Fourmaux leads while puncture costs title hopeful Ogier

Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux emerged with a slender lead over World Rally Championship title hopeful Kalle Rovanpera after a drama-filled opening morning at the inaugural Rally Paraguay.

Paraguay’s unique and unknown gravel stages, featuring a blend of high-speed sections, technical corners, multiple grip changes and rough compressions, provided plenty of challenges for the WRC field.

But it was Fourmaux that adapted the best to the conditions to end stage four with a 4.1s lead over Toyota’s Rovanpera. The Finn’s team-mate and countryman Sami Pajari enjoyed a relatively trouble-free run and headed to midday service in third, 0.4s ahead of a frustrated Thierry Neuville.  

Rovanpera had initially set the pace after posting a blistering time in the opening stage (SS1 Cambyretá 1 – 18.70 km) that proved to be incredibly bumpy and caught out many drivers. The Finn was among many to report his car was bottoming out during the stage over the harsh kickers.

Fourmaux claimed the next stage (Nueva Alborada 1 – 19.25 km), 0.4s shy of Rovanpera, who admitted to making small mistakes as he struggled to adjust to the many grip changes. 

Fourmaux then moved into the lead after setting the second-fastest time in stage three, a 30-kilometre run through Yerbatera. The Frenchman was able to extend that average by winning a 2.50km super special stage that ended the loop.

“I’m really satisfied with the morning,” said Fourmaux. “I just didn’t like the first stage of the day but the rest is fine and nice. For sure, the grip is changing all of the time. I think some really hard surfaces will be polished [in the afternoon] so it can be even more slippery, and some places there could be some ruts and there could be a lot more loose rocks.”

Kalle Rovanperä, Jonne Halttunen, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

Having had to fight his car through the morning, Rovanpera was hopeful that a better set-up plan would yield more speed in the afternoon. 

“We have learned that it is quite tricky and quite tough in places,” said Rovanpera. “You really need to have good notes as all the junctions are different and the grip is changing a lot so it is not easy. Let’s hope we make a good plan with the set-up and the tyres [for the afternoon].”

The major headline from the morning was created by eight-time world champion Sebastien Ogier. Rocks in the middle of the road in stage two inflicted a right-rear puncture that cost the title contender 37.3s. 

Without any spare wheels remaining, Ogier threw caution to the wind to win stage three but ended the loop in seventh, 34.4s adrift of the lead. 

“The speed is good and the feeling is not too bad but obviously this 40-second loss is going to be difficult to catch up,” said Ogier. 

Sébastien Ogier, Vincent Landais, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1

Photo by: Toyota Racing

“It is going to be a difficult afternoon for everybody. We have seen a lot of tyre damage so there might be a lot of things happening, so hopefully we can stay out of trouble.”

Ogier wasn’t the only Toyota to pick up a puncture as Takamoto Katsuta’s front-left deflated in the opening stage, costing the Japanese almost a minute. Katsuta ended the morning in ninth overall, 1m09.4s shy of the lead.  

While Fourmaux swept to the rally lead, his Hyundai team-mates Ott Tanak and Neuville found the going tough. 

The pair both reported that their i20 N Rally1 cars had taken a pounding through the bumps of the opening stage. The front of Tanak’s car picked up damage, before an off-road excursion later in the morning caused further pain. Neuville opted to back off to protect the car. 

Tanak continued to report that his car felt broken as the morning progressed, while Neuville managed to find some speed despite fighting oversteer and understeer, which he described as a “nightmare” at times. 

Thierry Neuville, Martijn Wydaeghe, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1

Photo by: Fabien Dufour / Hyundai Motorsport

Tanak completed the loop in sixth, 1.1s behind frustrated championship leader Elfyn Evans, who also struggled to find any confidence behind the wheel of his GR Yaris. 

“The feeling has not really been with us, hopefully we can find something for the afternoon,” said Evans, who didn’t feel the road-cleaning effect was a key factor in his lack of performance.

It also proved to be an eventful morning for M-Sport-Ford duo Gregoire Munster and Josh McErlean. Munster went off the road, 900 metres into stage one as his Puma broke a steering arm. After repairing the damage he then suffered a puncture before nursing the car to service 45 minutes away from the lead. 

McErlean also lost time to a front-right puncture in stage three after surviving a bump in the opening stage that was so violent it knocked the pace notebook out of the hands of co-driver Eoin Treacy. McErlean will head into the afternoon loop in eighth. 

Paraguay’s Diego Dominguez led the WRC2 class by 11.0s from title contender Yohan Rossel. Championship leader Oliver Solberg lost more than a minute to a puncture in stage three, while the Skoda Fabia driven by fellow title hopeful Gus Greensmith suffered a strange rear suspension collapse in stage four.  

The crews will repeat the loop of stages to conclude the opening day of action.