Paraguay Rally: After a chaotic start, Hyundai driver Paddon leads

Not for the faint-hearted: during the first half of the opening stage of the eleventh World Championship round, numerous dramatic incidents unfolded almost every minute. The Toyota drivers were particularly affected.

After four of the eight special stages on Friday, New Zealander Haydon Paddon is surprisingly in the lead. Also astonishing is Josh McErlean’s second place overall in the M-Sport Ford, 23.9 seconds behind the Hyundai part-time programme driver. In third and fourth place are the two Toyota drivers, Elfyn Evans and Sami Pajari, trailing by 26.7 and 33.2 seconds respectively.

Weltmeister Sebastien Ogier mit Schwierigkeiten

Foto: Red Bull

Toyota driver Katsuta was the first to be struck by bad luck. As early as the first special stage, the Japanese driver rolled his car in a fast corner. Initially, he was able to continue, but had to end the day early due to damage to the cooling system.

Reigning world champion Sébastien Ogier also had a run of bad luck right from SS1. A puncture cost him 24.4 seconds. The Frenchman clipped an embankment on the second special stage, damaging the left-front suspension in the process. A subsequent tyre change cost him a further five minutes. The makeshift repair did not last long, and Ogier eventually came to a complete standstill on SS3.

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“I made a mistake and hit the roadside barrier. That’s when the suspension broke,” Ogier growled.

Former world champion Thierry Neuville also suffered bad luck on the very first special stage. He damaged a tyre on a long jump and had to cover more than half the distance with just three intact tyres. The suspension was damaged so badly that he was forced to retire from the rally.

Both Neuville and Ogier are expected to be able to resume the rally on Saturday. However, as the roll cage was also damaged in the Katsuata incident, it is unlikely he will be able to continue.

Erst vorne, dann Pech: Oliver Solberg

Foto: Red Bull

Oliver Solberg (Toyota) appeared to benefit from his rivals’ problems. The Swede won the first special stage and was still in the lead after SS2. Problems then arose on the 34.08-kilometre Yerbateras special stage.

Solberg missed a turn, causing the engine to cut out. Spectators helped him get going again. Later, a puncture slowed him down. In total, the Monte Carlo Rally winner lost almost four minutes.

“The engine cut out whilst I was braking, which is why I drove straight on. Then I had a puncture as well,” said a frustrated Solberg.

Adrien Fourmaux (Hyundai) was also hit by a puncture, as was Elfyn Evans. The Welshman had to struggle through the second half of the Yerbateras special stage with a damaged tyre. Despite these problems, the World Championship leader benefited from today’s chaos and moved back up to third place after four stages.

Das Teilnehmerfeld der Rallye Paraguay 2026

Foto: Red Bull

Pajari also struggled with difficulties. His Toyota suffered from a loss of power and a water leak. Nevertheless, the youngster remains in fourth place. Irishman Jon Armstrong (Ford) is sixth, ahead of Hyundai driver Fourmaux.

There were also early retirements in the WRC2 category. Skoda driver Robert Virves, who had won all four of his races this season so far, crashed on the very first special stage at the same spot as Katsuda and was forced to retire. A rollover on SS1 also brought the rally to an end for Alejandro Cachon (Toyota).

Local Rally2 driver Diego Domínguez is already fifth in the overall standings in his Toyota GR Yaris Rally2. Gus Greensmith, Marco Bulacia and Augusta Bestard (all Toyota) occupy the remaining places in the top ten.