Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux had dropped from second to fourth place on the concluding Power Stage, and in the end, Hyundai decided to register a retirement for the Frenchman.
As a result of this move, Toyota’s Kalle Rovanperä climbed one position in the overall standings to fifth, and the Finn picked up two more points.
Fourmaux’s retirement was purely a tactical decision. The retirement allows so-called sealed parts to be replaced without penalty ahead of Rally Chile. This means that components such as the gearbox and transmission-related parts can now be changed in Fourmaux’s car.
This interpretation was strongly supported by the comments of Hyundai’s technical director François-Xavier Demaison after the rally.
“There is no denying that this has been a difficult rally for us, with a lot of ups and downs. The results do not reflect the performance of our car this weekend, but our crews have clearly struggled with setup and other mechanical issues, as well as punctures. Because of this, we decided to retire Adrien’s car to have more freedom in our setup options for Rally Chile,” Demaison explained.
Paraguay and Chile are classified as linked events, which means that transmission components such as the gearbox and differentials must remain sealed across both rallies. Teams are only allowed to change these parts if the crew retires from the first event or if the FIA’s technical delegate grants written permission.
Changing sealed components without permission would result in a five-minute time penalty in the following rally. Naturally, Hyundai did not want Fourmaux to take such a penalty.
Fourmaux had been leading the rally as recently as Friday but then suffered punctures, which lifted Rovanperä into the lead. Rovanperä himself sustained a puncture on Saturday evening and eventually dropped to sixth overall.
Fourmaux was still in second place before the Power Stage but slipped to fourth on the final stage due to rain. With the retirement, the Frenchman lost the championship points he had collected but will now head into Rally Chile, held in mid-September, with a refreshed car fitted with new parts to chase more points.
