Jon Armstrong has retired from Rally del Paraguay after hitting a bank and destroying the left-rear corner of his Ford Puma Rally1, with his M-Sport team-mate Josh McErlean also struggling through Sunday’s stages with technical issues.
An impact with a bank knocked the left-rear suspension of Armstrong’s car sideways on Artigas Oeste, the wheel being dragged along at a 45-degree angle to the finish line. Though he made the end of SS20, he could not repair the significant damage and had to retire on the road section.
“There was a lot les grip than what I was expecting,” said Armstrong at the finish. “We ran wide and touched a bank with the rear.
“At the moment of driving to the end I knew there was quite a bit of damage but you don’t know fully ifi t’s something you can repair with an arm. But it’s even pulled the damper out of its mount, so quite a bit of damage.
The damage sustained to Armstrong's car was insurmountable to fix on the road section
“I’m really frustrated because we didn’t have much to fight for. We were back in seventh place, which would be a good position for us. Where we went wide, the surface changed a bit more, sort of a sandy surface, there was a bump into the right hander. When we went over the bump and the wheels touched the road again, you’re braking and trying to make the maneuaver for the corner, and the front just ocmpletely washed out.
“OK, you can try to go slower in those scenarios but if you do that on every corner, you’re going to drop 30s, never mind 10. That’s always the hard part, to really understand what the strategy should be. I don’t really know. I’m struggling to get a clean finish at the moment so we need to regroup, go to Chile and see if we can have a clean rally.”
McErlean, who is sixth overall, is managing several issues aboard his Puma. The gear shift mechanism snapped one kilometer into Sunday’s second stage, forcing him to reach to the floor and push the selector rod horizontally, rather than utilising the vertical shifter as normal.
Though a fix with a 10mm spanner to reconnect the snapped shifter was a successful – albeit delicate – repair by McErlean for SS20, there were also several warning lights showing on his dashboard. One of these was “FP low,” suggesting there may be a fuel pressure issue aboard his car.
There is a three minute gap from McErlean in sixth to WRC2 leader Diego Domínguez in seventh, so the lead M-Sport driver’s position is likely safe if he can cruise through the final two stages.
Adrien Fourmaux continued his relentless march up the timesheets, taking third place from Elfyn Evans on Sunday’s opening stage and then extending the gap to 3.8s after SS20.
Evans admitted he wasn’t able to drive as fast as he had earlier in the rally: “I don’t seem to be able to find the same rhythm as we did earlier in the weekend,” he said. “You have to drive well also, which we’re not maximising at the minute.”
Sami Pajari’s rally lead is up to 26.1s, with second-placed Hayden Paddon admitting he was not at maximum push and concentrating on preserving his second place.
“I’m just trying to manage the gap to Adrien and Elfyn behind,” said Paddon. “We’re not trying to match them, just manage it and keep the pressure on Sami.
“I’m trying to enjoy it but the nerves start ramping up as the day goes on as well.”
Fifth-placed Oliver Solberg’s advantage over McErlean is now clear of a minute amid the Irishman’s issues and is second in the Sunday classification, 2.2s slower than his pace-setting Toyota team-mate Sébastien Ogier.
