Motorsport: Pajari in charge at Euno Rally del Paraguay
Josh McErlean/Eoin Treacy (Ford Puma Rally1) pictured during the first day of the Euno Rally del Paraguay. Pic: M-Sport Ford.
A chaotic opening day in the Euno Rally del Paraguay, the 11th round of the World Rally Championship, was dominated by delaminations and punctures.
After eight stages, Finland's Sami Pajari (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) leads the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 of New Zealanders Hayden Paddon/John Kennard by 11.9s.
The Kilrea/Killeagh crew of Josh McErlean/Eoin Treacy (Ford Puma Rally1) are in fifth place having been as high as second during the day. Their teammates Jon Armstrong/Shane Byrne are outside the top 10.
The opening stage was dramatic to say the least.
Japan's Takamoto Katsuta and his Fintona co-driver Aaron Johnson rolled their Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 into retirement some 600 metres after the start, while Thierry Neuville retired after the stage finish having damaged the left-rear suspension of his Hyundai i20 Rally1 when he went wide over a jump and finished the stage almost three minutes behind his rivals.
Last year's winner Sebastien Ogier (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) collected a rear-left puncture and had lost some 25s before hitting a bank that broke a suspension arm.
Temporary repairs didn't last and he retired.
After just two stages, Oliver Solberg (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1), who had won both, led the Hyundai of Hayden Paddon by 7.1s with Adrien Fourmaux (Hyundai) just 0.5s behind.
Kilrea's Josh McErlean occupied fourth - 10s off top spot while team Jon Armstrong was 2s behind in fifth.
Out on SS3 (33.88km), Solberg's Hyundai came to a stop under braking 5.7km into the stage, stranded for valuable seconds; spectators then pushed the car and he was able to jump-start and re-join the action.
A subsequent rear-right puncture forced him to stop again and change the wheel and he ended up losing four minutes and the lead.
Stage winner Paddon inherited top spot with McErlean into second - a position he maintained at the halfway (SS4) mark 23.9 behind Paddon and 2.8s ahead of championship leader Elfyn Evans.
"It's been a good morning," said McErlean, adding, "We have to be really satisfied with that. Big afternoon ahead, so let's keep the momentum going. Whenever you're fighting for WRC podiums, it's not that bad."
It wasn't without drama, as he recalled after SS3.
"We were off three times in there! It's like they got the polisher out from last year. Maybe being here last year wasn’t an advantage."
Pajari occupied fifth from the Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 of Diego Domínguez, with Fourmaux and M-Sport's Jon Armstrong completing the top seven. Armstrong was another driver to encounter trouble on SS3.
"There's a random rock and the tyre went down straight away. I thought it would last 'til the end, but it's so abrasive and started tearing up really quickly. Lost the brakes and spun downhill. Complete disaster again."
All four stages were repeated in the afternoon - yet again dominated by punctures. Paddon punctured on SS5 and lost the lead to Evans with McErlean slipping to fourth.
On the penultimate stage, the rear right wheel of Evans' Toyota delaminated and damaged the bodywork; he dropped to third - 56.2s behind new leader and teammate Sami Pajari while Paddon in second was 12.4s off top spot.
Meanwhile, McErlean had to stop and change a punctured wheel and Armstrong, whose car was sorted at service, also stopped on SS7 with a puncture; he was 14th. The day concluded with the short Super Special with little change to the order.
There are nine stages today and five tomorrow.
1. S. Pajari/M. Salminen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) 1:28:38.7; 2. H. Paddon/J. Kennard (Hyundai i20 N Rally1)+11.9s; 3. E. Evans/S. Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1)+56.3s; 4. A. Fourmaux/A. Coria (Hyundai i20 N Rally1)+1m. 51.3s; 5. J. McErlean/E. Treacy (Ford Puma Rally1)+2m. 23.1s; 6. O. Solberg/E. Edmondson (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1)+3m. 33.3s.
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