The farewell to Rally1 –as we know it–
The five cars from Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT, the three from Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT and the two from M-Sport Ford WRT will once again be competing in the Red Earth Rally, bringing the total number of contenders in the top class (RC1) to ten.
As for the line-ups
Toyota Gazoo Racing will this year have Oliver Solberg –fresh from his Maiden championship in WRC2– at the wheel of its GR Yaris Rally1 in the seat previously occupied by Kalle Rovanperä last year, whilst the other drivers –Sébastien Ogier, Elfyn Evans, Takamoto Katsuta and Sami Pajari– remain in their seats. This year, the Japanese team is not fielding a second team, integrating all drivers into the main structure.
At Hyundai Shell Mobis, there is also a change; following Ott Tänak’s retirement at the end of last season, the driver who will be in charge of the third Hyundai i20 N Rally1 will be New Zealander Hayden Paddon, who was a regular driver several years ago and was also the only non-European to win the FIA ERC in 2023 and 2024. Thierry Neuville and Adrien Fourmaux will drive the other two cars.
M-Sport Ford is not to be outdone: with Grégoire Munster absent, his place is taken by the Irishman Jon Armstrong; in the other Ford Puma Rally1, his compatriot Joshua McErlean returns to our rally.
The Paraguayan crews taking part:
Twenty-nine Paraguayan crews will be on the starting line for the 2026 WRC Rally of Paraguay; the enthusiasm following the previous edition was infectious, adding new names to the list of compatriots who have signed up for the journey through the ‘red earth’ rally.
Although the terrain is familiar to all given the origins of our rally –which forms part of three rounds of the Local Championship and even the FIA-CODASUR– the challenge of competing against foreign crews is evident throughout each of the nearly 360 kilometres of the route.
Names such as Fau Zaldívar (three-time FIA-CODASUR champion from 2023 to 2025), Diego Domínguez Bejarano (2024 WRC3 champion), Alejandro Galanti (2019 FIA-CODASUR champion), Gustavo Saba (record-holding National and FIA-CODASUR Champion with seven titles in each championship), and Andrea Lafarja (the first Paraguayan woman in the WRC and current contender for the Masters Cup) are among those confirmed for the event at the end of August.
It couldn’t be more local: amongst the 29 Paraguayan crews, Martín Tomas from Encarnación –runner-up in the 2022 FIA-CODASUR Rally (RC4 Class)– will make his World Rally Championship debut alongside Juan Pablo Pernigotti from Misiones, Argentina. The pair will make the leap to the elite with the Peugeot 208 Rally4.
The ‘King’s’ absolute debut on Paraguayan soil.
If we’re talking about drivers, why not cars too? Last year saw the all-out debut of Rally3-specification cars on Paraguayan soil, and this year, although they’re competing again, the headline comes from Italy and ‘the return of the king’.
Lancia, which returned to rallying using the Ypsilon as its platform, will make its debut at the Rally del Paraguay with its two current World Rally Championship models: of the Ypsilon HF Integrale Rally2, the two official Lancia Corse cars will be present, driven by Yohan Rossel and Nikolai Gryazin, whilst a Ypsilon Rally4 car will be driven by local driver Arturo Ortiz. Lancia holds the record for the most manufacturers’ titles in the WRC and will be looking to live up to its reputation on the red dirt.
