The first full day of action would see Takamoto and Aaron open the road for the first time as the championship leaders. They would face just over 100 kilometres over seven stages. There’d already been a stage on Thursday evening, and this gave us a leaderboard of sorts. At the end of the stage Takamoto led from Sami whilst WRC2 driver Roberto in his Skoda held third.
Into the first Friday stage then, SS2 Valleseco – Artenara 1 and Seb was fastest from Oliver and Elfyn with only just over a second between the three of them. Takamoto would set the fifth best time and fell to second overall as he was passed by Seb for the lead. Further back, Oliver and Elfyn also gained positions and moving into fourth and fifth respectively.
SS3 Tejeda – San Mateo 1 was sadly cancelled and the reason? Well, it turned out that there were parked cars in places which were a danger. Not great from the organisers really.
Onto the final morning stage then, SS4 Mogan – La Aldea 1 and once again Seb was fastest from Elfyn this time, whilst Sami was third. Takamoto once again was fifth fastest and with that fell a further three positions. Elfyn was the key mover as he emerged in third overall, whilst Sami’s time saw him move into second place. Just six seconds covered the top three positions. Jon had a moment in this one, and had to take to an escape road, spinning sideways.
After the service break came SS5 Valleseco – Artenara 2 and Seb was finally beaten by Oliver who was a tenth of a second faster, whilst Sami was third. In the overall positions, Oliver’s pace took him ahead of both Elfyn and Sami and into second overall. The gap widened slightly to 6.4 seconds.
Into SS6 Tejeda – San Mateo 2 which of course was the stage, which was cancelled earlier, and Seb was fastest from Oliver and Sami, whilst Elfyn was fourth. The top four positions remained unchanged.
Onto the final proper stage then, SS7 Mogan – La Aldea 2 and Seb was once again fastest from Oliver and Elfyn and with the Welshman’s pace, he passed his teammate, Sami for third overall, holding a small lead of 1.3 seconds over the Finn.
The final stage then, SS8 BP Ultimate – Las Palmas de Gran Canaria 2 was won by Sami from Takamoto and Adrien. Surprisingly the Finn passed Elfyn again for third overall, the gap now half a second.
Let’s take a look at the top ten and hear from the drivers.
Classification after Day One
|
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Sébastien Ogier
“We can be happy with today. The gaps are very close, which is normal on a rally like this, but it’s been evolving in the right direction for us. I wasn’t feeling completely happy with the car balance this morning, but I think we were all struggling a bit with that in these wide circuit-style stages where you place a lot of load on the tyres. This afternoon though we made some positive steps, and it was just feeling better and better in the car, so at the moment I’m happy and hope we can carry on with this feeling tomorrow.”
Oliver Solberg
“It’s been a good day. This morning I was just trying to find the feeling a bit and it wasn’t easy, but we made some changes in service, and I felt more comfortable in the car, and we had a much better afternoon. We were trading tenths of a second with Seb, so it’s very cool to know that the speed is there. After what happened in Croatia I wanted to start calmly, see where my feeling was and just increase things step-by-step. I’m happy with the position I’m in tonight and maybe we’ll try to push a bit more tomorrow.”
Sami Pajari
“Today has not been too bad. The stages have been really nice to drive, but my feeling has maybe not been quite as good as I was hoping for. It’s an extremely tight fight with our team-mates and it was a pity to lose a bit of ground in the afternoon. We were making some changes with the setup, and they weren’t all going in the perfect direction, and when the time differences are so small, even the slightest thing can create that gap. Still, we’re not too far away and just need to keep pushing.”
Elfyn Evans
“It’s not been a perfect day for us; I can’t be completely satisfied. These racing-style stages are fun to drive but very demanding for the tyres and the balance on a rally car. It wasn’t feeling bad, but I was struggling a bit to get it turning in as I would like. We did manage to make some changes during the day and had a bit of a better feeling and speed in the last proper stage. So that’s something more positive to round out the day and hopefully we can carry that into tomorrow.”
Takamoto Katsuta
“It’s not been an easy day for us. These are very nice stages, but I hoped they would be more enjoyable for me. In the morning already I was struggling a bit, and unfortunately this just seemed to get worse in the afternoon. I’ve just found it difficult to have the trust you need with the front end on these stages and to be as committed with the driving as I want to be, and so the times have not been great. It’s not been easy for the moment, but I have some ideas and hope we can find something to improve tomorrow.”
Hyundai Motorsport
Dani Sordo
“I am obviously very happy with today, that I am still competitive on the first day of Canarias. We are far from the Toyotas, but between the Hyundai drivers we are quite close together. I have not driven the Rally1 car in a rally for some time, so I am quite pleased to be on the pace. At the beginning of the day, I was a little bit faster than my team-mates, but they adjusted the car and this afternoon we were all very close. It is important that we work together with Thierry and Adrien and try to close the gap to the Toyotas.”
14 Round, Rally Islas Canarias
24-26 April 2026
Photographer: Helena El Mokni
Wordwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Adrien Fourmaux
“The stages have been absolutely beautiful and to be able to push on them in a Rally1 car is very unique and special, so this was really enjoyable. We need to manage the pace and the overheating of the tyres over the long stages, which are quite demanding for the car and brakes. It is very challenging, but also enjoyable. For us, it is difficult because we are not on the pace that we would like, but at least we have a ‘Hyundai Cup’ to play for. I went in a different direction with the setup this afternoon and it is working better now, so it is looking quite positive.”
Thierry Neuville
“It was quite a difficult start to the rally, honestly. All three cars made some changes for this afternoon, but I was struggling more on the first two stages. We are exchanging and sharing information, and obviously trying different things. Dani seemed to be happier than us in the morning and he was also faster. In the afternoon I struggled a bit on the first two stages; but I made a bigger change for the last one and I think we found a bit more balance that allows us to go faster.”
Saturday
The second full day of action will see the crews face 112 kilometres over six stages. Who will hold the lead at the end of the second day?
Leave a Reply