After a very tough first day, Sami Pajari became the rally leader and after eight special stages was 11.9 seconds ahead of Hayden Paddon. The lead changed several times during the day, and practically all the leaders driving “Rally1” cars experienced problems.
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The Finn, aiming for a third consecutive victory in the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) after triumphs in Estonia and Finland, started the afternoon in fourth place, 33.2 seconds behind the leader. However, as rivals encountered problems one after another, S. Pajari took advantage of his chance.
At the end of the day, S. Pajari led ahead of H. Paddon, while the championship leader Elfyn Evans, 56.3 seconds behind, took third place. Adrien Fourmaux was fourth.
After the morning loop of special stages, H. Paddon was leading, having handled the very difficult first stages better than most rivals. However, after the service, his 23.9-second lead began to rapidly shrink.
A. Fourmaux won both the Cambyreta and Nueva Alborados special stages. In the latter, the front right tire of H. Paddon’s car began to delaminate, so the rally lead briefly passed to E. Evans with just a 0.5-second advantage.
But his lead lasted only until the finish of the second 33.88 km long Yerbatero special stage.
The rear right tire of E. Evans’ car began to delaminate and eventually completely fell apart. The Welshman was forced to drive his “GR Yaris Rally1” to the finish on the rim.
S. Pajari avoided problems and won the special stage by 0.1 seconds ahead of his “Toyota” teammate Oliver Solberg. H. Paddon also reached the finish with a delaminating rear left tire and lost 20.8 seconds.
“Everything went very cleanly for me,” said S. Pajari. “I think whether you puncture a tire or not is a lottery. I have to be happy with how we managed to get through this day. It’s only the start of the rally, and already a lot has happened.”
S. Pajari arrived at the “Autódromo Alfredo Scheid” super special stage in the evening with a 12.4-second lead. There he gave up just half a second to his closest rival and finished Friday leading by 11.9 seconds.
H. Paddon’s second place is an impressive result, considering this is the New Zealand driver’s first WRC start on gravel since 2018.
O. Solberg is in eighth place, 3 minutes 33.3 seconds behind the leader. His promising start turned into a headache already on the first Yerbatero stage when the car’s engine stalled while braking and could not be restarted. Eventually, spectators helped push the “Toyota,” and later a damaged tire cost even more time.
The string of problems began already on the very first Friday special stage. Takamoto Katsuta rolled just two kilometers from the start of the Cambyreta stage, Thierry Neuville retired after damaging the rear left suspension of his “Hyundai,” and the day ended for defending world champion Sébastien Ogier on the third special stage when the hastily repaired suspension failed.
Heavy rain is forecast for Saturday. The second day of the rally will feature another 137.34 km over nine special stages, including the completely new Bella Vista Sur stage and the evening super special stage in Encarnación Costanera.
Results after Friday (8 SS out of 22):
1. S. Pajari / M. Salminen (FIN) – “Toyota GR Yaris Rally1” – 1 hr 28 min 28.7 sec.
2. H. Paddon / J. Kennard (NZL) – “Hyundai i20 N Rally1” – +11.9 sec.
3. E. Evans / S. Martin (GBR) – “Toyota GR Yaris Rally1” – +56.3 sec.
4. A. Fourmaux / A. Coria (FRA) – “Hyundai i20 N Rally1” – +1 min 51.3 sec.
5. J. McErlean / E. Treacy (IRL) – “Ford Puma Rally1” – +2 min 23.1 sec.
6. D. Domínguez / R. Peñate (PAR) – “Toyota GR Yaris Rally2” – +2 min 36.0 sec.
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