Returning from recent international success with WRC2 podiums in Finland and Germany, he is just one point adrift of new championship leader Ben Hunt going into this fifth and penultimate round. The rally will feature 11 tarmac and gravel stages over one day in rural south Auckland, Franklin and Waikato. It marks the 10th anniversary of Bourne's death.
Paddon described Bourne as a ''massive icon for New Zealand rallying and someone that I looked up to.
''It is humbling to be able to compete in a memorial event of his that is based out of his home town in Pukekohe and on roads that he learned to drive on in Maramarua Forest.''
To honour his memory, Australian rally champion Cody Crocker will drive Bourne's Hillclimb Impreza WRX STI, which his team built for the 2002 Race to the Sky in the Cardrona Valley, through the stages before competitors.
Paddon has been the fastest of the S2000 drivers on both surfaces overseas - gravel in Finland and tarmac in Germany - but expected the transition back into his Stadium Cars Evo 9 to be an ''an eye opener'' after driving the Skoda.
''The cars couldn't be more different and the driving style also differs between cars. While the Evo has more power, it weighs more and has less sophisticated suspension which means that the braking and handling performance is not as strong.''
While he was competing in Europe, Paddon's Geraldine-based team has been getting the Evo 9 ready and making further developments to the car.
''We have been unable to do any testing, so the first corner of stage one will give us a gauge of how the car is working,'' Paddon said.
The last three rounds of the national rally championship have had three different winners: Paddon winning in Whangarei, a debut victory for Hunt in Daybreaker and most recently a win for Chris West in Rally Canterbury. Still in the fray is defending champion Richard Mason, 23 points behind Hunt, making it a four-way fight for the final two rounds.
Dunedin's Emma Gilmour will not be contesting the PBMR due to an ongoing issue with her newly-built Suzuki Swift Maxi.
''The modified engine is giving us problems and we needed it to be 100% right before we went to the next event but unfortunately it isn't.''
Gilmour said it was disappointing for her, the team and her sponsors, as although they knew it was going to be a ''research and development year'', the car had so much potential but had not been able to complete the competitive kilometres to prove it. Rhys Gardner, of Balclutha, will also be sitting out tomorrow's rally as he is working on plans for his 2014 season.
Meanwhile, Paddon's rally calendar is hectic, with three events over the next three weeks, in three different cars. After the PBMR, he leaves at 5am on Sunday for Rally Australia (September 12 to 15), where he is back driving a Skoda. Then he will compete in his local Geraldine-based Spring Rally on September 21 in a BDA Escort.
