It was a second consecutive top-four finish for Paddon and co-driver John Kennard in the World Rally Championship.
The pair went into yesterday's short leg - two runs of the same 14.6km stage - with a strong hold on fifth place, seeking to emulate their memorable second placing in Sardinia last month.
Paddon delivered yet another top-five stage time and, combined with Thierry Neuville's slower time, had a 31.1sec buffer over his Hyundai team-mate going into the repeated run for the final stage.
A seventh-fastest time on the final stage was all Paddon and Kennard needed to secure fifth place.
But then came the news that fourth-placed Jari-Matti Latvala, in his intense battle with Ott Tanak for third, had hit a tree on the stage and damaged his radiator.
Latvala worked hard to repair his car sufficiently to make it to the finish, but a 40sec penalty for checking in late worked in Paddon's favour, elevating the New Zealander to fourth.
''To come away with a top-five result is very pleasing to follow on from what we did in Sardinia,'' Paddon said.
''It wasn't the most straightforward rally in terms of finding a rhythm and confidence within the car on the fast gravel but we have persevered and can be satisfied.
''Obviously, there's always room for improvement and things we can do to go faster, but considering the new routes on this rally things have gone well.
''There are still things we need to keep working on and keep improving, but we've made good steps in the last 12 months.''
Paddon has moved from ninth place to eighth on the WRC drivers' championship points table.
He and Kennard were the leading Hyundai crew all weekend as the team registered a four-car finish.
Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul (Belgium) held on to finish sixth, whileSpanish duo Dani Sordo and Marc Martí finished comfortably inside the top 10 after a battling weekend, and Kevin Abbring and Sebastian Marshall enjoyed a trouble-free end to their rally.
World champion Sebastien Ogier won the rally for a second straight year to take his winning tally for the season to five out of seven rounds.
The Frenchman, who beat Volkswagen team-mate Andreas Mikkelsen by 11.9sec, now has a 78-point lead in the championship with six rounds remaining.
The next WRC event is Rally Finland, one of Paddon's favourites and one which will mark two significant milestones for co-driver Kennard.
It will be the 30th anniversary of Kennard's first WRC co-drive, and his 50th WRC event.
''It's a rally that really suits us a lot more,'' Paddon said.
''I think we can take some good information from this weekend to continue improving and to prepare for Finland where more fast routes await us.''
