{"id":4014,"date":"2026-08-29T01:39:24","date_gmt":"2026-08-29T01:39:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.worldrally.eu\/?p=4014"},"modified":"2026-08-29T01:42:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-29T01:42:13","slug":"pajari-takes-control-after-dramatic-opening-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.worldrally.eu\/index.php\/2026\/08\/29\/pajari-takes-control-after-dramatic-opening-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Pajari Takes Control After Dramatic Opening Day"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sami Pajari survived a chaotic and punishing opening day to take control of Rally Paraguay, finishing Friday with an 11.9 second advantage over Hayden Paddon. The Toyota driver made the most of a day filled with punctures, mechanical problems and crashes, moving from fourth at the afternoon restart to the top of the leaderboard by the overnight halt.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The opening loop produced a constantly changing battle at the front. Hayden Paddon emerged as the surprise leader at midday after negotiating the demanding stages better than most of his Rally1 rivals, carrying a 23.9-second advantage into service. However, the afternoon brought another wave of tyre problems that completely reshaped the standings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adrien Fourmaux was among the quickest drivers when trouble stayed away, taking the fastest time on the second pass of Cambyreta before repeating the feat on Nueva Alborada. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paddon’s progress was interrupted by a front-right tyre delamination, allowing Elfyn Evans to briefly take control of the rally by just 0.5 seconds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lead changed again on the second run through Yerbatera, the longest test of the rally at 33.88 kilometres. Evans suffered a major right-rear tyre failure, eventually being forced to complete the stage with the tyre destroyed and the Toyota running on the rim. Pajari, by contrast, negotiated the stage without major drama and set the fastest time, edging team-mate Oliver Solberg by just one tenth of a second.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Paddon \/\/ Photo by Goretti Marrero<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Paddon also reached the finish with tyre damage, but the Hyundai driver lost 20.8 seconds to Pajari and slipped behind the Finn. Despite the problems, he remained second overall and only 11.9 seconds separated the pair at the end of the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Pajari, taking the overnight lead was particularly impressive given the difficulties he had already encountered earlier in the day. A water leak and tyre delamination had threatened to derail his rally during the morning, but the 24-year-old continued to avoid the major losses that affected almost every other Rally1 contender.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The short Aut\u00f3dromo Alfredo Scheid super special brought Friday to a close, with Pajari surrendering just half a second to Paddon. That was enough to secure the rally lead and put the Finn in an excellent position as he looks for a third consecutive WRC victory following his recent successes in Estonia and Finland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paddon heads into Saturday just 11.9 seconds behind and has already demonstrated that he has the pace to fight for victory. His second place is particularly impressive given that this is his first top-level WRC gravel appearance since 2018. The Hyundai driver even led the rally after the morning loop before tyre trouble began to eat into his advantage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elfyn Evans completed the top three, although his 56.3 second deficit to Pajari reflects the scale of the problems he encountered. After briefly taking the lead on SS6, the championship leader’s second tyre failure on Yerbatera proved costly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fourmaux finished fourth and was arguably the fastest driver on pure pace throughout Friday. The Frenchman claimed four of the day’s eight stage victories, but tyre problems prevented him from converting that speed into a stronger overall position. He lost almost 90 seconds changing a tyre on the morning run of Yerbatera before completing the afternoon pass with both rear tyres deflated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Josh McErlean rounded out the top five after another difficult day for M-Sport. The Irishman had been second at midday and remained within 9.8 seconds of the lead after SS6, but a wheel change on Yerbatera cost him more than two minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Local hero Diego Dom\u00ednguez delivered one of the day’s standout performances to finish sixth overall while leading WRC2. Gus Greensmith sits seventh, 39.4 seconds behind the Paraguayan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dom\u00ednguez\/\/ Photo by Goretti Marrero <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Oliver Solberg endured a frustrating afternoon and ended Friday eighth overall. His problems began on the first run through Yerbatera when his Toyota’s engine stalled under braking and refused to restart. Spectators helped push the car back into action, but a subsequent puncture added further time to his deficit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The opening stage had already demonstrated how unforgiving Rally Paraguay could be. Takamoto Katsuta rolled just two kilometres into Cambyreta, while Thierry Neuville retired after damaging the left-rear suspension of his Hyundai on the same test. S\u00e9bastien Ogier’s day ended on SS3 when a temporary suspension repair failed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WRC2 also suffered significant casualties. Championship leader Robert Virves went off at the same location as Katsuta during the opening stage, effectively ending his hopes of a fifth consecutive WRC2 victory despite continuing later in the day. Alejandro Cach\u00f3n’s rally also took a major hit when he rolled his Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 on SS1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saturday could bring another dramatic change to the standings, with heavy rain forecast for the second leg. The remaining crews face nine stages covering 137.34 kilometres, including the new Bella Vista Sur test and an evening super special on the Encarnaci\u00f3n Costanera. After such a dramatic opening day, Rally Paraguay is already living up to its reputation for unpredictability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Results after Friday<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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eWRC results <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sami Pajari survived a chaotic and punishing opening day to take control of Rally Paraguay, finishing Friday with an 11.9 second advantage over Hayden Paddon. The Toyota driver made the most of a day filled with punctures, mechanical problems and crashes, moving from fourth at the afternoon restart to the top of the leaderboard by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":4019,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4014","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wrc"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t