Rally Finland was Kennard's first World Rally Championship rally as a co-driver, in 1985, and it is also his 50th WRC outing.
''It's going to be a special weekend for John so it would be nice if we can give him a wee present and have a good result,'' Paddon said.
Kennard, who has been Paddon's co-driver since 2005, has had 42 of his WRC starts alongside the Geraldine driver.
He is proud to have played a key role in helping Paddon achieve the success he has had to date - particularly this year's second place at Rally Sardinia with Hyundai Motorsport.
''As long as Hayden's happy with what we're doing, I'll carry on,'' Kennard (56) said.
''I still love it. I love being competitive at this level and it doesn't matter when it happens, it's not going to be easy to retire.
''It's a lifestyle you get used to - living life in approximately three-week chunks around each WRC event. I also try and get to as many tests with the team as I can. I can base myself at our house in Finland, so there's a lot of time away from New Zealand.''
Rally Finland is almost like a home event for Kennard, given he spends so much time there with his Finnish wife, Satu Lappalainen.
''The character of the stages reminds me of some key roads in New Zealand, like Kuri Bush in Otago. It will be special to mark my 50th WRC event here.''
Paddon paid credit to Kennard and the help he had provided over the years.
''Thirty years is a long time to be involved in the sport and to have your 50th start on the same event is a big milestone,'' Paddon said.
The successful duo are determined to keep doing what they have been doing in recent WRC events.
''We'll go in with the same approach ...
to try to be consistent and try to be fast,'' Paddon said.
''It's a rally we're familiar with, this being our sixth time there, but because it is so fast, the gaps are a lot closer and you've got to fight pretty hard for every 10th of a second.''
Paddon said the New Zealanders had a good base of pace notes from previous years.
There are some new stages, but in general, the stages are fairly familiar to him and Kennard.
''It's the first time this year that we're going into a rally where we're actually familiar with a good proportion of the stages.
''Yes, that's the same for everyone else as well, but hopefully it helps us to be more comfortable and therefore competitive.''
A new twist from organisers will feature competitors tackling tomorrow's stages, which total almost half of the rally distance, without servicing.
Sunday features a repeated loop of four stages with a mid-leg service, and Monday's decisive day features just one stage run twice.
The 20 stages cover 320 competitive kilometres.
