At 9:00 a.m. sharp, and in perfect weather conditions, Elfyn Evans, the current championship leader, opened the way in the sector designated for official testing in Trinidad. His first run clocked in at 2 minutes and 30.6 seconds, setting the benchmark for the other crews taking part in the RC1 class.
Almost immediately, the time changed hands, with his teammate Takamoto Katsuta setting the fastest time in the top class with a time of 2 minutes and 24.4 seconds. With a time of 02:25.0, the next best time went to Ott Tänak, while reigning world champion Thierry Neuville finished exactly one second off the lead.
In RC2, Nikolay Gryazin (Škoda) was the best with 2:32.3, followed by Gus Greensmith (Škoda) 0.7 seconds off the pace, and in third place, Yohan Rossel 1.1 seconds behind (Citroën). The best Paraguayan in the Shakedown was Miguel Zaldívar Jr. (Škoda) in fifth place among the Rally2 cars with a time of 2:35.0.
In the RC3 class, the best was Bolivian Nataniel Bruun (Ford) with a time of 2:47.5, followed by Italian Matteo Fontana (Ford) and closing out the podium was Peruvian André Martínez (Ford).
