Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux, who has adopted the mantle of Friday specialist this season, lost 1.7 seconds to Toyota’s Sébastien Ogier on the 30-kilometre Yerbatera stage, but still moved into the overall rally lead.
The Frenchman now heads the standings by 2.8 seconds over Toyota’s Kalle Rovanperä. Fourmaux’s season has been plagued by various difficulties, but Fridays have suited him perfectly.
“It feels good. I went a bit wide in one corner. Grip was changing a lot,” Fourmaux said at the stage finish.
Rovanperä was 4.9 seconds down on Ogier’s benchmark time. That will no doubt be acceptable to the Finn, as things could have turned out much worse. Towards the end of the stage, Rovanperä had a close call, but fortunately the car escaped without damage.
“Quite a similar stage to the previous one. On these two stages there’s very little grip. We tried to keep it clean, but we were sliding a lot,” Rovanperä summed up.
Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville also beat Rovanperä on this stage, although the Belgian’s rally has once again been very difficult.
“We’re just trying to survive, as I have no grip at all. Tough stages,” Neuville said.
Toyota’s Sami Pajari and Hyundai’s Ott Tänak dropped back on this test. Tänak was only sixth fastest and Pajari seventh. Overall, Pajari is now 16.9 seconds adrift of the leader – the same gap as Neuville – while Tänak has already fallen 19 seconds behind.
Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta’s troubles continued as well. The Japanese driver clipped the roadside and the car stalled briefly, but luckily no damage was done. He was able to continue, though the gap to the front has grown significantly.
Rally Paraguay features another five stages on Friday. The rally concludes on Sunday.
Rally Paraguay standings after SS3/19:
| POS | Driver | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Adrien Fourmaux | Hyundai | 36:19.4 |
| 2. | Kalle Rovanperä | Toyota | +2.8 |
| 3. | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | +16.9 |
| 3. | Sami Pajari | Toyota | +16.9 |
| 5. | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | +17.3 |
| 6. | Ott Tänak | Hyundai | +19.0 |
| 7. | Sebastien Ogier | Toyota | +34.0 |
| 8. | Josh McErlean | Ford | +39.7 |
| 9. | Takamoto Katsuta | Toyota | +1.08.2 |
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
