Paddon was dominating the event in a brand new Ford Escort RS1800 and held a one minute and 20 second lead after eight special stages, but his victory hopes were dashed on the very next test.
He punctured a right rear tyre, and when the damaged tyre couldn't be removed mid-stage, the Geraldine driver had to complete the stage on the flat, and he dropped over seven minutes.
"We stopped to change the puncture, but we didn't have the necessary tools onboard to do so, so instead crawled out the remaining 10km, costing us a massive seven minutes," Paddon said.
"Nevertheless we are still up beat and enjoying every minute of driving this awesome car. Really looking forward to the stages tomorrow, and in particular Kuri Bush."
This gave multiple winner, Derek Ayson, the lead in his Nissan-powered Escort, and he held this to the end of the second day. He now leads Marcus van Klink in a Mazda RX7 by 19.1 seconds.
van Klink is a further one minute and nine seconds clear of Australian Geoff Portman in an Escort, followed by local driver Duncan McCrostie in his Nissan Bluebird turbo.
After brake problems on the first night, Welsh driver, Gwyndaf Evans, struggled with a mis-firing engine on his Ford Escort, but still held sixth place. But then an electrical problem sidelined the former British Champion, who missed two stages, before rejoining for the final super special stage around the streets of Dunedin.
Aussie Grant Walker is sixth in the second 'Grant Walker Parts' Escort after a strong start to the event, half a minute clear of Australian-based New Zealander, Mike Townshend in his Toyota Corolla AE86.
The ever-present Merv Hatcher has his Mitsubishi Starion in eighth, ahead of Dunedin's Mark Laughton in a V8-engined Hillman Avenger, and Miles McElwain (Toyota Corolla).
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Stadium Cars / Nichibo International Classic Rally of Otago
Results after Day 2
1. Derek Ayson / Greg Scott, Ford Escort, 1h29m17.2s
2. Marcus van Klink / David Neill, Mazda RX7, +19.1s
3. Geoff Portman / Ross Runnalls, Ford Escort RS1800, +1m28.1s
4. Duncan McCrostie / Andrew Graves, Nissan Bluebird, +3m25.5s
5. Hayden Paddon / John Kennard, Ford Escort RS1800, +5m27.3s
6. Grant Walker / Craig Thomas, Ford Escort RS1800, +6m20.2s
Photos by Peter Whitten
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