Year: 2025

The first full day in the fourth round of the championship saw Toyota drivers dominate the timesheets on the six stages, whilst the Hyundai crews really struggle. Here’s the story of the today’s action.

First stage, SS1 Valsequillo – Telde 1 – 26.32 km and Kalle was fastest from Elfyn and Seb. The best of the Hyundai crews was Adrien in fourth and almost 13 seconds from the leader. Thierry was even further off the pace at almost 20 seconds away from the leader and in eighth place. It was not a good start for the Belgian crew.

Into SS2 Valleseco – Artenara 1 – 15.27 km and this stage had some interesting conditions, with very low cloud around the middle part of the stage covering the road and some damp spots on the road. Some crews had taken soft tyres in the hope that it would give better grip. Kalle again set the pace from Seb and Elfyn. Seb moved past Elfyn and into second overall. Further back Sami was on the move passing Takamoto and Ott and moved into fifth overall. Meanwhile Thierry continued to struggle and dropped a further 16 seconds back.

The final morning stage then, SS3 La Aldea – Mogán 1 – 17.83 km and Kalle made it three out of three winning this stage from Seb and Elfyn. Adrien remained the top Hyundai driver yet was 34 seconds from Kalle. Takamoto moved up one position to sixth place passing Ott.

After the service break came SS4 Valsequillo – Telde 2 – 26.32 km and Kalle picked up where he left off with the fastest time from Seb and Elfyn third fastest. Sami was also finding the pace out there setting the fourth best time and this took him past Adrien and into fourth overall. Meanwhile Thierry was now almost a minute from the leader. It was really not going well for the driver who was hoping for so much more.

Kalle continued to dominate the timesheets winning SS5 Valleseco – Artenara 2 – 15.27 km from Elfyn and Seb. Takamoto moved up into fifth place with Adrien losing another position as a result. Thierry was a little closer to the pace at the front, yet still remained slower and over a minute behind Kalle.

The final stage then of the day, SS6 La Aldea – Mogán 2 – 17.83 km and it was a clean sweep of stage wins for Toyota and Kalle. Seb and Sami were second and third, whilst championship leader Elfyn was fourth in the stage but was firmly in third overall, a good twenty seconds ahead of Sami.

Let’s take a look at the top positions and hear from the drivers.

Classification after Day One

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Kalle Rovanperä

“I’m really happy with today. Everything came together well, and it’s been a super day for the team overall. It seems we have done our preparation well and it meant we could just enjoy the driving and do a good job. The car is fast, I’m happy with the balance and I can drive it like I want, and our pacenotes have been good as well. Some sections of tomorrow’s stages will be a bit different in character to today, so we need to keep focused, see if we can make the car even better, and try to keep this up.”

Sébastien Ogier

“It’s been a very positive day for the whole team. To fill the top five places after day one is pretty impressive, so well done to our engineers and mechanics for the hard work, adapting to the new tyres as best as we can. Of course, I’m never 100 per cent happy to be second but Kalle was really flying today and there was no way we could match his pace. I think we made some improvements this afternoon in terms of feeling and pace, and we still have some ideas for tomorrow.”

Elfyn Evans

“It’s definitely been a great day for the team today. They’ve done a really good job preparing for this rally. On a personal note, I’m maybe not entirely satisfied and could have done with finding a bit more confidence with the car and a few more seconds to fight with Kalle and Seb, who have been doing a great job. I’m not quite able to follow them at the moment but we’ll try a few changes tonight. Tomorrow’s stages are maybe a bit more abrasive, so it could be a bit more difficult for the tyres, and we have to see what the weather does too.”

Sami Pajari

“Today has been really good and the position we’re in as a team at the end of it is very nice. Personally, I was not completely happy in the morning but then stage-by-stage the feeling has been getting better. In the afternoon we found quite a nice flow, and the times were even more competitive. Of course, when there’s still a bit of a gap to the front, then I’m always thinking about what we can improve so let’s see what we can do for tomorrow.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“It’s been a very nice day for the team. It’s an amazing effort by everybody in preparing the car for our first time here with the WRC. Personally, I’m not completely happy with myself and seem to be missing something, so I just need to improve the speed a little bit. I’m not able to be quite as smooth as you need to be on this kind of rally. Already in the afternoon we changed a few things, and it went in a better direction and hopefully we can find something more for tomorrow.”

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“It is a struggle to find positives from today; it has been tough, and a hard one to swallow. It was difficult to keep our motivation high, but we kept fighting. Martijn and I tried to work on the car between every stage, and we were able to gain two places. We are constantly improving bit by bit, and this afternoon with a bit of adapting to my driving style I was making it work, but we will need to fight for every position tomorrow and Sunday.”

Ott Tänak

“It is very difficult to enjoy the stages when you’re fighting so much out there, especially when you are down on speed and struggling to get the car working on these very specific roads. I think it’s a simple problem, but one that is difficult to fix. There’s not much we can do with the suspension or transmission, but we will try to find a way to be in a better position for Sunday.”

Adrien Fourmaux

“This morning was not perfect, but it was much better than this afternoon. I made a change to the set-up of the car to try and find more grip, but it really changes the balance. I was struggling with understeer that I didn’t have on the first loop, and I started to overheat the tyres. It’s frustrating to see the gap to the cars ahead, so as a team we will try to move in the right direction for the next two days.”

Oliver Solberg

“Today’s been a good day for learning – and that’s why we’re here on this event. We don’t take points in WRC2 from Spain, it’s all about understanding more from the car in Tarmac set-up.

“This morning I wasn’t able to take so much confidence from the car and we were still getting used to the new Hankook tyres. We made some changes at lunchtime service, and we were much happier straight away in the first stage of the afternoon.

“Launching the car off the line on the second stage [of the afternoon] we felt some issue with the transmission. We didn’t want to cause more damage, so we drove at reduced pace through the last two.

“I’m sure the team will be able to get everything sorted tonight, so we can come back for some more learning tomorrow.”

Saturday

The second day will see the crews tackle 124km’s over seven stages. Can the Hyundai crews fight back, or will we see the Toyota crews continue to dominate the top of the timesheets?

Time for the fourth round then as the crews head to this first running of this rally in the WRC. This is also going to be the forty-ninth time it has been run and will be a big challenge for the top rally crews in the world. They are definitely going to have fun on these roads.

In terms for the kilometres facing the crews over the three days of competition this round has 301km’s over eighteen stages. Saturday is the longest day of the rally with 124km’s over seven stages.

Let’s take a look at the stages and hear from the drivers.

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Elfyn Evans

“We’ve had a good run of rallies to start the season, but it changes nothing really for me in terms of approach: we just want to go and have a good rally and achieve the best result possible. In terms of character, we can expect the stages to be generally very clean and quite twisty. The majority of asphalt rallies we’ve had in the championship over recent years have been more on the dirtier side and we’ve missed the variety of a proper racing-style rally like this. With very little cutting, road position shouldn’t have a huge bearing, so I don’t think it will be much of an advantage to be running first if at all; I suspect it should be similar conditions for everybody and a fair fight.”

Kalle Rovanperä

“It’s exciting to be going to a new asphalt rally which looks to be quite different to the others we usually do. From what I’ve seen of the ERC event, it seems to be a really nice rally with good, stable conditions, which should be really enjoyable. It’s also going to be quite a challenge going there for the first time and making new pacenotes for roads like those, where I think you will really need to be on-point everywhere to be fast. We made some good progress in our test in Spain last week and have a better feeling on asphalt. We’ve had a few tricky rallies lately so we’re definitely looking to turn things around and have a good finish hopefully.”

Sébastien Ogier

“It’s always an exciting feeling to go to a new rally. It’s almost like the essence of rallying, where nobody knows the roads and you need to start from scratch. We will have a very demanding recce discovering all the stages, and making good pacenotes will be crucial to be quick on this rally. It’s a situation that has suited me well in the past and I hope I can still do it well and fight for the top positions. From what I’ve seen, the roads look very beautiful, but I also know that on an island in the Atlantic, the weather can change very quickly. It’s going to be nice to be back on these kind of high-grip, circuit-style stages, and I hope we can be in the mix and fighting for the win.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“From what I’ve heard from other drivers, Rally Islas Canarias is one of the nicest asphalt rallies so I’m really looking forward to it. It’s very much a pure asphalt rally with not much cutting or dirt on the road, and in these conditions we can really enjoy the maximum performance of the car and the aerodynamics. It kind of reminds me of my previous experience in circuit racing, and hopefully this can help me to perform well. At the same time, we will again have some new tyres for this rally, and we will need to see how they are performing on those stages and try to adapt as best as we can.”

Sami Pajari

“To go from Kenya to the Canaries is maybe the biggest contrast we can have between two rallies in the championship. I did the rally four years ago with a Rally4 car and I really liked it; it’s one of the rallies which is closest to circuit racing. Some of the stages especially are nice and wide with a good clean surface and not much cutting. I had a nice test last week with both dry and wet conditions and felt really good behind the wheel. In Kenya the idea was to avoid issues which was key to our result; here there should be less that can go wrong, and I hope it can be an enjoyable rally for us.”

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“It’s hard to remember the last time I competed at Rally Islas Canarias, but it was a rally I enjoyed. Many parts of the route have been reworked, resurfaced and widened, so I don’t think there is much experience I can take from 2010 and 2011 into the weekend. At a test event we contested recently, we had a good mixture of grip, precision and performance, so we are feeling more comfortable with the car on tarmac. We had a great result at Safari Rally Kenya; nevertheless, it was still a demanding event – probably one of the most demanding of the year. I think the momentum we need for this event is there, and we have everything we need in the car, so I think we will perform well. We are targeting a victory, of course – we need to beat Evans to close that gap in both championships.”

Ott Tanak

“A brand-new event is a different of challenge for us – it’s never easy or straightforward – and Rally Islas Canarias is no different. We don’t have any experience of this rally, so we will be searching for maximum performance while still discovering the roads. It’s about a close to circuit racing as rallying gets. This will be the most challenging tarmac round of the year to get right; we need to make sure the car has the right setup and great balance to get a good feeling across the flowing, smooth roads without degrading the tyres too quickly. We’re going to Gran Canaria to compete at the very top, targeting a podium finish. In rallying it’s always hard to predict how it’s going to be, but we will do everything from our side to be competitive.”

Adrien Fourmaux

“Having competed at Rally Islas Canarias in 2020, some of the stages will be quite familiar to me. I know what the grip is like when it’s dry and when it’s wet, so this sets us up well for all possibilities. This event is a pure tarmac rally, so precision is required across the pace notes, the lines we are taking on the stages and managing the tyres. It’s completely different on this surface; really reactive. The transition from gravel to tarmac can feel like driving a completely different car and the g-force we take can be a lot. The aim is to deliver as strong result as we can – I would like to get back on the podium, or even take it one step further.”

M-Sport Ford WRT

Grégoire Munster

“I’m really looking forward to Gran Canaria! We didn’t really have an event like this on Tarmac last year that was like proper racing, with a really stiff car, wide roads and high grip, so I’m excited to try to push the car to the maximum on these roads. We have such a variety of events in the championship, for example going from the icy Monte stages to Sweden and then Kenya, and this is now our first proper tarmac event in 2025.

“We need to have perfect pace notes and I’m looking forward to getting out on the stages. Hopefully the weather will be better than it is in Belgium!”

Josh McErlean

“Monte Carlo gave me my first taste of what a Rally1 car can do on a sealed surface, but Rally Islas Canarias is different, it’s full on, proper, smooth tarmac. The goal this weekend is to build on what I learned there from Monte—really trusting the aero, downforce and grip these cars can create. These roads demand precision and commitment, and I’m excited for that.”

Romet Jürgenson

“Our successful weekend in the BRC definitely gives us great confidence moving forward, especially on gravel. But I think now going to Canaries for my first WRC2 Tarmac rally, on Hankook tyres as well, there will be a lot to learn.

“Especially looking at the entry list, there are a lot of experienced and fast drivers, so I will be keeping both feet on the ground and just hope for a good, solid rally where we can develop our driving. If we can improve our speed throughout the event, and fight with the top guys in some places, I think that will be mission accomplished. We just want to get all the experience possible.”

WRC2

Oliver Solberg

“It’s incredible that it’s already five years ago that we drove there,” said Oliver. “I have some good memories for this event, lots of really nice people and passionate fans – like always in Spain. But I also remember quite difficult stages and surface conditions.

“When the conditions were quite inconsistent, with the rain coming and the road drying or changing, it was not easy to read the level of grip from corner to corner. This is an island in the middle of the Atlantic, so the weather can change really quickly, we need to be ready for that to make the right choice of tyres.”

“Obviously we drove Monte Carlo in January and the car was running asphalt-spec tyres for most of the time,” added Oliver. “But that’s quite different – the car is set-up different for Monte, a little bit softer. OK, you can understand something for the tyres, but it’s going to be 20 degrees warmer here and that makes a big difference.

“We have done some testing, so we have some idea for what’s coming. As well as that, we have been doing some development testing with Toyota for the gravel. I really enjoyed that, it’s great to be getting some good seat time in such a cool car!”

Summary

We are set for a great rally on these all-new roads for the championship. Of course, Elfyn and Scott will be opening the road throughout the first full day of action. Their main rivals, Thierry and Martijn will hope that they can take the fight to the championship leaders in their attempt to retain their crown.

Elsewhere we see the return of Seb and Vincent to the championship meaning we’ll see five Toyota GR Yaris on the stages! Could we see them take a podium? It is possible.

Meanwhile at M-Sport Ford their young crew will continue to learn and develop. We know that the Puma is quick. Could we see a surprise result for Greg and his co-driver Louis or Josh and Eoin? Let’s wait and see!