Solberg stages comeback in Paraguay and closes in on WRC2 title

Oliver Solberg claimed victory at the debut of the Rally Paraguay on the WRC2 calendar, completing a comeback that solidifies his lead in the championship with an 11-point advantage over Yohan Rossel. The driver of the Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 overcame Friday's setbacks to win the South American event.

Friday setback relegates Solberg to tenth place

The opening day seemed to be steering Solberg towards a comfortable victory. He won six of the eight special stages on Friday, but a wheel change in SS3 cost him over a minute and relegated him to tenth place in WRC2. This situation seemingly put him out of contention for the win on Paraguayan soil.

Diego Domínguez Jr took the lead to the delight of the local fans, staying out front from SS2 to SS4 before a spin in SS5 dropped him down the order. Yohan Rossel inherited the lead and ended Friday with a 9.1-second advantage over Nikolay Gryazin.

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Perfect Saturday for Solberg's comeback

Saturday changed the course of the weekend. Solberg executed a perfect comeback by winning all seven stages of the day, climbing from sixth position to within just 6.5 seconds of leader Robert Virves ahead of the final Sunday. The driver of the Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 had taken the lead when Gryazin also had to change a wheel.

It's been an intense day. We won every stage and, after the puncture yesterday, I didn't expect to be back in this position.

Virves goes off road and Solberg takes the lead

The four stages on Sunday took place with intermittent rain that complicated conditions. Virves lost time after going off the road in the first stage, allowing Solberg to take the lead. The Toyota driver added two more stage wins to seal the victory ahead of Rossel.

Gryazin completed the podium despite his problems on Saturday, while Fabrizio Zaldivar climbed to fifth place when Virves had to change a wheel on the penultimate stage. The Paraguayan driver became the top local finisher after the retirement of Diego Domínguez Jr. due to an oil leak.

Solberg extends his lead in the standings

With this victory, Solberg accumulates 110 points in the WRC2 championship, leading Rossel (99 points) by 11 units. Roope Korhonen remains third with 69 points, followed by Robert Virves (60) and Gus Greensmith (57). The fourth victory of the year places Solberg in a privileged position for the remaining dates on the calendar.

Final Results - Rally Paraguay WRC2

Pos.	No.	Driver	Co-Driver	Car	Total Time
1	#20	Oliver SOLBERG	Elliott EDMONDSON	GR Yaris	03:07:00.4
2	#21	Yohan ROSSEL	Arnaud DUNAND	C3	03:07:22.9
3	#26	Nikolay GRYAZIN	Konstantin ALEKSANDROV	Fabia RS	03:08:54.8
4	#25	Fabrizio ZALDIVAR	Marcelo DER OHANNESIAN	Fabia RS	03:09:23.6
5	#23	Robert VIRVES	Jakko VIILO	Fabia RS	03:09:32.6
6	#36	Augusto BESTARD	Borja ROZADA	Fabia RS	03:13:33.6
7	#34	Tiago WEILER	Juan SÁNCHEZ	GR Yaris	03:18:00.0
8	#40	Franco PAPPALARDO	Juan Pablo CARRERA	Fabia RS	03:18:11.3
9	#38	Miguel ZALDIVAR SR.	Rubén GARCÍA	Fabia RS	03:20:28.9
10	#30	Alejandro GALANTI	Marcelo TOYOTOSHI	GR Yaris	03:31:31.8