The “Toyota” racer from Finland started the day with an 11.9-second lead and more than doubled it over nine special stages, despite damaging the rear wing and missing a braking point in one corner, racing in constantly changing grip conditions.
Read more Doctors warn: what lives in your mouth can affect the health of your entire body
However, the biggest leap behind S. Pajari was made by A. Fourmaux. The “Hyundai” driver showed impressive pace on Saturday and won five special stages. At the start of the day, he was more than 55 seconds behind Elfyn Evans, but by the evening, the world championship leader was only 3.3 seconds ahead of him.
Since heavy rain was forecast, crews expected completely different conditions on Saturday than on Friday, so some chose car setups better suited for wet surfaces. However, the first special stages were mostly dry, slippery, and the road surface was becoming rougher.
In the morning, S. Pajari steadily increased his lead over Hayden Paddon, but during the first run of the Hohenau special stage, he went too wide, ended up in a ditch, and tore off the upper part of the rear wing of his “GR Yaris Rally1”.
He reached the service zone with a 22.8-second lead. After replacing the damaged aerodynamic parts, the Finn continued to control the rally in the afternoon.
In the Bella Vista special stage, S. Pajari had another tense moment when he missed a corner, but even after this mistake, the Finn was faster than H. Paddon. As tire preservation became increasingly important, the rally leader remained calm.
“This is a completely different challenge than in Estonia and Finland,” said the Finn aiming for his third consecutive WRC victory. “Here, it’s more important just to survive.”
The day ended with the Encarnación Costanera super special stage, which once again reminded that nothing can be taken for granted in this rally. The mixed surface track became increasingly slippery as more cars passed, but S. Pajari safely completed the 3.10 km stage and maintained a solid lead.
“A lot can still happen tomorrow,” he said. “So far, everything is good. I’m glad we are competitive and the car is once again showing excellent reliability, but it’s still too early to talk about anything more.”
H. Paddon firmly holds second place. For the New Zealand driver, this is his first top-level WRC gravel start since 2018.
He was unable to replicate the pace and rhythm from Friday that allowed him to become the rally leader, so H. Paddon focused more on tire preservation and tried to avoid the problems that troubled many leaders on the first day of the rally.
Read more Shooting occurred at a rave party in Switzerland, one person died
On Saturday, he finished 32.2 seconds ahead of E. Evans.
However, the battle immediately behind him became very intense.
A. Fourmaux started Saturday 55.0 seconds behind third-placed E. Evans but showed his true intentions from the first kilometers. In the morning, he won the Bella Vista Sur and Hohenau special stages, and in the afternoon added three more consecutive stage wins.
After the 15th special stage, E. Evans’ lead was reduced to 16.0 seconds, and after A. Fourmaux closed in again on the Trinidad stage, they were separated by only 13.1 seconds.
Then came the Costanera special stage.
A. Fourmaux completed the slippery super special stage 9.8 seconds faster than E. Evans and, with five special stages remaining until the rally finish, reduced the gap to just 3.3 seconds.
E. Evans focused mainly on avoiding unnecessary risks in a rally that has already harshly punished several leaders.
“Honestly, Adrien is driving like he’s in a completely different rally than everyone else,” he admitted. “He’s risking everything, but we’ll see what happens tomorrow.”
Another fierce battle unfolded behind them. Oliver Solberg moved up to fifth place after Josh McErlean slid off the track in the last stage of the day and knocked down advertising boards next to the track. At the end of the day, these two drivers were separated by just 6.3 seconds.
Local favorite Diego Domínguezas continues to successfully defend Paraguay’s honor – he is seventh overall and leads the WRC2 class. Despite having to drive part of the morning stages without glasses, which he accidentally left on the car roof, his mother and wife found him another pair at an optics shop during the midday service.
Jonas Armstrong is in eighth place, and WRC2 participants Gus Greensmith and Fau Zaldivar complete the top ten.
Sunday will feature the decisive part of the rally – five special stages with a total length of 68.16 km.
Results after Saturday (17 SS out of 22):
1. S. Pajari / M. Salminen (FIN) – “Toyota GR Yaris Rally1” – 2 hr 48 min 29.7 sec.
2. H. Paddon / J. Kennard (NZL) – “Hyundai i20 N Rally1” – +24.1 sec.
3. E. Evans / S. Martin (GBR) – “Toyota GR Yaris Rally1” – +56.3 sec.
4. A. Fourmaux / A. Coria (FRA) – “Hyundai i20 N Rally1” – +59.6 sec.
5. O. Solberg / E. Edmondson (SWE) – “Toyota GR Yaris Rally1” – +3 min 25.7 sec.
6. J. McErlean / E. Treacy (IRL) – “Ford Puma Rally1” – +3 min 32.0 sec.
Read more “NY Times” ode to Mykolas Alekna: “I wasn’t the most talented kid”
