Paraguay delivers drama, damage and Irish grit on bruising WRC weekend
Rally del Paraguay served up a punishing weekend of mud, punctures and broken machinery, with Irish crews at the centre of several of the event’s biggest stories.
Takamoto Katsuta, with Fintona navigator Aaron Johnston alongside him, endured one of the most dramatic moments of Rally del Paraguay when their Toyota GR YARIS Rally1 rolled after Katsuta lost the rear of the car and struck a small bank on the inside of the road.
Johnston sustained injuries that rule him out of the following round of the series.
Yuki Yamamoto, part of Toyota’s WRC Challenge Program GEN2, had Cavan’s James Fulton on the notes during a rally that tested the crew from the opening loop. They finished the event 21st Overall.
McErlean and Treacy equal best WRC finish
Josh McErlean and Eoin Treacy made immediate use of last year’s experience, attacking the opening day with confidence and going second fastest on the second stage to move up to fourth overall. A third-fastest time on SS3 lifted them to second overall by lunchtime service as several rivals were caught out by the difficult conditions.
The afternoon loop proved more costly. Although the pair continued to show strong pace in the Puma Rally1, a puncture on SS7 forced them to stop mid-stage and change the tyre, dropping them to fifth overall — a position they carried overnight into Saturday.
Buoyed by their Friday performance, the pair went into Saturday determined to hold onto their hard-earned place in the overall standings. Keeping a measured pace through the morning loop, they held fifth heading into midday service.
The pressure grew in the afternoon as the Swedish driver Solberg chipped away at the gap on each stage. Despite fighting hard all afternoon, the Irish pair were passed by Solberg on the final stage of the day, ending Saturday sixth ahead of Sunday's four stages.
Sunday demanded caution as the muddy roads left little margin for error, but McErlean and Treacy kept the car moving despite a broken gear stick that threatened to derail their result. A quick-thinking repair using a toolkit spanner helped them reach the finish, where eighth fastest on the Power Stage secured sixth overall, matched their best WRC result to date and sent them towards Rally Chile with renewed confidence.
Reflecting on a demanding but productive weekend, Kilrea’s McErlean said: “So, that’s Paraguay finished. Sixth overall, equal to our best WRC result. All in all, it’s been a positive weekend. Obviously, it was very tricky with the conditions and everything that Paraguay threw at us. But Friday was strong. Up until the puncture, we were essentially fighting for the podium.
“Saturday was a bit more tricky with the setup and, obviously, the weather we were expecting. But we had some issues on Sunday, managed to fix them and get to the finish. So, all in all, a positive weekend and hopefully we can keep improving our pace going into Chile.”
Armstrong and Byrne show pace before retirement
Kesh driving ace Jon Armstrong and Shane Byrne opened their weekend in eye-catching fashion, going joint-third fastest on SS2 and sitting just 0.1s behind team-mate McErlean, which placed them fifth overall. The rally turned on SS3, however, when Armstrong hit a rock and picked up a puncture. As the tyre tore apart on the abrasive surface, brake damage sent the pair spinning downhill before they nursed the car through the stage, made an interim repair and continued through the Autodromo Super Special Stage to reach midday service.
With the car badly damaged, the team worked through the 30-minute service to repair it. Leaving the bay 14 minutes late brought a 2m 20s penalty, dropping the pair to 16th overall. A consistent afternoon loop saw them recover two places to end the day 14th, ready to start afresh on Saturday.
Saturday showed what might have been. Armstrong stayed close to McErlean on stage times, went fourth fastest on SS11 and third fastest on SS12 — 0.3s quicker than Solberg — and climbed back to 10th overall by midday. More consistent pace in the loose afternoon conditions, including fifth-fastest on SS16, moved the Irish pair up to eighth by Saturday evening, completing an impressive recovery from Friday’s problems.
The comeback, though, ended on Sunday. After two strong opening stages Armstrong was running seventh overall and on course to finish behind team-mate McErlean, but a moment on SS20 saw him clip a bank and damage the rear-left suspension. The crew reached the end of the stage, but the car could go no further, bringing their first Rally del Paraguay to an early close.
Armstrong was left frustrated after another promising result slipped away. “So, Rally Paraguay. We had quite a good start on Friday with some good times, but then we got a puncture that we drove on, which ended up damaging the brakes. Then we spun and damaged the car. Friday ended up losing us a lot of time with the repairs we needed to do in service. Then Saturday was a strong day, with some good stage times, and we clawed our way back up to seventh on Sunday.
“Then, three stages from the end, we came to a section that changed surface slightly. We didn’t have quite as much grip as we were expecting, so we went a bit wide, touched a bank and broke the rear suspension.
“So, yeah, really frustrating not to get a result. It’s a bit tricky at the moment because there have been a few results that we’ve missed out on, but we’re going to try and do our best to finish out the year strong now, with Chile coming up next.”
Yamamoto and Fulton brought their Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 to the finish 21st overall, adding another Irish co-driver storyline to a demanding Rally del Paraguay.