TOYOTA GAZOO Racing heads to Rally Paraguay with its first opportunity to secure the 2026 FIA World Rally Championship manufacturers’ title, as the championship begins a two-round run on South American gravel.

“In Paraguay we will have our first opportunity to secure the manufacturers’ title, but we are not expecting that to be easy,” Deputy Team Principal Juha Kankkunen said. “We found out last year when we did this rally for the first time just how challenging the roads and the conditions can be there.”

Toyota arrives at round 11 with a 174-point advantage in the manufacturers’ standings following strong performances in Estonia and Finland. Increasing that advantage by at least six points in Paraguay would be enough to secure a sixth consecutive manufacturers’ crown.

The team also occupies the top five positions in the drivers’ championship. Elfyn Evans leads by 30 points, with Sami Pajari now his nearest challenger after claiming back-to-back victories in Estonia and Finland.

Takamoto Katsuta sits 41 points behind Evans, with Oliver Solberg 45 points off the lead.

Sébastien Ogier returns alongside regular co-driver Vincent Landais after his Rally Finland accident. The nine-time world champion is 62 points behind Evans and heads back to an event he won when Paraguay made its WRC debut in 2025.

“Even if our championship hopes are more or less over, we still want to aim for the top step in each of the remaining rallies this year, and help the team secure the manufacturers’ title,” Ogier said.

Paraguay presents a distinctive challenge, with its fast red-clay roads offering changing levels of grip alongside significant bumps and sharp rocks. Rain can make the already polished surface particularly difficult.

Championship leader Evans experienced those conditions first-hand last year.

“On paper the stages looked quite straightforward with many long straights and junctions, but the rally was made far more difficult by the polished clay surface and the changing grip levels,” Evans said.

The rally gets underway following Thursday evening’s ceremonial start in Encarnación. Friday features the longest day of competition with 153.78 kilometres of stages, followed by further action on Saturday and five stages to decide the rally on Sunday.

Rally Paraguay takes place from August 27-30 and will be followed two weeks later by Rally Chile.