A former WRC competitor with the factory Hyundai team, the 37-year-old has run his own Paddon Rally Group (PRG) team in the New Zealand Rally Championship and abroad.
He even has experience building cars, famously creating a world-first Hyundai Kona EV rally car that has competed in hill climb events and was demonstrated at Rally New Zealand.
WRC promoters are facing the scary reality of Hyundai pulling out of the sport, with rumours that the formation of an FIA World Endurance Championship team under the Genesis subsidiary could spell the end of the Korean manufacturer in rally and reduce the field to just a few cars.
Toyota and Ford remain committed in the meantime, but a new set of regulations could yet attract a new wave of manufacturers.
Paddon, who has long been affiliated with Hyundai, hopes he can compete at the upper echelon as a driver and as a team owner even amid rumours of the brand’s impending exit.
“I’m not quite too old yet, and I feel like I’m still driving at a good level,” Paddon told Speedcafe.
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“I’m a pretty competitive person, and I’m also pretty realistic. If it’s at a point where I don’t think I’m competitive anymore, then I won’t do it.
“I don’t want to waste people’s time and money and effort. I feel like I’ve got another three to five years at a decent level.
“But then, even beyond that, we want to run our own team. Motorsport is my life and I don’t see it any differently.
“Ultimately, I’d love to be running our own World Rally Championship team, but obviously the rules and regulations… all the stars need to align to make that happen.
“I haven’t given up on Europe and international rallying, but running a team with more than just me driving and getting some other younger drivers involved as well.
“Beyond that, I’m sure I won’t be driving forever, but hopefully there’s something left in the tank still.”
Paddon said the upcoming regulation changes could bring the World Rally Championship back to its halcyon days, where privateers were plentiful.
That, in his mind, was when the championship was at its peak.
“It’s a hard balancing act [for WRC Promoter] because their job is they’ve got to keep the manufacturers happy because they’re the ones that have invested a lot of money to be there,” Paddon said.
“But everyone knows that for any sport to be successful, you need numbers, you need competition, and that’s what WRC doesn’t have at the moment. You need unpredictability.
“You go back to the heyday, you had 20 privateers turning up with WRC cars, and we might have one if we’re lucky now. We need privateers in there.
“You need the fast locals who turn up for one rally and are super fast. You need the asphalt specialists. That is the heyday of WRC, and the only way you’re going to do that is you’ve got to make it more cost-effective.
“At the moment, it’s impossible for a privateer when you can’t build a car, and then the teams are not making the cars available to sell, so it makes it almost impossible.
“At the end of the day, like the level that those drivers are all at, it doesn’t matter what the car is, they’re gonna make them look spectacular.”
Paddon pointed to the current Rally2-spec cars as a source of inspiration.
He said there’s a certain irony to it all, given the Rally1 cars have become spaceframe, prototype monsters, whereas the Rally2 cars are more akin to the WRC cars of only a decade ago.
“You think, this car now,” he said, pointing at his Rally2-spec Hyundai i20 — “If you put a bigger wing on it and a two millimetre bigger restrictor, you’re back to a 2016 WRC car.
“In 2016, we weren’t complaining that all the cars were slow. Everyone loves the spectacle. So it’s about what the drivers do and all those top drivers, they’ll make any car look good.”
Paddon is certain about one thing. He wants to be able to create his own rally car.
In June, the FIA approved a final component of the FIA World Rally Championship regulations that are set to take effect from 2027.
The top-flight WRC cars will still be based upon a spaceframe.
There will be a prescribed zone within which all the body panels must be located, allowing freedom to scale and integrate diverse designs.
That leaves the door open for saloons, hatchbacks, crossovers, or manufacturers to create their own bespoke designs.
The regulation cycle is intended to last for a decade through to 2037.
“I’d like to build our own car,” Paddon explained.
“That’s where I’d love it to go, and that depends on where these rules and regulations go, which from what I understand is what they’re talking about being achievable.
“They call it in Europe ‘tuner teams’, so they might have a blueprint of what you’ve got to do.
“Obviously there’s certain rules and regulations to stay with them, but that’s what they’re discussing, and that’s what would make it possible for us, to be honest.
“That’s what Kiwis will get behind as well. A bit of Kiwi ingenuity would come back and do it, and people could actually get behind the journey and the story.
“Better than buying something from the shop.”
Paddon will continue his season in the EROAD Australian Rally Championship on July 4-6 with Rally Queensland.
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