Toyota’s Sami Pajari moved closer to a third consecutive World Rally Championship victory in Paraguay, while a charging Adrien Fourmaux applied pressure on Elfyn Evans in the fight for the podium. Pajari increased his overnight lead to 24.1 seconds over Hyundai’s Hayden Paddon.
Heavy rain was forecast for the stages, but storm-force winds and a torrential deluge struck the service park, causing damage to several team tents. Cooler temperatures lowered the risk of tyre delaminations and punctures that plagued Friday, though constantly changing grip conditions remained a significant challenge.
Pajari encountered two scares during the day’s nine stages. In stage 11, the Finn ran wide into a ditch, fortunately only damaging his rear wing. He entered midday service with a 22.8-second lead. An overshoot on the Bella Vista stage produced another moment, but Pajari still outpaced Paddon and maintained composure as tyre management grew increasingly critical.
“The afternoon was quite exciting even though the conditions were more straightforward, but we had some small difficulties here and there. Conditions are changing a lot, so you have to react quickly,” said Pajari.
“It is cool, and I need to be happy about leading, but I still see many things that can go wrong. In Finland or Estonia, a 25-second lead is solid, but here, one stage with bad conditions and you can easily make a small mistake.”
Paddon struggled to find the rhythm that put him in the lead on Friday, focusing instead on preserving tyres and avoiding the trouble that defined the opening leg.
Hayden Paddon, John Kennard, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1
Photo by: Hyundai Motorsport
Paddon’s team-mate Fourmaux delivered the drive of the day. After starting 55.0 seconds behind third-placed Evans, the Frenchman won five stages and closed the gap, ending Saturday just 3.3 seconds adrift of Evans, who felt he had been too conservative.
“I’m very proud, and I have to accept I’m fighting with the leader of the championship. It was quite nice to take, I think, 49 seconds, and I only had one mistake—a small overshoot in stage 16,” said Fourmaux.
“Certainly, the car and me, we had a very good car for these conditions, and the setup really helped me. We changed something last night in anticipation of the rain, but it actually suited me very well on the dry, so I kept it for the afternoon.”
“P3 or even more, let’s see what we can do tomorrow.”
Evans admitted he lacked the pace to match Fourmaux.
“Adrien had a very strong day, and we’ve been a bit too conservative. I wasn’t able to find the speed as easily. It’s going to make it interesting for tomorrow,” said Evans.
Toyota’s Oliver Solberg climbed to fifth, while M-Sport-Ford’s Josh McErlean slid wide and hit advertising boards on the final stage, leaving the pair separated by only 6.3 seconds overnight.
Adrien Fourmaux, Alexandre Coria, Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1
Photo by: McKlein Photography / LAT Images via Getty Images
Diego Dominguez, Rogelio Peñate, Toyota Gr Yaris Rally2
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
Home hero Diego Domínguez held seventh overall and leads WRC2, despite spending part of the morning driving without his glasses after accidentally leaving them on his car’s roof. His wife sourced a replacement from an optician during midday service.
M-Sport-Ford’s Jon Armstrong finished the day in eighth, with WRC2 rivals Gus Greensmith and Fau Zaldivar completing the top 10.
