Ogier managed to take the rally lead on Saturday evening when his team-mate Kalle Rovanperä suffered a puncture. After that, Ogier never gave up his position at the top and eventually drove to a highly convincing win – though he came close to losing everything right at the very end.
At the same time, the Frenchman strengthened his position in the title fight once more. Right now, it looks as though Ogier made the right decision in pursuing the ninth world championship of his career.
Ogier won the rally by 26.2 seconds over his team-mate Elfyn Evans. Evans managed to climb to second place on the Power Stage after Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux dropped out of second place altogether, which promoted his team-mate Thierry Neuville into third.
Rain had intensified so much by the time the last two cars went through that driving conditions became extremely difficult. Ogier, however, made it to the finish, but collected only one point on Sunday. Nevertheless, Ogier’s overall haul from the entire rally was the biggest. The Frenchman carried away 26 championship points from Paraguay.
Rovanperä ended up only sixth overall due to Saturday’s puncture, but made up for it in style on Sunday by scoring good points on the Super Sunday and the Power Stage. His championship fight is not over either.
“Of course this was a disappointment compared to what we came here for. But there’s nothing we can do about the situation now. On top of everything, I fell sick last night and I’m really exhausted at the moment. I’m just happy this rally is over,” revealed Rovanperä at the stage finish after taking 16 points.
“We just tried to get every possible point from here. We’ll try again in Chile,” Rovanperä added.
Hyundai’s Ott Tänak was unable to match Rovanperä’s pace on the Power Stage. He suffered a damper failure on the final stage, and rain also began to fall towards the end. Tänak finished fifth overall and also fifth in the Super Sunday classification. It was a major disappointment for the Estonian’s weekend.
“The shock broke right at the end of the stage. That pretty much sums up our whole rally,” lamented Tänak.
The winner of Super Sunday was Thierry Neuville. He also won the Power Stage. Rovanperä was second on Super Sunday and Evans third. Tänak and Ogier also scored points.
Sami Pajari started the rally well and was still third on Friday. A puncture, however, ruined the Finn’s rally and he eventually finished only seventh.
“It’s always great to drive a new rally. The puncture was of course unfortunate, but at least we got to the finish. That was important,” Pajari summed up.
In WRC2, Toyota’s Oliver Solberg returned to winning ways after a disappointing Rally Finland. The Swede left Citroën’s Yohan Rossel 22.5 seconds behind in second. Nikolay Gryazin climbed to third in the category after Robert Virves suffered a puncture on the penultimate stage and dropped to fifth.
Solberg valued his victory very highly. After the sensational Rally Estonia win, he experienced the opposite end of emotions in Finland.
“This was an incredible comeback from us! After Estonia and Finland it was difficult to get the feeling back,” rejoiced Solberg at the finish.
Results of Rally Paraguay:
| POS | Driver | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Sebastien Ogier | Toyota | 3.00.06,6 |
| 2. | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | +26.2 |
| 3. | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | +27.2 |
| 4. | Adrien Fourmaux | Hyundai | +28.5 |
| 5. | Ott Tänak | Hyundai | +30.6 |
| 6. | Kalle Rovanperä | Hyundai | +2.05.2 |
| 7. | Sami Pajari | Toyota | +3.35.5 |
| 8. | Oliver Solberg | Toyota | +6.53.8 |
| 9. | Yohan Rossel | Citroen | +7.16.3 |
| 10. | Nikolai Grjazin | Skoda | +8.48.2 |
Super Sunday results:
| POS | Driver | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | 42.26.5 |
| 2. | Kalle Rovanperä | Toyota | +3.6 |
| 3. | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | +9.2 |
| 4. | Ott Tänak | Hyundai | +11.1 |
| 5. | Sebastien Ogier | Toyota | +19.6 |
Rally Paraguay itinerary (CET):
Thursday 28 August
14:01 Shakedown: Trinidad (4.92 km)
Friday 29 August
13:03 SS1: Cambyretá 1 (18.70 km)
14:01 SS2: Nueva Alborada 1 (19.25 km)
15:00 SS3: Yerbatera 1 (30.00 km)
16:01 SS4: Autódromo 1 (2.50 km)
17:11 Service (40 min)
18:34 SS5: Cambyretá 2 (18.70 km)
19:32 SS6: Nueva Alborada 2 (19.25 km)
20:31 SS7: Yerbatera 2 (30.00 km)
21:44 SS8: Autódromo 2 (2.50 km)
Saturday 30 August
12:35 SS9: Carmen del Paraná 1 (18.67 km)
13:38 SS10: Artigas 1 (22.73 km)
15:16 SS11: Cantera 1 (13.74 km)
16:35 SS12: Autódromo 3 (2.50 km)
17:35 Service (40 min)
19:05 SS13: Carmen del Paraná 2 (18.67 km)
20:08 SS14: Artigas 2 (22.73 km)
21:46 SS15: Cantera 2 (13.74 km)
Sunday 31 August
13:29 SS16: Bella Vista 1 (21.25 km)
15:05 SS17: Misión Jesuítica Trinidad 1 (18.50 km)
16:02 SS18: Bella Vista 2 (21.25 km)
18:15 SS19: Misión Jesuítica Trinidad 2 (18.50 km) *Power Stage
