The Cromwell ace and co-driver John Kennard finished third in the Royal Rally of Scandinavia at the weekend.
It means both are tied for the ERC lead in their respective championships.
While Paddon achieved his goal of a podium in the BRC Racing Hyundai i20 Rally2 at the Swedish rally, he knew he could have been standing at least one place higher.
The New Zealanders won three special stages on the super fast Swedish gravel roads and held a close second to eventual rally winner Oliver Solberg, but they had to deal with a puncture on the final stage that dropped them to third overall.
"Obviously it’s good to be back on the podium", Paddon said.
"But it’s a missed opportunity to not get bonus points on the power stage.
"Nevertheless, we’re pleased to be back in the lead of the championship, first-equal with Mathieu Franceschi.
"It feels like a pretty challenging start to the year, but we’ve certainly got plenty of good things to build on when we head to the next ERC round in Estonia in July."
During recce and qualifying earlier in the week, Paddon described the stages as looking "amazing".
The rally started with a 2.23km super special stage in Karlstad, Paddon winning by 0.3sec from Mads Ostberg.
Eight stages on the first full day offered lots of time in fifth gear and speeds of over 140kmh, but slightly rougher conditions in the afternoon, which Paddon said did not suit the Hyundai as well as the morning’s smoother roads.
He finished the day in second, just 3.3sec behind Solberg.
Eight more stages the next day brought more intensive pressure from other frontrunners, and Paddon tried hard to counter Solberg’s pace.
He kept his focus on consolidating second place with the goal of adding some power stage points in the final stage, which unfortunately did not come to fruition due to the puncture.
"While it could have been better, it also could have been worse and there are still plenty of positives from the weekend and some progress with the car", Paddon said.
He is immediately on his way back to New Zealand for the revived Southern Lights Rally around Invercargill this weekend.
