New Zealand Rally Championship in 2008, 2009, 2013, 2018 and 2021. Career Paddon was introduced into motorsport at an early age, h ...

at Hyundai motorsport. They had their first win at

Rally Argentina The Rally Argentina ( es, Rally de Argentina) is an Argentine rally competition that has been a round of the World Rally Championship, the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, the South American Rally Championship and the Argentine Rally Championshi ...

in . In March 2017 it was announced that Kennard would step down as Paddon's co-driver after

Rally Finland Rally Finland (formerly known as the Neste Rally Finland, Neste Oil Rally Finland, 1000 Lakes Rally and Rally of the Thousand Lakes; fi, Suomen ralli, sv, Finska rallyt) is a rally competition in the Finnish Lakeland in Central Finland. The ra ...

and that a replacement for Kennard would be announced soon. The replacement was confirmed the day after to be

Kevin Abbring Kevin Abbring (born 20 January 1989) is a Dutch rally racing driver. His father, Edwin Abbring, is also a well-known former rally driver. Career Abbring started his motorsport career in Rallycross with a 60 bhp strong buggy for newcomers, ...

's co-driver

Sebastian Marshall Sebastian Marshall (born 29 May 1988) is a British rally co-driver. Rally career Sebastian Marshall began his rally career in 2005, co-driving for several drivers. In the 2008 Rallye Deutschland, he made his WRC debut, where he partnered Ric ...

. 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. Kennard was voted

Marlborough Marlborough may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Marlborough, Wiltshire, England ** Marlborough College, public school * Marlborough School, Woodstock in Oxfordshire, England * The Marlborough Science Academy in Hertfordshire, England Austral ...

Sportsperson of the Year in 2016, succeeding

Sophie MacKenzie Sophie MacKenzie (born 31 March 1992) is a New Zealand Olympic rower and, together with Julia Edward, double world champion in lightweight double sculls. Private life MacKenzie was born in 1992 and grew up in the Waihopai Valley. Her parents ar ...

Rally victories

WRC victories

Rally results

WRC results

* Season still in progress.

References

External links

eWRC
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kennard, John 1959 births Living people New Zealand rally co-drivers Sportspeople from Palmerston North World Rally Championship co-drivers