Fireworks lit up Encarnación for Thursday evening’s ceremonial start, but there were plenty more on the stages when ueno Rally del Paraguay burst into life on Friday.
Sami Pajari emerged from a punishing opening day with an 11.9sec advantage over Hayden Paddon after eight stages in which the lead changed hands repeatedly and problems struck virtually every Rally1 contender.
The Finn, chasing a third consecutive FIA World Rally Championship victory after triumphs in Estonia and Finland, started the afternoon loop fourth overall and 33.2sec off the lead before capitalising as the attrition continued.
By the overnight halt, Pajari headed Paddon with championship leader Elfyn Evans 56.3sec adrift in third and Adrien Fourmaux fourth.
Paddon had been the midday leader after negotiating a brutal opening loop better than most, but his 23.9sec advantage began to disappear after service.
Fourmaux won both Cambyreta and Nueva Alborada, the latter bringing a front-right tyre delamination for Paddon which briefly handed Evans the rally lead by just 0.5sec.
That advantage lasted only until the second pass of the 33.88km Yerbatera test.
Evans’ right-rear tyre began delaminating and eventually disintegrated completely, forcing the Welshman to nurse his GR Yaris Rally1 to the finish on the rim.
Pajari avoided trouble and won the stage by 0.1sec from Toyota team-mate Oliver Solberg, while Paddon also reached the finish with a delaminated left-rear tyre and dropped 20.8sec.
“It was very clean for me,” said Pajari. “I think it is lottery if you take the puncture or not. I need to be happy with how we did.
“It is still early in this rally and a lot of things have happened already.”
Pajari carried a 12.4sec advantage into the evening’s Autódromo Alfredo Scheid super special and surrendered only half a second there to close Friday 11.9sec clear.
“After all the crazy things we are quite well in the standings, but it is only Friday done,” he added. “I think the days to come are the most demanding days.”
Paddon’s second place remains an impressive one on his first top-level WRC gravel appearance since 2018. The New Zealander led a WRC rally for the first time since Rally de Portugal that same year and remains firmly in victory contention despite tyre trouble on both Nueva Alborada and Yerbatera.
“I think everyone’s had problems, so if we can drive out of two stages on punctures and still be within touching distance, we’ve been unlucky but lucky at the same time,” he said.
“Tough day, and the scary thing is I think this is going to be the easiest day of the rally.”
Evans holds third, 44.4sec behind Paddon, after suffering tyre delaminations on both passes of Yerbatera.
Fourmaux sits fourth at 1min 51.3sec despite winning four of Friday’s eight stages. He lost almost 90 seconds changing a wheel on the first Yerbatera run before completing its afternoon repeat with both rear tyres deflated.
Josh McErlean completes the top five after running as high as second. The M-Sport Ford driver was just 9.8sec from the lead after SS6 before stopping to change a wheel on Yerbatera and losing more than two minutes.
Home favourite Diego Domínguez carried Paraguayan hopes impressively, ending the day sixth overall and leading WRC2 by 39.4sec from Gus Greensmith.
Domínguez had received personal good-luck wishes from Paraguayan President Santiago Peña at Thursday evening’s ceremonial start and responded by flying the national flag high on the stages around Encarnación.
Solberg is eighth, 3min 33.3sec from the lead, after his promising start unravelled on the first Yerbatera when his engine cut out under braking and would not restart. Spectators eventually push-started his Toyota before a subsequent puncture added further delay.
The attrition had begun on Friday’s very first stage. Takamoto Katsuta rolled just two kilometres into Cambyreta, Thierry Neuville retired after damaging the left-rear suspension of his Hyundai and reigning world champion Sébastien Ogier’s day ended on SS3 when a temporary suspension repair failed.
Heavy rain is anticipated for Saturday’s leg, which brings another 137.34km across nine stages, including the completely new Bella Vista Sur test and an evening super special on the Encarnación Costanera.
Standings after Friday (SS8 /22):
- S Pajari / M Salminen FIN Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 1h 28m 28.7s
- H Paddon / J Kennard NZL Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +11.9s
- E Evans / S Martin GBR Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +56.3s
- A Fourmaux / A Coria FRA Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +1m 51.3s
- J McErlean / E Treacy IRL Ford Puma Rally1 +2m 23.1s
- D Domínguez / R Peñate PAR Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 +2m 36.0s
