Sébastien Ogier Claims First-Ever Rally Paraguay Victory, Toyota Equals Citroën’s WRC Record
Sébastien Ogier won the inaugural edition of Rally Paraguay, delivering Toyota its 102nd WRC victory and equalling Citroën’s long-standing record. The Frenchman staged a remarkable recovery after suffering a puncture on the opening day, and his triumph firmly places him in contention for another world title.
The World Rally Championship made its debut in South America’s Paraguay, the 38th nation to host a WRC round. The event was deemed a success, as highlighted by Timo Rautiainen, current WRC Director and former co-driver to Marcus Grönholm. A sizeable Paraguayan delegation had attended the previous Vodafone Rally de Portugal to learn from the organisation — preparation that clearly paid dividends. Notably, despite lacking a deep motorsport tradition, Paraguay does boast a world rally champion: Diego Dominguez, who clinched the WRC3 crown in 2024 and is contesting WRC2 this year in a Toyota GR Yaris Rally2.
The tenth round of the season featured 10 Rally1 cars, with drivers competing on equal terms as none had prior experience of the new stages around Encarnación, near the Argentine border. The route comprised 19 stages (333 km) of fast, technical, and slippery gravel with countless jumps. Kalle Rovanperä joked afterwards that he could “hear his back cracking on the landings.”
Toyota has dominated this year’s championship with nine wins from ten rallies, but in Paraguay Hyundai was competitive, and Adrien Fourmaux came close to securing the best result of his career. The sporting spectacle was intense, with Rovanperä, Fourmaux, and Ogier all leading at various points. Each suffered punctures, but Ogier lost the least time and secured his 18th victory with Toyota — extending his record as the marque’s most successful driver.
The opening leg, the rally’s longest at 140 km over eight stages, was fiercely contested. Ogier set four fastest times but lost ground with a puncture. Both Toyota and Hyundai fought at the front, with Rovanperä and Fourmaux sharing the lead before the latter also punctured. By day’s end, just 17.8 seconds separated Rovanperä, Fourmaux, Ott Tänak, and Ogier.
Day two delivered a thrilling duel between Toyota teammates Ogier and Rovanperä, who won every stage between them. Rovanperä led until the penultimate stage, where a puncture cost him two and a half minutes and ended his hopes. Ogier, pushing to the limit and gambling on carrying only one spare tyre, rose from fourth to first, ending the day 10.3 seconds clear of Fourmaux — the hallmark of an eight-time world champion.
The final leg covered just 80 km but promised high drama. Ogier and Fourmaux battled for victory, while Evans, Tänak, and Neuville contested third. The reigning world champion was fastest on both Super Sunday and the Power Stage, collecting 10 bonus points and sealing third place behind Ogier and Evans. Fourmaux, however, endured a heartbreaking retirement just before the final control.
Ogier himself was hampered in the Power Stage by heavy rain, finishing only 10th:
“South America has never been the place where I’ve had the most luck. I was the only one to hit heavy rain on that stage — that’s rallying. But it’s fine, we’ll keep winning. And we will win this championship,” he insisted.
Although visibly frustrated, he acknowledged the achievement:
“We can be very proud of the performance we delivered this weekend. The points don’t reflect that — that’s the only negative. Still, it’s good to stand on the top step of the podium in such a fantastic atmosphere.”
After the Power Stage, drama continued. Fourmaux voluntarily retired to replace sealed transmission components on his Hyundai i20 N Rally1 without incurring penalties for the next round in Chile. His withdrawal promoted Tänak to fourth, earning him two extra championship points.
WRC2 also produced an exciting contest, with five different leaders. Yohan Rossel (Citroën C3 Rally2) led after the opening day, Robert Virves (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) took over on day two, but Oliver Solberg (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) prevailed on the final day. The Swede won 15 of 19 stages, recovering from an early puncture to secure his fourth win of the season and strengthen his WRC2 title bid.
The Toyota drivers remain locked in a tight title fight, with Evans, Rovanperä, and Ogier separated by just nine points. Tänak leads the Hyundai charge, 18 points adrift, with four rallies remaining. Toyota, meanwhile, consolidated its position in the manufacturers’ standings, edging closer to another title after taking nine wins in ten rounds.
The WRC remains in South America with Rally Chile (11–14 September), another gravel event featuring 16 stages across 306 km.
Final Classification
-
Sébastien Ogier / Vincent Landais (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1) – 3h00m06.6
-
Elfyn Evans / Scott Martin (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1) – +26.2s
-
Thierry Neuville / Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) – +27.2s
-
Ott Tänak / Martin Järveoja (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) – +30.6s
-
Kalle Rovanperä / Jonne Halttunen (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1) – +2m05.2
-
Sami Pajari / Marko Salminen (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1) – +3m35.5
-
Oliver Solberg / Elliot Edmondson (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) – +6m53.8 (1st WRC2)
-
Yohan Rossel / Arnaud Dunand (Citroën C3 Rally2) – +7m16.3
-
Nikolay Gryazin / Konstantin Aleksandrov (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) – +8m48.2
-
Fabrizio Zaldivar / Marcelo Der Ohannesian (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) – +9m17.0
Drivers’ Championship Standings
-
Elfyn Evans (Toyota) – 198 pts
-
Kalle Rovanperä (Toyota) – 191 pts
-
Sébastien Ogier (Toyota) – 189 pts
-
Ott Tänak (Hyundai) – 180 pts
-
Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) – 150 pts
Manufacturers’ Championship Standings
-
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT – 513 pts
-
Hyundai World Rally Team – 413 pts
-
M-Sport Ford World Rally Team – 143 pts
-
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT2 – 96 pts