Paddon chasing top-ten finish in Rally Australia

Paddon has dominated this year's PWRC, winning the three events he's competed on to date, and another victory here would be enough to clinch him the championship.

Despite the pressure of coming close to what would be the biggest victory of his career to date, the former Pirelli Star Driver said he will remain focused on showing more speed.

"I certainly keep being reminded about the championship..." said Paddon, "but I am treating it like any other rally. It would be incredible to win the title down here, being so close to home, but we've got the rally to do first.

"I need to show more speed on these rallies. Okay, we have won three rallies so far this year, but it's all been a bit comfortable and a bit easy. The aim here is to try and get up into the top 10 overall, we want to try and score some driver points."

Paddon added that local drivers Brendan Reeves and Nathan Quinn would pose a strong challenge to his 100 per cent PWRC record.

"For sure, those guys are going to be quick," said Paddon. "Brendan's a very fast driver and Nathan's from around here, so he's going to know the roads. But I can only worry about myself. I know I've got a good car and I know I've got the pace to run at the front."

For logistical reasons, Paddon has reverted to his own Subaru for this event as opposed to the Symtech car he runs for the rest of the PWRC season.