Sami Pajari is firmly in the fight for the 2026 title, in a close battle with his teammate Elfyn Evans, who, despite narrowly missing out on the podium by just a few seconds, remains at the top of the 2026 WRC standings, now with only a 20-point advantage over Pajari. It was the Toyota driver's third consecutive victory and, after Estonia and Finland, he secured a hard-fought win on an even more demanding terrain, as demonstrated in Paraguay. The first competitive day was absolutely devastating for a number of contenders, with the condition of the roads causing no fewer than 27 punctures.
Toyota's colours stood out on the podium thanks to Sami Pajari's victory, but Hyundai claimed second place with New Zealander Hayden Paddon and third with Adrien Fourmaux, perhaps highlighting the resilience of its cars in the appalling conditions of the South American rally's roads. In fact, it was Paddon and Fourmaux who set the pace from a very early stage. M-Sport Ford also made a strong impression at the beginning, with the Puma Rally1s of Josh McErlean and John Armstrong standing out. For Toyota, the expected reactions to the many surprises came from Paddon and Fourmaux, while title contender Sébastien Ogier was left with no chance of achieving a strong result, despite going all-in on Super Sunday and the Power Stage, just as Elfyn Evans did in his pursuit of precious points for the championship lead.
WRC2: home victory for Diego Dominguez
Lancia secures teams' title in the category
There were celebrations for Paraguayan Diego Dominguez, who managed to set a pace he is accustomed to on this type of surface, despite Gus Greensmith doing everything he could to claim victory. Knowledge of the terrain was indeed crucial in this Paraguayan rally, with local driver Alexander Galanti finishing third in WRC2, albeit a considerable distance behind Greensmith.
It was precisely in this category that this year's title was already decided. After a genuine battle between the Lancia drivers Nikolay Gryazin and Yohan Rossel, the two finished just 10.1 seconds apart, with Gryazin getting the better of Rossel and once again proving the durability of the new Italian cars.
After Paraguay, Elfyn Evans remains in control of the WRC standings with 216 points, followed closely by Sami Pajari on 196 and Oliver Solberg on 175. Further back are Takamoto Katsuta (160), Adrien Fourmaux (149) and Sébastien Ogier (148).
Among the manufacturers, Toyota continues to dominate. The 2026 WRC season remains in South America and heads back to Chile from 10 to 13 September.