Victory and a new record: Sébastien Ogier, with his victory on Paraguayan soil, breaks his streak of rallies contested in South America without a single victory. His best results until then were five podium finishes in Argentina and one in Chile. The Rally Paraguay became his 65th victory in his sporting career. It is also the 18th time he has achieved this with Toyota, making him the brand’s most successful driver since its return to rallying in 2017.
“Head to head”: Toyota is not far behind in terms of numbers, as Ogier’s victory equals Citroën’s record of 102 rally wins. It currently holds the same number of manufacturers’ titles as the French firm, with eight on both sides. Given the dominance of Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT, it is not surprising that the brand will be surpassed at the end of the year.
Paraguay, occupying the podium wherever it was present: of the 22 crews registered with national drivers in the Rally del Paraguay, 21 did so in the Rally2/RC2 Class support championships, and one in the RC4 Class. Not being present with Rally1 or Rally3 cars, the pleasant surprise was in the classes where they were registered.
In the WRC2 Challenger, Fabrizio Zaldívar took second place, while his father, Miguel Zaldívar, was the winner of the WRC Masters Cup, followed by Don Blas Zapag. Finally, Manuel Irala made it to the podium in the RC4 Class.
Entries/Finishers Ratio: after Marco Bulacia’s withdrawal a few days earlier, the final list consisted of forty-seven crews, of which the following finished:
- RC1 Class (Rally1 Cars):
- 10 entries
- 9 finished the Rally
- 6 in normal condition
- 3 under “restart after retirement” rules
- 1 definitive retirement
- RC2 Class (Rally2 & R5 Cars):
- 28 entries
- 22 finished the rally
- 14 in normal condition
- 8 under “restart after retirement” rules
- 6 definitive retirement
- RC3 Class (Rally3 Cars):
- 6 entries
- 6 finished the rally
- 4 under normal conditions
- 2 under “restart after retirement” rules
- RC4 Class (Rally4, R2 & R3 cars):
- 3 entries
- 3 finished the rally
- 1 under normal conditions
- 2 under “restart after retirement” rules
Winners of the WRC Rally Paraguay
- Overall: Sébastien OGIER (FRA) / Vincent LANDAIS (FRA) – Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
- FIA WRC-2: Oliver SOLBERG (SWE) / Elliott EDMONDSON (GBR) – Toyota GR Yaris Rally2
- FIA WRC-2 Challenger: Nikolay GRYAZIN (HUN) / Konstantin ALEKSANDROV (KGZ) – Škoda Fabia RS Rally2
- FIA WRC-3: Matteo FONTANA (ITA) / Alessandro ARNABOLDI (ITA) – Ford Fiesta Rally3 Evo
- WRC Masters Cup: Miguel ZALDÍVAR Sr. (PAR) / Rubén GARCÍA (ARG) – Škoda Fabia RS Rally2
- RC4 Class: Santiago RUÍZ (URU) / Matías RUÍZ (URU) – Peugeot 208 Rally4
