Sami Pajari takes overnight lead of WRC Rally Paraguay
29th August 2026Toyota’s Sami Pajari survived a dramatic opening day as the World Rally Championship’s Rally del Paraguay kicked off on Friday, with a number of retirements.
Feature image credit: Jaanus Ree // Red Bull Content Pool
Pajari takes the overnight lead in Paraguay after a turbulent opening day sees several drivers retire with damage or hindered by punctures. The Finnish driver heads the Hyundai of Hayden Paddon and Pajari’s championship rival and teammate, Elfyn Evans.
The two latter drivers were chopping and changing positions as a result of late punctures on Friday afternoon, with Evans taking a brief stint of the lead after Paddon suffered a puncture, before the Welshman got his own – allowing Pajari to take the lead.
With a 11.9-second lead over Paddon, it puts the Finnish driver on the start of his course towards three back-to-back victories, having picked up consecutive wins in Estonia and Finland.
Stage one set the tone for the dramatic day as Takamoto Katsuta suffered a high-speed crash on the opening test of the day. At a fast right-hand kink, Katsuta ran into a slight ditch, which bounced his car across the road and into a roll. It landed on all four wheels, luckily, but the Japanese driver soon retired shortly after.
Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville suffered a puncture on the rear-left of his Hyundai, which terminally damaged his rear suspension, prompting a retirement from the 2024 world champion.
Paraguay’s winner, last time out, and Toyota’s defending world champion, Sebastien Ogier, was another driver to be hit by the nation’s tough tests. Coming over a slight crest in the road, quickly followed by a right-kink, Ogier ran wide and hit a slight grass bank on the outside, causing a puncture.
As a result, Ogier changed his damaged wheel and returned to the stage ahead of Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux, who was caught in the Frenchman’s dust before the nine-time world champion eventually moved out of the Hyundai’s way.
M-Sport Ford’s Jon Armstrong was the next victim of the Paraguayan conditions, suffering a high-speed spin, damaging the front bumper of his car. The Irishman was able to continue on to the end and return to service, where he later left late due to repairs.
Rain is forecast on Saturday, adding in another potential challenging element into the already challenging conditions.
Takamoto Katsuta tops shakedown test at WRC Rally del Paraguay
Day One – top 10:
- Sami Pajari, Toyota – 1 hour, 28 minutes and 28.7 seconds
- Hayden Paddon, Hyundai +11.9s
- Elfyn Evans, Toyota +56.3s
- Adrien Fourmaux, Hyundai +1m 51.3s
- Joshua McErlean, M-Sport Ford +2m 23.1s
- Diego Dominguez, WRC2 +2m 36s
- Gus Greensmith, WRC2 + 3m 15.4s
- Oliver Solberg, Toyota +3m 33.3s
- Marco Bulacia, WRC2 +4m 1.4s
- Romet Jurgenson, WRC2 +4m 36.9s
Jon Armstrong, M-Sport Ford, sits 14th, six minutes and 16.2 seconds adrift of the leading time.
Read more WRC here:
- Rally del Paraguay: Full WRC stage times and guide
- FIA conclude Rally Scotland WRC candidate event
- 2026 Czech Rally: Full ERC stage guide and times
- Rally Paraguay: full WRC Rally1 entry list
- FIA give September deadline for WRC Saudi Arabia finale
- Sebastien Ogier confirms attendance in remaining WRC rallies
- Sebastien Ogier gives update after Rally Finland crash
- Pajari takes over Rally Finland after Ogier suffers big crash
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
