Pajari makes history with third consecutive WRC win in Paraguay

Historic hat-trick for Pajari

Sami Pajari has become the first driver in World Rally Championship history to take his first three career wins back-to-back, adding Rally del Paraguay victory to his wins in Estonia and Finland during the last six weeks. The 25-year-old Finn, co-driven by Marko Salminen, finished 25.8 seconds ahead of Hyundai's Hayden Paddon, as reported by both Autosport and DirtFish.

"It's a really proud moment, I'm really happy," Pajari said at the finish. "I don't know how we are on the points but we're still trying to do the best we can, which is also not going too bad at the moment. So happy for that. It's still a lot of points but I hope we have three rallies left, so anything is possible. We just need to keep pushing."

According to Autosport, Pajari also told the outlet that the win tastes even sweeter given the difficulty of the rally. "Someone told me that nobody has ever done it [claim their first three WRC wins in a row] before so it makes it really special," he said. "It was a crazy rally and we expected heavy rains and it was not only our team that was wrong with the forecast."

A rally of survival

Rally Paraguay lived up to predictions of being a battle of survival, with rough roads, hot temperatures and long stage loops on Friday literally ripping tyres to shreds, as described by Autosport. DirtFish reported that a manic Friday featured punctures and delaminations for the majority of drivers, with Pajari taking the lead when championship leader Elfyn Evans suffered a puncture on SS7.

Pajari's path to victory was not without its own challenges. According to Autosport, a water leak on his GR Yaris on Friday morning restricted his speed, leaving him as low as seventh after two stages. However, he fought back and took a one-second lead over Paddon into the final day. Interestingly, Pajari won only one of the 22 stages, as reported by Autosport.

Hayden Paddon held second position all the way to the end on his first outing on gravel for Hyundai in the Rally1 era, a result that gave him his second podium finish of 2026, according to DirtFish. Paddon had been the early leader of the rally but fell back after suffering a puncture on stage six, as reported by DirtFish.

Title race tightens

The victory puts Pajari 20 points behind Evans in the title race, with three rounds remaining, as reported by both Autosport and DirtFish. Evans, who finished fourth, lost 10 points to Pajari in the title race, according to DirtFish. Evans admitted he didn't have the pace to challenge for victory, as reported by DirtFish, and he was able to pick up one powerstage point and two points for being fourth-fastest across the four Sunday stages that ran, after SS21 was cancelled due to Takamoto Katsuta's crash.

Adrien Fourmaux took third from Evans on the final day, having fallen back on Friday with a double delamination on SS7. Fourmaux racked up nine fastest times, more than any other driver, according to DirtFish. "It's been an incredible weekend," said Fourmaux. "I think we deserved the win but to be 1m50s out of the win on Friday night and coming back to less than 50s, is something unbelievable. What a weekend. It's a shame for the tires but at the same time it was a very good fight for us to come back, I really pushed myself to the last bit."

Rivals hit by mechanical issues

The rough conditions took a toll on many of Pajari's rivals. Takamoto Katsuta rolled his GR Yaris in the opening Cambyreta test and later retired, according to Autosport; DirtFish noted that he and co-driver Aaron Johnston were taken to hospital for precautionary checks. Sébastien Ogier suffered a left-rear puncture and later retired due to suspension damage, as reported by Autosport. Thierry Neuville also suffered a puncture and later had terminal suspension failure, according to Autosport.

Oliver Solberg rounded out the top five and won the powerstage, as reported by DirtFish. According to Autosport, Solberg had engine power loss due to a faulty starter motor and a right-rear puncture. Elfyn Evans had a right-rear delaminated tyre and finished fourth, as reported by both outlets.

Josh McErlean equalled his career-best result despite technical issues besetting his Ford Puma on the final day, finishing seventh overall, according to DirtFish. Autosport reported that McErlean repaired a snapped gear lever with a spanner and jubilee clip during the rally. Jon Armstrong incurred a 2m20s penalty for being late out of service and later broke rear suspension, as reported by Autosport.

Diego Domínguez took his first WRC2 win on home soil and seventh place overall, as reported by DirtFish.

Tyre wear and official apology

Hankook's Steven Cho said on Friday that tyre wear was much more than expected, as reported by Autosport, highlighting the extreme demands of the Paraguayan stages.

In a separate incident, Sébastien Ogier apologized to FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem and Paraguay president Santiago Pena for an "out of line interaction," as reported by Autosport. The apology came after the event, though no further details were provided in the reports.