WRC2
Domínguez delights home crowd with WRC2 lead in Paraguay
Diego Domínguez ended a punishing opening day at ueno Rally del Paraguay with a 39.4sec WRC2 lead over Gus Greensmith after a Friday of heavy attrition on the red-earth roads around Encarnación.
The Paraguayan negotiated a chaotic opening eight stages better than most to reach the overnight halt 39.4sec clear of Gus Greensmith, while also holding an impressive sixth place in the rally’s overall classification.
Domínguez was never completely immune from the problems which swept through the field. A front-left puncture struck late on the second pass of Nueva Alborada, but his advantage over Greensmith actually grew to 31.6sec there before reaching 39.4sec by the end of the day.
“It has been my dream since last year,” he said after the final Autódromo Alfredo Scheid test. “It’s really unbelievable.
“We just enjoy it. Never stop enjoying it, just keep driving.”
Behind him, Greensmith emerged in second after adopting a measured approach on a day dominated by tyre delaminations and rapidly changing grip.
The Briton suffered a rear tyre delamination on the afternoon run through the 33.88km Yerbatera test but managed the problem to the finish and remained comfortably in the runner-up position.
“It’s been a tricky day,” Greensmith admitted. “There’s been lots of problems for a lot of people. It’s a long day tomorrow and the rain’s going to make all the difference.”
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Marco Bulacia completed Friday third in WRC2, 1min 25.4sec from Domínguez, with Romet Jürgenson another 35.5sec behind in fourth.
Just 2.9sec separates Jürgenson from local favourite Fau Zaldivar in fifth. Zaldivar endured a puncture during Friday morning and admitted he had struggled to find the performance he expected, but recovered strongly during the afternoon and was fastest among the Rally2 runners on the second Yerbatera pass.
“We survived the day,” he said. “We lost maybe all our possibilities to fight for something more, but we managed to finish. We need to clear our head today and start again tomorrow.”
Alejandro Galanti made it three Paraguayan drivers inside the top six, just 5.7sec behind Zaldivar, while Taylor Gill completed the leading seven at 2min 24.1sec from the lead.
For several pre-event favourites, the opening day proved far less forgiving.
Championship leader Robert Virves’ hopes suffered an almost immediate blow when he went off at the same location as Takamoto Katsuta on Friday’s opening Cambyreta stage. Although the Estonian continued later in the day, his challenge for a fifth consecutive WRC2 victory was effectively over.
Alejandro Cachón also rolled his Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 on SS1, while Lancia team-mates Yohan Rossel and Nikolay Gryazin endured difficult days of their own. Rossel was forced to stop and change wheels on both Yerbatera 1 and Cambyreta 2, while Gryazin spent much of Friday without a functioning handbrake.
