The 1981 World Rally champion, Finland's Ari Vatanen, was the star international invited and after spending a few days with Paddon, decided to help further his career.
He put him in touch with his son Kim, who manages Frenchman Sebastien Ogier - one of the hottest WRC prospects - bumping Paddon up in the who-you-know stakes, now he has father and son Vatanens watching his back.
"Ari is definitely a big support for us," Paddon said.
After Ogier's recent defection from the Citroen World Rally Team to Volkswagen, he will compete in the Super 2000 World Rally Championship (SWRC) driving a Skoda Fabia next year, as VW develops its car ahead of a 2013 WRC assault. It is a drive Paddon would also dearly like to earn and Kim could help make it happen.
"He's got a lot of contacts and has an idea of where we should be going."
Making the next step up from the production class to the SWRC is vital for Paddon's driving development as the cars are the same as the WRC machines - fully fabricated from the ground up - but without the aerodynamics and turbo. However, it may mean he will be leaving Subaru behind as the marque does not have a S2000 or WRC car in the pipeline.
"There's no light at the end of the tunnel there. We do have to look at what will help our career at this stage."
Paddon has four options on the table and along with Kim and his company directors must make a decision before the entry deadline on December 12 to secure a team and a car. Then there is the budget of 500,000 ($NZ880,000) to find over the next six to 12 months.
"I think in our company we know we need to make it happen. We can't afford not to but it's going to be a lot of hard work to get everything in place over the coming months."
There has been little let-up in between making history as the first New Zealander to win a world rally championship in his production class Subaru WRX STI and putting together his 2012 campaign.
Emails and international phone calls have been in full swing and Paddon flies to the United Kingdom this weekend for a test, which he was remaining tight-lipped about, before any deals are done.
It is all part of travel whirlwind the 24-year-old Geraldine driver has been caught up in over the past month. He arrived home from his last Production World Rally Championship event in Wales, via Subaru Japan's head office, near the end of November and finished a 14-stop nationwide road show in Dunedin yesterday.
On his way back from the UK he stops over in India for the official FIA prizegiving, where he will get his PWRC championship-winning trophy.
He is hoping for a week of down-time before testing starts in earnest, as the 2012 championship's opening round is in Monte Carlo during the second week of January.
While much of next year is up in the air, one vital component will stay constant - his co-driver.
Blenheim's John Kennard will once again sit in the passenger seat in what will be his seventh season with the rising star.
