Over last weekend Haydon Paddon won Rally Argentina.
Significant?
You bet.
In the 43 years of the World Rally Championship no Kiwi has won a WRC event.
Rallying is something of a niche sport in New Zealand, receiving nothing like the media coverage or participation numbers of this country's traditional sporting staples.
Obviously, there are large barriers to entry for rallying - driving vehicles around racetracks or closed roads is never going to be as cheap or accessible as throwing a ball around a grassed park.
But rallying is huge overseas, particularly in Europe where 10 of this year's 14 rallies are held.
It has huge participation numbers, a huge spectator and media following, and operates with huge budgets.
The cars cost well over $NZ1 million, the teams have budgets running into the tens of millions and the sport has television viewership in the hundreds of millions.
In short, it's a very big deal.
For those who reach the highest peaks in the sport, cult hero status tends to follow.
Scottish driver Colin McRae became a national hero in the United Kingdom when he won the World Rally Championship in 1995.
Two-time champion Carlos Sainz enjoyed a similar following in Spain while four-time champion Tommi Makinen is one of Finland's favourite sons.
The greatest of them all, Frenchman and nine-time champion Sebastien Loeb, was made a knight of the Legion of Honour in 2009 in recognition of his rallying achievements.
Of course, Paddon will need many more wins to reach such heights but his success to date has eclipsed that of any other New Zealand rally drivers, including the great Possum Bourne.
So who is Haydon Paddon?
A South Canterbury (Geraldine) boy, he took to motorsport from an early age, competing in his first rally when he was just 15.
He has since competed overseas for many years with considerable success, especially in the feeder series that run alongside the World Rally Championship.
But he is on the biggest stage now, competing against the biggest names.
The 29-year-old had to fight toe-to-toe with three-time world rally champ Sebastien Ogier in the Argentina event's final 54km stage to secure his win.
To give some perspective on how big a challenge Ogier was, the French driver is backed by the giant Volkswagen team, has won two of this year's four rallies and finished second in the other two.
Paddon stared that down and didn't buckle, somehow keeping a clear enough head to complete the drive of his life.
After a three-day event, with more than 360km driven across 18 stages, Paddon beat Ogier by 14.3 seconds.
His name can now enter New Zealand sporting folklore.
Of significance for us in Otago is that Paddon spent his preparation for Rally Argentina competing right here, winning the Drivesouth Rally of Otago by a record-breaking 9min 22sec earlier this month.
Despite sitting fifth on the World Rally Championship standings at the time, Paddon chose to support and bring a touch of wow-factor to the Dunedin-based rally, an event he has now won five times.
It's easy to ignore success when it comes in fields we don't understand or hear much about.
But success on a stage as big, prominent and competitive as the World Rally Championship is huge success indeed.
New Zealand's isolation is both its biggest gift and hardest obstacle at times, but a victory like Paddon's helps remind Kiwis, especially young Kiwis, they can reach any heights in any field on any stage in the world.
That's why we should work hard, harder perhaps than we are comfortable working, to celebrate success like Hayden Paddon's.
