A Dramatic Turnaround Shakes Up Rally Paraguay

Elfyn Evans appeared to have Rally Paraguay under control. Then, in the space of one brutal special stage, everything changed.

The Toyota star suffered a devastating right-rear tire delamination on SS7, forcing him to nurse his Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 to the finish while losing more than a minute. The setback transformed the complexion of the rally almost instantly, dropping the WRC championship leader from first place to third and opening the door for his Toyota teammate Sami Pajari to seize the lead.

What made the drama even more remarkable was the scale of the turnaround. Pajari had started the afternoon loop fourth overall and was still 33.2 seconds away from the rally lead. By the end of Friday, the young Finn was sitting at the top of the classification with an 11.9-second advantage over Hayden Paddon, while Evans found himself 56.3 seconds behind his teammate.

The result was one of the most dramatic leaderboard reversals of the opening day of Rally Paraguay 2026, with tire failures, punctures and mechanical trouble repeatedly reshaping the battle at the front.

According to the FIA and WRC reports, eight stages were contested on Friday, and the leading Rally1 crews endured a punishing day in the Paraguayan gravel.

Evans’ Rally Turned Upside Down in a Matter of Minutes

For Elfyn Evans, SS7 was the moment the rally suddenly became a fight for survival rather than a fight for victory.

The Welshman had managed to move into the rally lead after Hayden Paddon encountered tire trouble on SS6. Evans entered the second pass through the long Yerbateras test with the advantage he had worked hard to build.

But the stage quickly became a nightmare.

Evans’ right-rear tire began to delaminate, and the problem eventually became severe enough that the tire effectively disintegrated. Rather than stopping to change it, Evans and co-driver Scott Martin continued toward the finish, nursing the Toyota over the stage on the damaged wheel.

It was a painful calculation.

Stopping would have cost even more time, so the Toyota crew made the difficult decision to continue. The strategy allowed Evans to reach the finish, but the price was enormous: more than a minute disappeared from his advantage, and the championship leader fell from first to third.

A report from RallyJournal described Evans as visibly disappointed at the finish, with the Toyota driver identifying the problem simply as delamination.

Motorsport.com similarly reported that Evans’ tire eventually disintegrated completely, forcing him to nurse the GR Yaris Rally1 to the end of the stage on the rim.

It was the kind of moment that can completely redefine a rally.

Sami Pajari Seizes the Opportunity

While Evans was fighting to keep his damaged Toyota moving, Sami Pajari was doing exactly what a rally leader needs to do when chaos erupts around him: stay clean.

The Finnish driver completed SS7 without suffering the tire problems that devastated several of his rivals. Even more impressively, Pajari set the fastest time on the stage, edging Toyota teammate Oliver Solberg by just 0.1 seconds.

That result changed everything.

Pajari suddenly found himself at the head of the rally after beginning the afternoon far outside the lead. His rise was not simply the product of luck. He had survived an extremely difficult day, maintained control while rivals suffered setbacks and delivered when the opportunity appeared.

The official WRC report confirmed that Pajari entered the afternoon loop fourth overall, 33.2 seconds away from the lead, before capitalizing on the tire problems affecting the leading Rally1 crews.

By the end of Friday, the Toyota youngster had transformed a significant deficit into a 11.9-second rally lead.

That is the kind of turnaround that can define a career.

The Tire Lottery Becomes the Story of the Rally

The extraordinary thing about Evans’ problem was that he was far from the only leading driver affected.

Rally Paraguay quickly became a battle against the tires.

Hayden Paddon had already experienced a tire delamination earlier in the afternoon. On SS6, the Hyundai driver suffered a front-right tire delamination, allowing Evans to briefly take the rally lead by only 0.5 seconds.

Then SS7 delivered another wave of failures.

Evans suffered his dramatic right-rear failure. Paddon reached the finish with a delaminated left-rear tire, losing 20.8 seconds to Pajari but managing to preserve second place.

Adrien Fourmaux endured an even more frustrating situation, with both rear tires deflating during the stage. Despite the trouble, the Hyundai driver remained fourth overall.

The sheer number of failures turned the rally into something resembling a survival contest.

Pajari himself acknowledged how unpredictable the situation had become, describing the outcome as something of a lottery while emphasizing that there was still a long way to go.

His cautious approach may prove crucial.

Hayden Paddon Refuses to Disappear From the Fight

While much of the attention naturally focused on Evans and Pajari, Hayden Paddon quietly produced one of the most impressive performances of the opening day.

The Hyundai driver had already stunned the field by taking the lead earlier in the rally. His performance was particularly notable because Rally Paraguay represented his return to top-level WRC gravel competition after a lengthy absence from the surface.

Paddon led the rally at midday and appeared to be in an increasingly strong position before tire trouble began to eat into his advantage.

Yet even after suffering problems on both SS6 and SS7, he remained firmly in contention.

By the end of Friday, Paddon was just 11.9 seconds behind Pajari, while Evans was another 44.4 seconds farther back in third.

That means the rally is anything but settled.

Paddon has already demonstrated that he has the pace to lead. Pajari has demonstrated that he can capitalize on pressure. Evans, meanwhile, has shown that even after losing more than a minute, he remains close enough to fight back.

The ingredients for an intense weekend are already in place.

Evans Has a Huge Fight Ahead

For Elfyn Evans, third place is not the result he would have wanted after taking control of the rally.

But it is also important to recognize what the Toyota driver managed to salvage.

A complete tire failure on one of the longest tests of the day could easily have resulted in an even greater loss. Instead, Evans and Martin continued to the finish and limited the damage.

The championship leader now sits 56.3 seconds behind Pajari.

That is a significant gap, but it is not necessarily decisive in a rally that has already demonstrated how quickly the order can collapse.

Friday alone saw multiple lead changes and a series of major incidents involving some of the fastest Rally1 crews.

The conditions also promise to become even more demanding.

Heavy rain is expected for Saturday, with another nine special stages and approximately 137.34 competitive kilometres awaiting the crews.

If the tires were already a major concern on Friday, the prospect of changing weather could make the next leg even more unpredictable.

The Bigger Championship Picture

The result also matters beyond the Rally Paraguay leaderboard.

Elfyn Evans entered the event as the WRC championship leader, meaning every point is potentially critical as the season moves deeper into its decisive phase.

A victory would obviously have strengthened his position, but the events of SS7 have suddenly made the weekend far more complicated.

At the same time, Pajari arrived in Paraguay with extraordinary momentum.

The young Toyota driver was chasing a third consecutive WRC victory after winning in Estonia and Finland. His performance in Paraguay now gives him another opportunity to extend a remarkable run.

The official WRC report confirmed that Pajari’s victories in Estonia and Finland had put him on a major run of form heading into Paraguay.

If he can convert Friday’s lead into another victory, the implications for the remainder of the season could be significant.

Toyota’s Strength Is Also Creating an Internal Battle

One of the fascinating aspects of Rally Paraguay is that the drama is unfolding within Toyota as much as between Toyota and Hyundai.

Pajari leads.

Evans is third.

Oliver Solberg remains within the top 10 despite experiencing his own difficult afternoon.

Toyota therefore continues to have a powerful presence at the front, but the hierarchy has become much less predictable than expected.

Pajari’s rise is particularly interesting because he did not inherit the lead without producing his own performance.

He was the fastest driver on SS7, beating Solberg by just one tenth of a second, and then carried his advantage into the final short super special of the day.

That consistency allowed him to finish Friday with an 11.9-second lead over Paddon.

The pressure now shifts onto the young Finn.

Leading is one thing.

Defending the lead over another full day of unpredictable gravel is something else entirely.

Fourmaux and McErlean Also Caught in the Chaos

The drama was not limited to the top three.

Adrien Fourmaux finished fourth despite a series of tire-related problems. His pace was actually among the strongest in the field when trouble stayed away, and he managed to win four of Friday’s eight stages.

Yet mechanical and tire problems prevented him from converting that speed into a serious challenge for the lead.

Josh McErlean also experienced a dramatic reversal.

The M-Sport Ford driver had climbed as high as second and remained close to the lead after SS6. But a wheel change on SS7 cost him more than two minutes, pushing him down the order.

The result was a brutal reminder of how quickly a promising rally can unravel in Paraguay.

A Rally That Has Already Produced Multiple Leaders

Perhaps the most remarkable statistic from Friday is the number of different drivers who have occupied the top of the leaderboard.

Pajari became the fourth different leader in seven stages, highlighting just how unstable the event has become.

That instability is precisely why Evans cannot be written off.

A 56.3-second deficit looks enormous on paper. But after watching leaders lose tens of seconds and more than a minute through tire failures, nobody can confidently predict what the next nine stages will bring.

One puncture can change everything.

One clean stage can change everything.

One mistake can change everything.

And Pajari knows that better than anyone.

What Happens Next Could Be Even More Dramatic

Saturday now becomes the crucial test.

The crews will face another demanding sequence of gravel stages, with weather conditions potentially adding another layer of uncertainty. Heavy rain could dramatically alter grip levels and increase the importance of tire management, positioning and driver confidence.

For Pajari, the mission is simple: protect the lead without becoming overly conservative.

For Paddon, the target is equally clear: remain within striking distance and wait for another opportunity.

For Evans, the challenge is completely different.

The Toyota championship leader must recover from a devastating SS7 without allowing frustration to affect his driving. He has already demonstrated that he possesses the speed to lead this rally.

Now he needs the opportunity to use it again.

Evans’ Nightmare Could Still Become a Comeback Story

What looked like a potential victory for Elfyn Evans only hours earlier has suddenly become a recovery mission.

But the rally is not over.

The Welshman remains third overall, and the gap to Paddon is 44.4 seconds. More importantly, Rally Paraguay has already shown that a gap can disappear remarkably quickly when the gravel starts punishing the leaders.

The biggest question is whether Evans can survive the next wave of tire trouble.

If he can, the Toyota driver still has the speed and experience to put pressure on the two drivers ahead.

And if Pajari or Paddon encounter another problem, Evans could suddenly find himself right back in the fight.

That is the brutal beauty of rallying.

One moment, you are leading.

The next, you are limping toward the finish with a destroyed tire.

Then, before the day is even over, another driver has inherited the advantage.

Final Verdict: Rally Paraguay Has Been Turned Upside Down

Sami Pajari leads. Hayden Paddon is second. Elfyn Evans is third.

But those three positions tell only a fraction of the story.

The real story is the chaos that produced them.

Evans lost the lead after his right-rear tire delaminated on SS7, Pajari delivered the fastest time and capitalized on the disaster, while Paddon somehow survived his own tire problems to remain within touching distance of the lead.

The result is a Rally Paraguay leaderboard that few could have predicted at the start of Friday.

Pajari now has a genuine chance to claim a third consecutive WRC victory.

Paddon has an unexpected opportunity to fight for the win.

And Evans has been given perhaps the most difficult challenge of all: recover from a devastating setback while protecting his championship position.

After everything that happened on Friday, one thing is already clear.

Rally Paraguay is nowhere near decided.

The tires have already rewritten the leaderboard once.

And with another brutal day of gravel and potentially changing weather ahead, there is every reason to believe they could do it again.