Toyota youngster Pajari leads after a chaotic day in Paraguay

With an 11.9-second lead over Paddon, Pajari finished the first day of competition in the eleventh round of the World Rally Championship this season, during which the lead changed hands no fewer than seven times.

Pajari, who is aiming for his third consecutive victory in the World Rally Championship following wins in Estonia and Finland, started the afternoon leg in fourth place overall.

Toyota-Pilot Sami Pajari führt in Paraguay

Foto: Red Bull

The 24-year-old Finn benefited from the fact that almost all Rally1 entrants were struggling with major tyre problems.

At the end of the eight special stages, Toyota driver Elfyn Evans finished third, 56.3 seconds behind. Adrien Fourmaux (Hyundai) rounded off the top four, although he too had to contend with a whole host of problems.

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Rallye Paraguay: Powerstage

FIA World Rally Championship

30.08.2026 - 19:00

Hyundai driver Paddon had surprisingly been in the lead at the halfway stage of the day, having come through the first loop better than most of his rivals. After the service break, however, the New Zealander’s lead of 23.9 seconds gradually dwindled.

Die Überraschung der Rallye Paraguay bisher: Hyundai-Pilot Hayden Paddon

Foto: Red Bull

His team-mate Fourmaux set the fastest time on the second run of the Cambyreta special stage, a feat the Frenchman repeated on the Nueva Alborada special stage. On the sixth special stage, Paddon suffered a slow puncture to his front right tyre. The resulting drop in pace was enough to temporarily put Elfyn Evans in the lead by a narrow margin of 0.5 seconds.

“I’ve no idea where the puncture came from – I didn’t hit any stones,” said Paddon, puzzled by his mishap.

However, World Championship leader Evans’s lead did not last long, as he also suffered a tyre problem on SS7. “The right-hand rear tyre came off after about 12 kilometres, damaging the bodywork in the process. The tyre pressure started to drop after about 20 kilometres,” sighed the Welshman.

Pajari completed the seventh special stage without incident, setting the fastest time. He was 0.1 seconds quicker than his Toyota team-mate Oliver Solberg.

Paddon reached the finish with a disintegrating left-rear tyre and lost 20.8 seconds to Pajari. Nevertheless, he managed to defend his second place.

Hyundai-Teilzeitfahrer Haydon Paddon am ersten Tag auf Platz zwei

Foto: XPB

The short Super Special Stage at the ‘Autodromo Alfredo Scheid’, which rounded off the day, was won by Adrien Fourmaux.

Given that Pajari had experienced a loss of power and a water leak in his Yaris earlier in the morning, it was a remarkable achievement to secure the day’s victory.

“Things went quite smoothly for me today,” said a delighted Pajari. “I think it was simply a matter of luck whether you got a puncture or not.”

Paddon’s second place in his first World Championship gravel outing since 2018 is remarkable. For the first time since the Rally of Portugal that same year, he led a World Championship round.

Reifenschaden: Der WM-Führende Elfyn Evans im Pech

Foto: Red Bull

“I think everyone had problems. So if we get through two special stages with punctures and are still within striking distance, we were both unlucky and lucky at the same time,” Paddon pointed out.

Evans is in third place ahead of Fourmaux, who was the fastest driver on Friday when no problems had yet arisen. The Frenchman won four of the day’s eight special stages, but lost nearly 90 seconds during a tyre change in the morning on the Yerbatera special stage. He completed the afternoon run with two flat rear tyres.

Josh McErlean rounds off the top five. The M-Sport Ford driver was in second place at midday and was just 9.8 seconds off the lead after SS6. However, he suffered a puncture on the Yerbatera special stage, losing more than two minutes in the process.

Local hero Diego Domínguez put in an impressive performance and lies sixth overall in his Toyota Rally2. He finished 39.4 seconds ahead of his team-mate Gus Greensmith, who is in seventh place and thus leads the WRC2 category.

WM-Leader Elfyn Evans auf Platz drei

Foto: Red Bull

Solberg is in eighth place, 3 minutes 33.3 seconds behind the leader. After a promising start, he lost a lot of time on the first Yerbatera special stage when his engine cut out following a braking manoeuvre, and later due to a puncture.

There had already been retirements early in the day. Takamoto Katsuta (Toyota) rolled his car just two kilometres into the opening special stage. Former world champion Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) retired after damaging his left rear suspension on the same special stage. For reigning world champion Sébastien Ogier, too, the day was over early after SS3, when the suspension failed following a temporary repair after he went off the road.

Heavy rain is forecast for Saturday’s leg, which could trigger further chaos. The programme features a further nine special stages covering a total of 137.34 kilometres.