Onto the final day then with 79km’s and four stages. The M-Sport crews and Takamoto returned to the action. Greg would open the road throughout the day. Now the rumoured rain arrived in time to affect the first stage as well which would make things very interesting.
First up then was SS16 Bella Vista 1 – 21.25 km and Seb was fastest from Ott and Thierry. The early crews such as Takamoto, Josh and also Greg all had moments in the stage in which they went off the road. Ott’s pace also meant that he’d moved up one position into third overall pushing Elfyn down to fourth, but the gap remained very small, just 2.2 seconds between them.
Next up was the run through SS17 Misión Jesuítica Trinidad 1 – 18.50 km and Thierry was fastest from Adrien and Elfyn. This stage was unaffected by any rain. The gap between Elfyn and Ott reduced a further four tenths, the gap just 1.8 seconds now. Greg had a spin in the stage damaging the front left slightly but managed to complete without any problems. It was super tricky for those early crews.
Onto the penultimate stage then, SS18 Bella Vista 2 – 21.25 km and the rain had cleared and most of the stage had dried. Kalle was fastest from Seb and Elfyn. Ott fell down two positions from third to fifth as Elfyn retook third place and Thierry moved into fourth after the Estonian suffered a puncture. Adrien who was in second place coming into the stage had a problem in the water crossing where the car took in water into the engine bay. This caused the engine to stutter for a bit. He lost quite a bit of time and emerged from the stage just 3.3 seconds clear of Elfyn.
We came therefore to the final stage, SS19 Misión Jesuítica Trinidad 2[Power Stage] – 18.50 km and the rain had moved to this stage incredibly changing the conditions for the final runners. Thierry would win the stage from Kalle and Ott, whilst Elfyn and Takamoto would round out the points scorers from the power stage. Seb and Vincent took the rally victory, but there were no stage end celebrations as the Frenchman was clearly unhappy with the conditions in the stage as their run was the most affected by the heavy rain and being over ten seconds behind Thierry with the tenth fastest time. There were some changes in the overall standings as Elfyn moved into second overall and Thierry into third after Adrien was only ninth fastest in the stage. There would be a further surprise as later the team retired Adrien from the rally allowing Ott to move up into fourth place. The reason being given was a gearbox problem.
Let’s take a look at the final finishing positions and hear from the drivers.
Final Overall Classification – Rally del Paraguay
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Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Sébastien Ogier
“I think we can be proud of our performance this weekend. After the time we lost on Friday, we never gave up and we kept pushing and enjoyed it a lot. On the final day the rain was changing the conditions very quickly. We were doing a good loop, increasing the lead and trying to take the maximum points. Unfortunately, I got the rain in the Power Stage, and we lost a lot of time and quite a few points from that, but luckily we had enough in hand to win and that’s the most important thing. I’m very happy to finally win in South America – which has never been my luckiest ground – and be on the top step in front of such amazing fans.”
Elfyn Evans
“This has been a tough rally – a lot more difficult than everybody anticipated coming here – so it’s nice to have this result at the end. We needed to find some improvements for today and we managed to do so. I was happy and lucky to get away with a moment in the first stage this morning, but then our task wasn’t helped by the rain in the Power Stage. In the end though we managed to not only hold onto our position but also gain second place, so it’s not been too bad.”
Kalle Rovanperä
“Today we tried to get what we could. The conditions were tricky and changing for every driver, and I was lacking a bit of feeling. The rain coming after we’d driven the Power Stage probably helped us and in the end we got eight of the 10 points available on Sunday, so not bad. It’s disappointing what happened yesterday, but the championship is still close, and we’ll go again in Chile. A massive thanks to all the fans in Paraguay: the atmosphere has been great.”
Sami Pajari
“Thank you to the team who did a really good job this weekend. For me it’s always exciting to have a new event and we were able to have some proper pace on Friday when we were holding third position, which was really nice to see. It’s unfortunate what happened later, but we didn’t give up and tried to have good pace and enjoy the challenge. We could see we had strong performance here, so I’m looking forward to the next event.”
Takamoto Katsuta
“It’s been a tough weekend for me after what happened on Friday. It’s disappointing because I think we had good pace, and after that it wasn’t easy because we had to open the road yesterday. There’s been a lot to learn about this rally and we’ve been trying a few things with the car setup. Today with the rain it wasn’t easy to know how the conditions would be, but it went fine. Even if the result was not what I wanted, this rally has been very nice and the fans have been nice, so I’ve enjoyed it a lot.”
Hyundai Motorsport
Thierry Neuville
“This weekend is the perfect example of fighting until the end to get rewarded. Overall, we expected to have a bit more pace, but we just didn’t have it here in Paraguay. The profile of the rally wasn’t too hard to manage, but the grip levels were constantly changing. We took the second-highest amount of points this weekend, so we can be happy with that. We’re looking forward to Chile, and hopefully the pace is there for us.”
Photographer: Vincent Thuillier
Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Ott Tänak
“We really struggled with our performance this weekend. We were not close to where we wanted to be, and it was a tricky weekend inside the car with the punctures we experienced. We were really struggling to make the setup work, even with tweaks and changes we were making. It’s hard to miss out on second in the way we did. Nothing has changed much this weekend in terms of the championship, it’s still quite close, so hopefully Chile will suit us better and we can bounce back.”
Adrien Fourmaux
“We’re really disappointed with the end result after such a good weekend for us. We were in second position for nearly the whole rally – and even leading on Friday – managing our way through punctures and other issues, but today just didn’t go our way. With the heavy rain in the Power Stage, it was impossible for us to do any better. I’m happy with our performance in Paraguay, but we just didn’t get the result we deserved.”
M-Sport Ford WRT
Josh McErlean
“Friday was a good start for us, and I felt like we were building confidence with the stages and the conditions and to be seventh at the end of the day was encouraging. Saturday was frustrating because the pace was there – we were right with the cars around us – but unfortunately our day ended early.
“The grip was very inconsistent throughout Sunday, but we still managed to get some positive mileage and good feedback from the car. For sure, the end result isn’t what we wanted, but it’s all useful experience and I think we showed some potential.”
Grégoire Munster
“Difficult event for sure, and not what we expected from our first time in Paraguay, but we didn’t give up. We managed to fix the damage we picked up on the first stage, and we continued even with a double puncture and no rear brakes, and in the afternoon no aero.
“The guys at M-Sport also made a good team effort to give us the perfect car to start again on Sunday and get the important mileage. We had a trouble-free Sunday with a bit of rain which makes it particularly slippery in Paraguay, so it was important to experience that as well. Now it’s time to get back in the rhythm before Chile.”
Oliver Solberg
“Saturday was the perfect day,” said Oliver. “We won every stage.” “We all have the same kind of power and the same kind of speed in the straights,” added Oliver.
“I knew it would be tricky to make that time back, but me and Elliott kept pushing – pushing in a way where we could look after the tyres and try to make sure we were not damaging the car or taking too many risks.
“It worked. Today (Sunday) we were a little bit more on the sensible side. We needed this result. Dropping points in Finland was really frustrating and we knew we had to get this championship back on track with a win and big points here in Paraguay. I’m really proud of the way we did that. Punctures are part of the game and they hurt you when they come – but for us to bounce back like we did was really cool.
“Another thing that’s really cool is Paraguay… I love this place. I know I said this a few times already, but the people, the fans here have been so amazing! I can’t wait to come back again next year. And a very big congratulations to the organisers, they did a fantastic job for their first time here.
“People were asking me: how good is this win? Honestly, to make a minute back – like we did in Sardinia earlier this year – is special. This can’t be better than winning in Estonia, but maybe it’s equal to that result. Thank you so much to the whole team at Printsport and to everybody at Toyota for making this awesome Yaris!
“It was Elliott’s birthday on Friday. He told me the best present I could give to him was a win on Sunday… happy birthday, mate!”
Summary
Let’s take a look then at the teams and drivers. Toyota once again were right at the front of the field after Adrien was passed by first Kalle and then Seb after the problems he faced. Incredibly the only crew not to have a tyre failure was Elfyn and Scott and this drive delivered a brilliant second place and a small increase in the points gap over their teammates.
At Hyundai they did have moments of pace and took stage wins along the way. Two of their crews led the rally, but ultimately they didn’t take victory due to a number of factors including tyre failures. It was surprise to see the team retire Adrien from the rally, but perhaps they were looking to assist Ott score a few more points.
Finally at M-Sport it was a learning time again for their young crews. The problems they faced both on the stages and with their cars will have helped them learn a huge amount. Let’s see how things go in Chile next time out.
Next up is Rally Chile which is from the 11 to 14 of September.
2025 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers’ Standings
After round 10
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2025 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers’ Standings
After round 10
| 1 | Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team | 513 |
| 2 | Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team | 413 |
| 3 | M-Sport Ford World Rally Team | 143 |
| 4 | Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team 2 | 96 |
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