Sami Pajari and co-driver Marko Salminen secured sixth place at the inaugural Rally Paraguay, the newest addition to the FIA World Rally Championship calendar. Driving for Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT2, the Finnish pairing began strongly, only for an untimely puncture to transform a promising opening day into a battle for the lower points.
For both drivers and teams, Paraguay represented uncharted territory. Save for a handful of local competitors, few had ever experienced the region’s conditions. Surprises were inevitable. The rally was based in Encarnación, a riverside city of roughly 100,000 inhabitants in the country’s south-east. On the opposite bank of the Paraná River lay Posadas, belonging to Argentina, a mere shout’s distance across the water.
Friday’s curtain-raiser comprised eight special stages and 140 competitive kilometres. Pajari’s Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 quickly demonstrated its pace. He opened with the third-fastest time, followed by fifth on stage two, and returned to the podium places on the Autodromo spectator test. By the first service halt he was lying third overall, just 18 seconds adrift of leader Adrien Fourmaux.
“The opening stage was tricky – it could have gone better. The bumps hit the suspension hard in places,” reflected Pajari. “On stage two I felt slow, just trying to optimise the exits for the long straights. Then on stage three we had a lucky moment on unexpectedly slippery ground, which unsettled our rhythm. Still, a solid morning despite that mistake.”
Afternoon running, however, brought drama. On the second pass of the Yerbatera stage both Fourmaux and Pajari suffered punctures. Pajari was forced to stop and change a tyre mid-stage, haemorrhaging more than two minutes. Any hope of a podium was gone, his starting position for Saturday also compromised. Teammate Takamoto Katsuta fared even worse, retiring with damage.
Saturday’s itinerary featured seven stages over 113 kilometres. Pajari started eighth overall but soon gained a place when Josh McErlean retired with an oil leak. Grégoire Munster also faltered, leaving Pajari second on the road and tasked with sweeping loose gravel. By midday service he was seventh.
“Every kilometre behind the wheel is more experience,” said Pajari. “But once Munster dropped out, running second on the road was very tough – you try to follow Katsuta’s lines, but step even slightly off and it’s as if you’re opening the road yourself. Hard to compare times with those behind.”
The afternoon brought fresh intrigue as reigning world champion Kalle Rovanperä suffered a puncture, falling in front of Pajari in the classification.
By Sunday, the heavens had opened. Heavy showers turned the clay-based stages treacherously slick. Fourmaux’s hopes of victory evaporated when he ran wide and stalled, leaving Sébastien Ogier to control proceedings. Further drama unfolded at Bella Vista 2, where Ott Tänak sustained a puncture and Fourmaux later faced powertrain issues. In a chaotic finale, Ogier clung to the win, but Fourmaux tumbled from second to fifth.
Amid the turmoil, Pajari capitalised, climbing to sixth at the finish – a respectable result on debut in Paraguay’s unique conditions.
“It’s always fascinating to tackle a brand-new rally,” he said at the finish. “Early on we showed podium pace before the problems came. After that it was about gathering experience. We’ll go into the next events better prepared.”
The WRC circus has little time to draw breath: in less than a fortnight, Rally Chile will host round eleven of the season.