Rallying-Pajari heading for third win in a row

Aug 30 - Toyota's Sami Pajari was heading for his third win in a row after ending the penultimate leg of Rally Paraguay with a 24.1-second lead on Saturday.

The Finn, winner in Estonia and Finland, had been 11.9 seconds clear of New Zealander Hayden Paddon at the start of the day and managed his tyres to stretch his advantage over the largely dry day's nine stages to move within five of victory.

"For me this is a different challenge than Estonia and Finland," said Pajari, who lost part of his rear wing when he ran wide in stage 11.

"It is more about surviving. Many things can go wrong still tomorrow."

Hyundai's Paddon ended the day 32.2 seconds clear of Toyota's world championship leader Elfyn Evans with Hyundai's Adrien Fourmaux challenging for the podium in fourth after winning five stages and closing the gap to 3.3 seconds after starting Saturday 55 seconds behind.

Welshman Evans said Fourmaux, a distant sixth in the standings, was able to take risks because he had less to lose than others.

“Adrien, to be fair, has been in a different rally to everyone else,” he said. “He is risking everything, but let’s see tomorrow.”

Evans leads Pajari by 30 points in the standings with three rounds remaining after Paraguay. REUTERS