The grip changes were a lot more extreme than the WRC's finest had predicted after recce
Photography by Toyota
Words by Luke Barry
As a dress rehearsal to one of the most unpredictable rounds of the World Rally Championship rounds in years, Thursday morning’s Rally del Paraguay shakedown was just perfect. The message was clear: expect the unexpected.
Toyota driver Takamoto Katsuta’s fastest time through the three-mile Trinidad stage was far from unexpected, but the evolution of the road conditions caught plenty of drivers by surprise.
“I can already feel in shakedown that it won’t be an easy weekend,” said Sébastien Ogier. “Grip is changing a lot, it’s hard to read and it’s all happening at high speed.”
Ott Tänak added: “From shakedown it looks much more tricky than anticipated. The grip changes are massive so it’s a tricky surface.”
Sami Pajari said his idea of what the roads would be like “changed completely now after shakedown”, with WRC2 contender Gus Greensmith remarking the grip was even changing through a corner.
Nevertheless, it was Katsuta who set the pace in his Toyota, 0.6s clear of Tänak who equalled outpaced his Hyundai team-mate Neuville by 0.4s.
Kalle Rovanperä set exactly the same time as Neuville but was a tenth ahead of world championship leader Elfyn Evans. Ogier was sixth, although fastest after the first pass of the three-mile test.
Sami Pajari was just 0.1s down on Ogier and 0.2s up on Adrien Fourmaux, with Josh McErlean and Grégoire Munster completing the top 10; Munster 1.1s adrift of his M-Sport team-mate.
On a weekend where all are seeking victory to boost their title campaigns, Nikolay Gryazin was quickest in WRC2 by 0.7s ahead of Gus Greensmith. Fellow title contenders Yohan Rossel and Oliver Solberg were third and fourth respectively.
Words:Luke Barry
Tags: Rally del Paraguay, Rally del Paraguay 2025, Shakedown, WRC, WRC 2025
Publish Date August 28, 2025 DirtFish
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