Rally Paraguay - The journey into the unknown

The summer in Europe is slowly coming to an end, the run of high-speed, flat-out blasts in the European forests is over - the FIA World Rally Championship now jets off to the Americas for two long-haul, tough South American events to begin the exciting championship run in and what a battle we have for the 2025 title!

Rally del Paraguay is next on the calendar - a journey into the complete unknown for the world championship teams. A level playing field for all crews with this exciting new event, that could well cause a real shake-up in the standings. This season has seen twists and turns galore when it comes to the form book and just when one crew is in the ascendancy - another drops to scrambling for points or having to sit on the sidelines. 

Speaking of sidelines to Summit - nobody fits this mould better than Kalle Rovanperä, who was left trailing in the wake of his rivals in Greece and Estonia to ripping up the form book to deliver a Herculean drive in his own backyard to win his first Rally Finland and lead a historic Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. The Finn looked down and out in Greece - lost at sea with set-up and masterminding the new for 2025 Hankook tyres becoming a real struggle. The two-time world champion was perhaps playing mind games with his rivals or he unlocked something special on home soil - either way Kalle sits only three points off the top of the table with five rounds to go.

Back to the top spot - a position he lost two rounds ago in Estonia is British driver Elfyn Evans. The Welshman has never been out the points this year and is the only driver in the top four title fight to have scored so highly, consistently and so regularly. Running first on the road will be a tough pill to swallow once again - but something the Toyota Yaris Rally1 driver can handle. The new almost unknown characteristics of the stages will raise more questions than answers at this stage as some of the road surface is similar to European gravel but in places could be more like the African Safari with a soft surface that breaks up and becomes rutted with more cars and more passes. It will be interesting to see how Elfyn copes upfront once again.

Sébastien Ogier - despite missing three rounds is third in the championship and thirteen points back from teammate Evans. The eight-time world champion has recently committed to the rest of the season - with the part-time driver now going full-time as he goes in search of a record equalling nine titles. The Frenchman has good form on new events and sitting third in the running order could be of benefit - as it's not too far back, nor is it roadsweeper - the DAZN News tip for the win - you can’t go too far wrong with Ogier.

The final driver realistically in the title fight still is Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team driver Ott Tänak. It was all going so well for the Estonian when the Championship landed in Europe back in May - everything just clicked with a run of podiums to drag him to the top of the pile. A disappointing Rally Finland which resulted in just one point has put him from first down to fourth - showing how close it is in the race at the front. The never give up attitude will see Ott be there or thereabouts this weekend, but rivals beware - Tänak is at his most dangerous when he is hunting from behind.

Japanese driver Takamoto Katsuta, like stablemate Rovanperä, looked down and out with his head in his hands after a dry spell of no points secured for employer Toyota. His position within the team was on thin ice when drivers like Oliver Solberg came in and did the business in a one-off drive. Katsuta revels in the high-speed rallies and like Rally Sweden at the start of the year - hit the ground running in Finland and flew to second overall. The entire rallying world would love to see Katsuta on the top-step - a new event could well help him against his more experienced rivals.

2024 Champion Thierry Neuville has been a shadow of his title-striving self and only has two podiums so far this season. The Belgian has been challenging for wins - but for one reason or another falls at the final hurdle. What would success look like in 2025 for Neuville? A win is desperately needed to keep his motivation and mojo before the season is out. Hyundai teammate Adrien Fourmaux also has two podiums but a spate of crashes and reliability issues has dogged his year heavily. Granted, the likeable Frenchman needed time to adapt to his new i20 Rally1 machine as well as a new team - but at this level with only five events left he will look to gather more podiums to show just why the Korean firm recruited his services. 

Everyone knew Toyota young-gun Sami Pajari would take time to adapt from the WRC2 Yaris he was in last year to the full-blown Rally1 spec car in 2025. His form has been consistent with a few flashes of brilliance. More top five results would be a solid aim for the year - but on new events like Paraguay - this is where he should step it up a gear when everyone is on a level playing field.

The British-based, M-Sport Ford World Rally team have had a season-best of fifth and would love something a little higher, maybe even a trophy to take back to their Cumbrian base. There are just two Puma Rally1 cars heading to South America with full-time recruits Grégoire Munster and Josh McErlean the hopes for M-Sport. Both have very little experience against the factory teams and drivers in front - but have shown if anything happens ahead they are there to pounce. There is just one point between the two drivers, and if anything else this battle will be one to watch to see who comes out on top in 2025.

In the WRC2 support category - the title chase is heating up nicely. Most of the major protagonists are flying out to Paraguay in the search of big points. Oliver Solberg (Toyota Yaris), Yohan Rossel (Citroen C3), Gus Greensmith (Skoda Fabia) and Robert Virves (Skoda Fabia) are all present and correct. A DAZN News tip - look out for Marco Bulacia - he won the candidate event last year so will have some knowledge of the conditions and what to expect coming into the rally this week.  

Watch WRC on DAZN

Follow all the action of the FIA World Rally Championship LIVE this weekend from Paraguay 29th -31st August. Three days not to be missed! The 2025 World Rally Championship is available through DAZN on its own dedicated app channel,  Rally TV. It is available either as a dedicated Rally TV subscription, or as part of your existing DAZN subscription for a small add-on fee.

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