Third Consecutive WRC3 Podium for Indian Duo Puligilla & Sherif. With 3rd Place in Paraguay

ENCARNACIÓN, Paraguay – August 31, 2026 –Indian rally duo Naveen Puligilla and Musa Sherif have done it again. The pair secured third place in the WRC3 category at Rally del Paraguay, the 11th round of the FIA World Rally Championship, marking their third consecutive podium finish in the class.

Driving their Ford Fiesta Rally3 for Team Duran Racing, the Hyderabad-based driver and his veteran co-driver from Kasaragod conquered the demanding 22 red-gravel special stages covering 357.64 km around Encarnación. The result completes a remarkable hat-trick of podiums for the pair, who finished second at Rally Saudi Arabia in November 2025 and third at Safari Rally Kenya earlier this year.

"We are absolutely thrilled with this result," said Puligilla. "Paraguay is a unique challenge with its high-speed stages, changing grip and very tight margins. To stand on the podium here, alongside our previous results in Saudi Arabia and Kenya, is a testament to the hard work of the entire team. Musa's experience and our synergy in the car have been the key to this consistency."

Musa Sherif, an eight-time Indian national rally champion co-driver with nearly 35 years of experience in over 350 rallies, added: "Each rally has tested us differently – from the deserts of Saudi Arabia to the unforgiving terrain of Kenya and now the soft gravel of Paraguay. To achieve three podiums in a row at this level is something very special."

The pair in November 2025 became the first all-Indian driver-co-driver combination to secure a podium in any WRC class. They have now built on that achievement with two more podium finishes in 2026, firmly establishing themselves as a force in the WRC3 category.