The day began on schedule, with the cars leaving the service park at 8.20 am before setting off on the first run to Cambyretá at 9.00 am. The first driver to crash out of the day was Takamoto Katsuta, who rolled his Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 within the first few kilometres, but there were still more surprises to come
Alejandro Cachón, competing in WRC2, was the next driver to retire following a rollover that, whilst causing no harm to the crew, was spectacular enough to bring the Spanish MSI driver’s day to an end. Paraguay’s Arturo Ortiz also saw his unwanted debut in the Lancia Ypsilon HF Rally4 come to an end following a crash.
The list of drivers experiencing problems right from the start continued with Thierry Neuville, who was struggling with a broken rear suspension and faulty brakes on his Hyundai i20 N Rally1, and who withdrew from the competition on the liaison section between SS1 and SS2. Sébastien Ogier faced a similar problem, to the extent that he was overtaken on SS2 by Adrien Fourmaux.
SS3 saw the first change in the lead, as Oliver Solberg – who had been leading from the start – went off the road and consequently lost time, handing the lead to Hayden Paddon until the end of the loop. This meant that the New Zealander, competing in his first gravel rally in a WRC event for years, was the leader after the first half, even though his team-mate, Adrien Fourmaux, set the fastest time on the Autódromo stage.
The second run continued to take its toll on the tyres chosen by the drivers. Fourmaux was gaining confidence and began to dominate the second runs at Cambyretá and Nueva Alborada, and it was on this special stage that Paddon’s front-right tyre gave out, handing the current championship leader the top spot in the standings by just half a second.
Adding to the drama of the stage, Evans reached the finish of Yerbateras 2 with the rear right tyre completely torn off his Toyota GR Yaris Rally1, whilst his team-mate Sami Pajari took the lead as Paddon also lost time on the penultimate timed stage of the day. Pajari won that special stage, whilst Fourmaux took second place on the Autódromo circuit; as a result, the championship runner-up arrived at the service park as the leader after a difficult first leg.
Top 5 in the overall standings and the RC1 class:
- Sami PAJARI / Marko SALMINEN – Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
- Hayden PADDON / John KENNARD – Hyundai i20 N Rally1
- Elfyn EVANS / Scott MARTIN – Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
- Adrien FOURMAUX / Alexandre CORIA – Hyundai i20 N Rally1
- Joshua MCERLEAN / Eoin TRACY – Ford Puma Rally1
Reaching for the sky, and on home soil. Diego Domínguez Bejarano, in front of his home crowd, finished Friday as the top driver in the Rally2 category, on a day when winning just two special stages on the first loop was enough to put him in the lead and see him hold on to first place throughout the first leg. Following his early runs at Nueva Alborada and Yerbateras, he added a second run at the Autódromo in Capitán Miranda, thus rounding off the day to the cheers of the fans both on the stages and on arrival at the service park.
Diego leads the standings in both WRC2 and WRC2 Challenger. In the main WRC2 support championship, he is followed by Gus Greensmith, then Marco Bulacia, whilst in the Challenger category he finished ahead – once again – of Marco Bulacia and Romet Jürgenson (second and third respectively). Fau Zaldívar and Alejandro Galanti, also Paraguayan drivers, feature in the top five of the Rally2 support championships.
WRC2 Top 5
- Diego DOMÍNGUEZ JR. / Rogelio PEÑATE – Toyota GR Yaris Rally2
- Gus GREENSMITH / Jonas ANDERSSON – Toyota GR Yaris Rally2
- Marco BULACIA / José MURADO – Toyota GR Yaris Rally2
- Romet JÜRGENSON / Slim OJA – Ford Fiesta Rally2 Mk2
- Fau ZALDÍVAR / Marcelo DER OHANNESIAN – Škoda Fabia RS Rally2
WRC2 Challenger Top 5
- Diego DOMÍNGUEZ JR. / Rogelio PEÑATE – Toyota GR Yaris Rally2
- Marco BULACIA / José MURADO – Toyota GR Yaris Rally2
- Romet JÜRGENSON / Slim OJA – Ford Fiesta Rally2 Mk2
- Fau ZALDÍVAR / Marcelo DER OHANNESIAN – Škoda Fabia RS Rally2
- Alejandro GALANTI / Marcelo TOYOTOSHI – Toyota GR Yaris Rally2
From South America to the world: in WRC3, victory went to Bolivian Nataniel Bruun, who finished ahead of Frenchman Ghjuvanni Rossi and Indian Dean Mascarenhas. Peruvian André Martínez finished fifth in the championship for Rally3 cars
WRC3 Top 5
- Nataniel BRUUN / Mario DEL RIEGO – Ford Fiesta Rally3 Evo
- Ghjuvanni ROSSI / Kylian SARMEZAN – Ford Fiesta Rally3 Evo
- Dean MASCARENHAS / Gagan KARUMBALAH – Ford Fiesta Rally3 Evo
- Eric ROYÈRE / Maxime ANDERNACK – Ford Fiesta Rally3 Evo
- André MARTÍNEZ / Matías ARANGUREN – Ford Fiesta Rally3 Evo
Other categories in the competition
Top 5 in the RC4 class (no supporting championship)
(All places taken by Paraguayan crews)
- Gabriel DUARTE / Luis QUEVEDO – Peugeot 208 Rally4
- Martín TOMAS / Juan Pablo PERNIGOTTI – Peugeot 208 Rally4
- Fabián HERRERA / Omar BENÍTEZ – Peugeot 208 Rally4
- Miguel FRANCO / Pedro SOSA – Peugeot 208 Rally4
- Raúl SZARÁN / Luis AGÜERO – Peugeot 208 Rally4
WRC Masters Cup
- Miguel ZALDÍVAR SR. / Juan José SÁNCHEZ – Škoda Fabia RS Rally2
- Miguel GRANADOS / Marc MARTÍ – Škoda Fabia RS Rally2
- Andrea LAFARJA / Germán MAUNE – Toyota GR Yaris Rally2
- Jorge MARTÍNEZ / Marcelo BRIZIO – Ford Fiesta Rally3
- César PEDOTTI / Nicolás ELIZAUR – Volkswagen Polo GTi R5
