The Cromwell-based driver achieved a New Zealand motorsport first when he won his second consecutive European Rally Championship title in Poland at the weekend.
Paddon and longtime co-driver John Kennard also wrapped up the team championship title for their Italian-based BRC Racing Team, which has run their Hyundai i20 Rally2 car for their two ERC seasons.
"I’m very proud of everyone involved — everyone at BRC Racing Team, John, our team back home — to secure a second ERC title, particularly after the first half of the season when we were looking like we were on the back foot", Paddon said in a statement.
"It felt like a tall order to try and win the championship this year, but we never gave up and the team dug really deep.
"We were able to find something in the latter part of the year that really helped us click with the car and brought us back into play for the championship.
"Overall, it’s been a very tough season mentally to make sure we got through and got all the points we could.
"We never stopped working on the consistency side of things.
"But yes, I’m very proud. It’s more than we expected and a relief to get that over the line."
The eighth and final ERC round, Rally Silesia, took place in southern Poland on asphalt.
All started well for the Kiwis with the fourth-quickest time in qualifying, and the third-quickest time around the 1.85km super special stage in Katowice.
For the first full day’s challenging stages in sunny, dry conditions, Paddon’s plan was to keep a good pace with no risk.
The Hyundai was performing well and Paddon’s comfortable pace delivered five stage wins and an overnight lead of 6.8sec ahead of Italian driver Andrea Mabellini.
Yesterday’s action started in fine weather but with rain expected, most competitors ran a mix of tyre compounds.
Rain started on stage 11 and road conditions were variable, and rain continued through to the power stage on stage 14.
"When the rain set in, it made things very challenging", Paddon said.
"We had a few little moments, scares and a couple of spins which was a bit of a reality check.
"We had to dial it down a bit to make sure we cruised through the last stage to get home and wrap up the championship."
As well as becoming the first non-European to win consecutive ERC titles, Paddon is the first ERC title defender since Polish driver Kajetan Kajetanowicz in 2016.
Paddon now returns home for the final round of the New Zealand Rally Championship, in Whangarei, next month.
