"Hopefully we'll be able to get a decent result this weekend. We're back on the gravel for this rally, which I enjoy. I like the feeling of the car moving around underneath me.
"The more time I spend in the car the better it gets. We now have a good setup that allows me to push, and the car is easy to drive."
Since Rally Australia in September, Paddon and Kennard have been going their own way in setting up their car.
Until September, they were following teammates Thierry Neuville and Dani Sordo's formula. Now they are confident enough to play around with their own differentials, suspension settings and setups.
"I tend to drive the car straighter than our teammates," said Paddon. "I am asking the car to do different things. However, we are restricted by the regulations on the amount of testing we can do compared to the team's number one and two drivers so this means it's a slow process."
This will be the fifth time the pair have contested the Wales Rally. but Kennard is still having to work hard on his course notes.
"Last time we did the event, in 2012, it was based further south," he said.
"Now it is more in the north where we don't have as much experience on those stages.
"About 50 per cent of the stages, if not more, are different or new. Of the 18 stages we've got complete notes for about two so we've been doing a fair amount of writing."
Wales in November is going to be wet and a bit miserable. The area has had a lot of rain over the past few weeks so the roads will be waterlogged. This won't faze Paddon - a wet Welsh forestry road is pretty much the same as a wet Berwick forestry road during Rally Otago.
"It's going to get interesting as we haven't done any events in the rain this year," he said.
"It's going to be wet and slippery so road position is going to be important, especially when there are the maximum 160 cars in the field.
"That's going to make second-stage passes on rutted roads difficult. But I enjoy the roads and they are very fast - probably as fast as Finland - and they suit me really well," said Paddon.
The pair are looking forward to stringing it together over the entire weekend and are hoping to finish in the top five.
"I'll definitely be in the WRC next year so that won't be playing on my mind," Paddon said. "We'll be able to sort out the small details after this weekend when we get a bit of time. We just have to sort dates and the finer nuts and bolts."
Today's action starts near the Deeside service park, and most of the 113.74km will be familiar to 2013 competitors (Paddon missed the event). But it is being run in the opposite direction and about 30km will be driven in the evening dark. A short Sunday leg of 46.12km will conclude the 2014 WRC season.
