WRC2
Blockbuster WRC2 field and Paddon gravel return headline Paraguay entry
A blockbuster WRC2 line-up and Hayden Paddon’s first top-level gravel start since 2018 headline the 60-car entry list for ueno Rally del Paraguay from 27 - 30 August.
Twenty-five crews are registered to compete for WRC2 honours, with the depth of proven winners, champions and leading South American talent putting this year’s field alongside the inaugural 2025 edition as one of the strongest ever assembled for a WRC round outside of Europe.
Robert Virves arrives as the category’s form driver after extending his unbeaten 2026 record to four victories from four starts at Secto Rally Finland. The Estonian will again drive a Toksport-run Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 alongside co-driver Jakko Viilo.
His opposition includes both factory Lancia Corse HF crews, with Yohan Rossel and Nikolay Gryazin entered in a pair of Ypsilon Rally2 HFs. Both drivers have already delivered WRC2 victories for the returning Italian marque this season, while Rossel was also among the frontrunners on Paraguay’s championship debut last August.
Alejandro Cachón and Gus Greensmith strengthen Toyota’s presence, while Yuki Yamamoto also returns in a GR Yaris Rally2. M-Sport Ford fields Romet Jürgenson in a Fiesta Rally2, with Australia’s Taylor Gill joining Virves under the Toksport WRT2 banner in another Fabia RS.
The international regulars will face a formidable home challenge. Fifteen of the WRC2-registered crews are headed by Paraguayan drivers, led by 2024 WRC3 champion Diego Domínguez and Fau Zaldívar.
Gustavo Saba, Alejandro Galanti, Augusto Bestard and the three generations of the Zaldívar family are among the other local names, while Bolivian Marco Bulacia adds further South American firepower. Toyota, Škoda, Lancia, Ford and Volkswagen machinery will all be represented in the category.
At the head of the field, reigning Paraguay winner Sébastien Ogier is set to start as part of a five-car Toyota Gazoo Racing attack. The Frenchman is joined by championship leader Elfyn Evans, back-to-back Estonia and Finland winner Sami Pajari, Takamoto Katsuta and Oliver Solberg. Ogier recovered from a Friday tyre deflation to win Paraguay’s maiden WRC encounter in 2025.
Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team counters with Thierry Neuville, Adrien Fourmaux and Paddon, whose inclusion provides one of the entry list’s biggest talking points.
The New Zealander’s three Rally1 appearances since returning to Hyundai this season have all come on asphalt-based events, highlighted by a podium finish at Croatia Rally. Paraguay therefore marks his first opportunity in the i20 N Rally1 on the surface with which he is most closely associated.
Paddon’s last top-level WRC gravel start came at Rally Australia in November 2018, where he finished second. He and John Kennard now return to South America a decade after claiming their landmark maiden WRC victory together at Rally Argentina.
M-Sport Ford completes the 10-car Rally1 field with its regular pairing of Josh McErlean and Jon Armstrong, while seven registered WRC3 crews and a strong contingent of Rally4 machinery complete the entry.
The championship returns to the red-earth roads around Encarnación from 27 - 30 August, four weeks after the conclusion of Secto Rally Finland.
View the full entry list here.
