Rally of Paraguay 2026, Day 1: Pajari closes in the lead on the day of punctures

Defining the first day of the Rally of Paraguay as ‘chaotic’ is an understatement: in the first eight special stages of the South American event, there were numerous lead changes, but not due to battles between drivers. Many of these were actually caused by technical problems, but especially by punctures, the primary cause of car damage or loss of precious seconds that had a direct impact on the overall standings. Those who did not face these problems included Sami Pajari, currently leading ahead of Hayden Paddon and Elfyn Evans, who were instead slowed down by punctures that prevented them from staying at the top of the leaderboard.

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SS1-SS4: a nightmare morning

The best time set in Thursday’s shakedown was soon forgotten by Takamoto Katsuta, who just moments after the start of the first special stage in Cambyreta rolled over, immediately ending his day.

An incident without consequences for the Japanese driver, in an SS1 where both Ogier and Neuville also had to deal with a puncture. The worst repercussions, at least initially, seemed to be for the Belgian’s Hyundai, forced to retire during the second stage due to suspension damage. As if that wasn’t enough, Ogier then suffered a second puncture during SS2, again with suspension damage that prevented him from continuing the first day. In the first two stages, Oliver Solberg was leading the classification, but during the third act of the South American rally (during which Fourmaux also slowed down due to a puncture) the Swedish Toyota driver stopped due to an engine problem, but then managed to restart. The incidents of the Paraguayan morning inevitably penalized almost all the top drivers, with Hayden Paddon setting the best time in SS3 ahead of the world championship leader Elfyn Evans. In the fourth stage, Fourmaux redeemed himself by moving to the top of the standings, but Paddon maintained the overall lead (for the first time in his career since 2018) ahead of McErlean, with a gap of 24 seconds between the two.

SS5-SS8: the puncture rally

Fourmaux confirmed himself ahead of everyone at the start of the Paraguayan afternoon with a new best time, followed by Evans. A performance that allowed the latter first to overtake McErlean in second place, then to even take the lead of the rally in SS6: despite setting the third-best time behind a very strong Fourmaux and Pajari, the Toyota driver jumped to the top of the standings following the puncture that slowed Paddon, marking yet another twist that overturned Day 1 of this world championship event. However, the opportunity presented to Evans to extend his lead over the chasers was not exploited in SS7, but not due to a mistake by the driver: #33, like many of his direct rivals, lost ground due to another incredible puncture, slipping to third place behind the new leader Pajari and Paddon. In the eighth special of this incredible opening of the South American rally, Fourmaux confirmed for the fourth time as the fastest driver, but the top three remained the same, with Pajari leading ahead of Paddon and Evans

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Rally of Paraguay 2026, standings after SS8 (Top-10)