Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux holds the lead with a 4.5-second margin over Rovanperä. The Finnish driver struggled badly on the Cambyretá stage, which had already caused headaches for the crews earlier in the morning. The big jumps and heavy hits were punishing.
“It went okay. On the last sector there are a lot of hits and jumps. My back is now done. I could literally hear my back cracking. Luckily, there won’t be any more of these this weekend,” Rovanperä sighed.
Toyota’s Sébastien Ogier set the fastest time on the 18.7-kilometre stage, but the Frenchman’s rally is hampered by a puncture in the morning. Ogier sits seventh overall, half a minute down on leader Fourmaux.
“Not the nicest stage for my old back,” Ogier quipped.
“I took the last bumps quite carefully because I wanted to save the car and my back. Otherwise, it went pretty well,” Fourmaux explained.
Toyota’s Sami Pajari continues in third place overall. The Finn is 20.2 seconds off the lead. Behind him, Hyundai’s Ott Tänak is only 1.4 seconds adrift. Toyota’s Elfyn Evans, who leads the championship, and Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville are also right on Pajari’s tail.
“This stage literally gives you a headache. We should have been faster, but we drove wisely. I tried to take the jumps bravely, but you have to be a bit careful. Against these guys you really have to fight, there’s no easy road,” Pajari said.
On Friday in Rally Paraguay, three more special stages remain. The rally concludes on Sunday.
Rally Paraguay classification after SS5/19:
| POS. | Driver | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Adrien Fourmaux | Hyundai | 47:45.0 |
| 2. | Kalle Rovanperä | Toyota | +4.5 |
| 3. | Sami Pajari | Toyota | +20.2 |
| 3. | Ott Tänak | Hyundai | +21.6 |
| 5. | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | +23.4 |
| 6. | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | +24.7 |
| 7. | Sebastien Ogier | Toyota | +30.1 |
| 8. | Josh McErlean | Ford | +55.5 |
| 9. | Takamoto Katsuta | Toyota | +1:08.3 |
