The Paraguay Rally, held for only the second time, proved successful for Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT2’s Finnish pairing Sami Pajari – Marko Salminen. Following their victories in Estonia and Finland, the duo claimed their third consecutive win in Paraguay. In doing so, they also made history, as nobody had previously managed to follow up their maiden victory with two more wins in a row. Their success has also significantly improved their position in the championship standings, with the pair now sitting second, just 20 points behind championship leaders Elfyn Evans – Scott Martin of Toyota.
Already on the opening stage on Friday, it became clear that this was not going to be an easy rally, with plenty of drama affecting many crews. Takamoto Katsuta rolled his car and was subsequently forced to retire. Thierry Neuville damaged the left rear corner of his car and retired after the stage. Sebastien Ogier also ran into trouble when he suffered a puncture to his left rear tyre. Pajari and Salminen also encountered a problem, although its exact cause was not immediately clear.
“Something is wrong, we need to investigate it on the road section,” Pajari reported at the end of the stage.
Ogier’s problems continued on the second stage, where he hit a bank, damaging the car’s left front tyre and suspension. With the help of a brief roadside repair, he was nevertheless able to continue. The Finnish crew’s time was slower than on the opening stage.
“We have a problem, there’s no power,” Pajari reported.
Next it was rally leader Oliver Solberg who encountered trouble. His car had to be push-started on the road section. That was only the beginning, however, as he overshot a junction on the stage and the car stalled. Once again, a push was needed and a considerable amount of time was lost. To make matters worse, his right rear tyre later suffered a puncture and he had to stop to change it. Adrien Fourmaux, Josh McErlean, Jon Armstrong, Elfyn Evans and Pajari also suffered punctures of varying severity. The repairs made to Ogier’s car on the previous stage did not hold, and he was eventually forced to retire.
“It’s quite an interesting rally. There is still a small issue and we’re not going flat-out. We had a coolant leak earlier and managed to patch it up,” Pajari explained.
Hyundai’s guest pairing Hayden Paddon – John Kennard now led the rally, while Pajari and Salminen were fourth, just over half a minute behind as the crews reached midday service after four stages.
The opening stage of the afternoon loop passed without any major drama. On the very next stage, however, the rally lead changed hands again as Evans moved into first place by 0.5 seconds after Paddon suffered a puncture on his front right tyre. Pajari moved up to third, just 8.9 seconds off the lead.
The next stage was once again the 34-kilometre Yerbateras, which had already produced plenty of drama during the third stage of the morning. This time Evans ran into trouble as his right rear tyre came apart. Adrien Fourmaux suffered two punctures at the rear, while Hayden Paddon picked up a puncture on his left rear tyre. Ford drivers Armstrong and McErlean also stopped to change tyres. Pajari set the fastest time and moved into the rally lead. The short final stage of the day did not change the situation, leaving Pajari with an 11.9-second advantage over Paddon.
“It’s been a crazy day with many stories to tell for us and for everybody else. Our day didn’t start great as we got a water leak on the first stage, but thankfully we could make a fix to get through the morning and get back to service. After that, the car was working to its full potential and we could enjoy it as much as possible, but today was still more about survival than we expected. It’s nice to be in the lead but I think on this rally it’s not meaning so much; with the weather forecast, the most demanding days might still be to come.”
Saturday morning revealed the damage caused by a storm that had swept through the service park overnight. Tents had been blown over or damaged, and signs of the storm were visible over a wide area. The rain and storm did not fully reach the stages, however, although rain was expected to arrive at some point during the day.
The four morning stages passed without any major drama. Drivers generally complained about the slippery conditions, while there were a few spins and cars running wide at junctions. Perhaps the most spectacular moment came from Pajari and Salminen, when their car ran wide in a fast left-hand corner towards the end of the third stage, lifting the driver’s front wheel slightly off the ground. The rear wing was also damaged by a branch in the bushes, although Pajari only discovered this at the end of the stage after recording the second-fastest time.
“Hopefully it’s not too badly damaged, I didn’t notice anything while driving. We’ll have a look at it shortly,” the driver commented.
One more stage was run before midday service, and the missing upper section of the rear wing clearly had an effect, with Pajari setting only the ninth-fastest time. Overall, however, the situation remained firmly under control, with a 22.8-second lead over Paddon.
The car was restored to full fighting condition during service, but this time a different driving error occurred as Pajari overshot a junction slightly.
“Cheers to my engineer, who told me I could brake later for that junction. I tried,” Pajari joked with a smile.
Overall, the afternoon went according to plan for Pajari through to the evening. The rain that had been feared beforehand stayed away, and there was generally less drama than had become customary during the rally. The final stage of the day, a spectator stage near the riverfront in the rally’s host city of Encarnación, began to become increasingly slippery as darkness fell and drizzle arrived. It did not affect the standings, however, and Pajari ended the day with a 24.1-second lead over Paddon.
Rain was again expected for Sunday, but remarkably it stayed away once more. Pajari’s strategy for Sunday became clear immediately on the opening stage, where he set the ninth-fastest time, 14.1 seconds slower than Ogier’s fastest time. Paddon, running second overall, was not much faster, nor was Evans, who started Sunday in third and subsequently dropped behind Fourmaux into fourth overall. Pajari’s pace was closer to the front on the following two stages, but Katsuta, who was still holding the final Sunday points position, remained 7.6 seconds ahead on the Sunday classification, with Evans also in between.
The fourth stage of the day proved disastrous for Katsuta, as his car lifted onto two wheels in a fast right-hander before crashing heavily into an electricity pole. Thankfully, the crew escaped with only minor injuries, and the stage was cancelled for the remaining crews.
The Power Stage produced little change to the overall standings, and the Finnish pairing secured their third consecutive victory, beating Hayden Paddon’s crew by 25.8 seconds.
“I’m really happy and it’s a very proud moment; to realise that we’ve done something that nobody ever has before is really special. A big thank you to the team once again. It was not an easy rally for the drivers or the team, so building such a reliable car is key to this success. This was a very different rally to Estonia and Finland; it was not about being flat-out all the time. We had to manage many different things and I tried to be clever with my driving. It was a really demanding rally but that just makes it even sweeter to be able to win. We’re also well in the fight for the championship. It’s still quite a few points to catch but I will just keep doing the best job that I can.”