Toyota’s Sami Pajari heads into the closing leg of Rally del Paraguay with a 24.1-second advantage over Hyundai’s Hayden Paddon. Saturday’s nine stages stayed largely dry despite forecasts of heavy rain, turning tyre management into the deciding factor. Elfyn Evans holds third and remains the championship leader, with five stages and 66.35 competitive kilometres left on Sunday.

Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team’s Sami Pajari has strengthened his position at the front of Rally del Paraguay, ending Saturday 24.1 seconds clear of Hyundai’s Hayden Paddon with one day of running to go. A win would give the Finn a third consecutive victory after Estonia and Finland.

A wet forecast that never arrived on the stages

Expecting difficult weather across the closing two days, the team fitted snorkels to its five GR Yaris Rally1 cars during Friday evening service — equipment normally reserved for Safari Rally Kenya — as a precaution against deep water crossings. Heavy rain and strong winds did reach the service park in the early hours of Saturday, but the day’s nine stages stayed mostly dry. That left tyre management on the abrasive surface as the main concern once again.

Pajari began the day 11.9 seconds ahead of Paddon and pushed that out to 26 seconds across the opening three stages. He lost part of his rear wing after running wide on SS11, reaching midday service with 22.8s in hand, then managed the afternoon loop to close the day 24.1s to the good.

“We can be happy with today. The conditions were still quite tricky, even if they were a lot more straightforward than the heavy rain we were expecting,” Pajari said. “Otherwise the car was quick and reliable and we were able to extend our lead over the day. Like in Estonia and Finland, I’m not getting too excited yet because a lot can still happen and the weather could be hard to predict again.”

Evans under pressure for the final podium place

Championship leader Elfyn Evans stays third overall after a clean run, but his buffer over Adrien Fourmaux’s Hyundai has shrunk to 3.3 seconds. Evans opened the day with a fastest time before backing off when large rocks appeared on the second stage, and said the choice of hard tyres for the afternoon was driven by wear concerns carried over from Friday.

Oliver Solberg continued recovering from Friday’s lost time and climbed to fifth overall on the closing Encarnación super special. Sébastien Ogier and Takamoto Katsuta both rejoined after their cars were repaired following Friday’s damage; Ogier took stage wins on both runs through Trinidad, while Katsuta was quickest on the Encarnación Costanera super special. Both sit well outside the top ten as a result of their earlier problems.

Deputy Team Principal Juha Kankkunen said the crews had all coped well with the conditions but was careful not to call the result. “Let’s see if the rain now comes for tomorrow, because we know that can make things very challenging, so nothing is decided yet,” he said.

Domínguez leads WRC2 on home roads

In the WRC2 category, Paraguayan driver Diego Domínguez heads the field on home soil, 24.3 seconds ahead of fellow GR Yaris Rally2 driver Gus Greensmith. Yuki Yamamoto, competing under the TGR WRC Challenge Program, restarted after Friday’s technical issue and is gathering experience on his first outing in Paraguay.

What happens on Sunday

Five stages covering 66.35 competitive kilometres decide the rally. The day opens and closes with the new Encarnación stage on the edge of the host city, the second pass counting as the Power Stage and carrying bonus championship points. With rain still a possibility, the gaps at the front are not as secure as they look.

Facts: end of day two (Saturday)

  • 1. Sami Pajari / Marko Salminen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) — 2h48m29.7s
  • 2. Hayden Paddon / John Kennard (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) — +24.1s
  • 3. Elfyn Evans / Scott Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) — +56.3s
  • 4. Adrien Fourmaux / Alexandre Coria (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) — +59.6s
  • 5. Oliver Solberg / Elliott Edmondson (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) — +3m25.7s
  • 6. Josh McErlean / Eoin Treacy (Ford Puma Rally1) — +3m32.0s
  • 7. Diego Domínguez / Rogelio Peñate (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) — +6m20.4s
  • 8. Jon Armstrong / Shane Byrne (Ford Puma Rally1) — +6m40.0s
  • 9. Gus Greensmith / Jonas Andersson (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) — +6m44.7s
  • 10. Fau Zaldivar / Marcelo Der Ohannesian (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) — +7m33.6s
  • 39. Sébastien Ogier / Vincent Landais (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) — +1h04m10.3s
  • 45. Takamoto Katsuta / Aaron Johnston (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) — +1h19m37.5s

Standings as of 20:00 on Saturday. The rally concludes on Sunday in Encarnación.

Source: newsroom.toyota.eu