Pajari leads as spate of punctures shake up leaderboard

Sami Pajari claimed the Rally Paraguay lead after emerging from a punishing opening day headlined by a series of punctures and crashes that shook up the World Rally Championship leaderboard.

Pajari and co-driver Marko Salminen, chasing a third WRC win after wins in Estonia and Finland, started the afternoon loop fourth overall and 33.2s from the lead. The Finnish pairing were delayed by a water leak on their GR Yaris in the morning, but ended the day as the only Rally1 crew to avoid the tyre problems that plagued Friday’s gravel stages.

Pajari capitalised on punctures and delaminations for Elfyn Evans and Hayden