Blog

The first full day then of this rally would see the crews tackle 140km’s over eight stages. Elfyn and Scott would open the road throughout the day courtesy of being the championship leaders. Friday also would include the longest stage of the day and run twice.

First up then was SS1 Cambyretá 1 – 18.70 km and Kalle was fastest from Seb and Sami. Elfyn was 7.7 seconds down from his teammate and holding fifth overall. The best of the Hyundai cars was Adrien who was holding fourth and 4.8 seconds from the leader. There was drama for two crews out there with Takamoto getting a puncture, whilst Greg damaged his steering and stopped to fix the problem in the stage. He lost a huge amount of time sadly.

 

Into SS2 Nueva Alborada 1 – 19.25 km and Adrien set the pace from Ott and Kalle. There were a few changes on the leaderboard as Adrien moved up to second overall, whilst his teammates Ott and Thierry also gained positions. Falling back was Seb as he suffered a puncture and he fell six positions to eight place. Greg also got a puncture in this one. It was a terrible start to the rally for the M-Sport driver.

 

Onto the monster stage then, SS3 Yerbatera 1 – 30 km and Seb hit back with the fastest time from fellow countryman Adrien and Thierry. Adrien moved into the lead from Kalle with Thierry gaining three positions and moving into third overall. Ott lost two positions and fell to sixth.

 

The short SS4 Autódromo 1 – 2.50 km saw Adrien go fastest again from Seb and Sami. The young Finn moved back ahead of Thierry into third.

 

Following the service break the crews headed back to SS5 Cambyretá 2 – 18.70 km and Seb was fastest from Takamoto and Adrien.

 

In the next one, SS6 Nueva Alborada 2 – 19.25 km Ott was fastest from Thierry and Takamoto. The Estonian on the move gaining two positions to move ahead of Elfyn and Thierry. Ott moved back into third overall and his teammate Thierry was up to fourth as well with Sami and Elfyn falling behind to fifth and sixth.

 

The final big stage then of the day, SS7 Yerbatera 2 – 30 km and Seb was fastest from Ott and Kalle. Elfyn was fourth fastest and would move ahead of Thierry and into fifth overall. Thierry suffered a spin near the end of the stage and would fall behind the Welshman. Seb gained three positions and moved into fourth overall. There was some drama for Adrien who got a puncture near the end of the stage and after losing a few seconds fell from the lead into second as Kalle took the lead. Sadly, we lost Takamoto in this stage as he spun out and damaged his car. Sami also had a puncture and lost time changing the wheel and fell to eighth place.

 

Onto the final stage SS8 Autódromo 2 – 2.50 km and Seb won from Ott and Adrien.

 

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

Classification after Day One

1 K. Rovanperä J. Halttunen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 1:16:13.3 2 A. Fourmaux A. Coria Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +7.1 3 O. Tänak M. Järveoja Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +7.6 4 S. Ogier V. Landais Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +17.8 5 E. Evans S. Martin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +21.1 6 T. Neuville M. Wydaeghe Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +25.7 7 J. McErlean E. Treacy Ford Puma Rally1 +1:18.4 8 S. Pajari M. Salminen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +2:24.2 9 Y. Rossel A. Dunand Citroën C3 +2:57.6 10 N. Gryazin K. Aleksandrov Škoda Fabia RS +3:06.7

 

 

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Kalle Rovanperä

“It’s good to be in the lead. Today we had tricky stages to discover for the first time. We tried to be fast, but aside from the first stage this morning, we didn’t really have the last bit of pace we would have liked. On the other hand, we stayed out of trouble when many others had issues and that has paid off. I’m happy to have the best possible starting position for tomorrow with the greater road cleaning effect we’re expecting, and hopefully we can use that well.”

Sébastien Ogier

“We started the day with a good rhythm, so it was a bit disappointing to lose the time with the tyre damage in SS2. The only thing we could do then was try to fight back, and after that misfortune we can be happy with the rest of our day. I was pushing hard, and we had to show our real speed without holding much back, which was enjoyable. It was especially important to improve our starting position for tomorrow, given the cleaning we are all expecting, and even if we are still some way from the lead, we are at least in a place where we can fight.”

 

Elfyn Evans

“It’s been a pretty tough day. I think the conditions are tough for everybody, as we discovered in the shakedown, with grip levels that are very changeable and overall, pretty low. With the very hard-packed clay surface, it’s been difficult to get a good feeling. Tomorrow there will be a lot more loose gravel in sections and road order will probably have more of an effect than it did today. The feeling might improve in those conditions, but we’re working to try and find something to be better.”

 

Takamoto Katsuta

“It was unfortunate that we had tyre damage on the first stage, and for the rest of the morning I was trying to avoid risks. The stages are difficult with a lot of grip changes, and it’s not easy to find the rhythm if you’re not pushing. The afternoon was going well, though. We were quite on the pace with nice and clean driving, without pushing too hard. The feeling was good in SS7 but on one corner the rear snapped, and I wasn’t able to catch it. I’m sorry for the team but I will try my best to learn more about these stages in the remaining two days.”

 

Sami Pajari

“It was not a bad start for us this morning. I tried to be on it from the beginning, even in the first stage with the nasty bumpy places, and still there was room to do better because I made a small mistake at the beginning of the third stage. Still, it was going pretty well, and we were in the game this afternoon until we had to stop and change the tyre. It was really disappointing because we lost a lot of time and now the road position for tomorrow is not so good. But that’s the way it is, and we just need to keep going.”

 

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Adrien Fourmaux

“We had a good afternoon today, despite the two punctures. The second puncture was because of a rock in the road after a blind corner – it was too late to avoid. While we lost some time, we were still able to keep second place which is crucial for tomorrow’s road position. Generally, we’re happy with today’s performance, but the gaps are still really small, so we need to make sure we have the same pace tomorrow to try and catch Kalle.”

Ott Tänak

“This morning was not great, but luckily we were able to bounce back this afternoon. It’s been really close between everyone, so there’s still a lot to play for. The first stage was the worst for us, with the heavy impacts it wasn’t easy for us or the car, but the others were more enjoyable. From what we learned on the recce, it seems like Saturday has a lot more cleaning, so it was critical today to push for a good road position. We have that now, so let’s see how we go tomorrow.”

 

Thierry Neuville

“I tried to protect the car as much as possible today, but that was probably the wrong approach because everyone else was going flat out and managed to make it work. We were just losing time. Other than that, the speed overall was generally there. Two damaged tyres on the penultimate stage meant we made a mistake and lost about eight seconds, which is not what we want on an afternoon loop, but we had no grip and just missed the junction.”

 

Oliver Solberg

“Today, the driving and the times have been good. We were a little bit cautious with the first stage, there were so many jumps in there – but the second time through we were pushing a little bit more.

“We had the slow puncture on the long one, it came in the fast bit and all of a sudden it started to go down. I don’t know where I got it, but it started to go somewhere about halfway. The car was sliding around more and more, I wondered if it was a delamination. It’s OK. These things happen and we got to the finish.

 

“The afternoon was good, and we made some time back. Everything can still happen in this rally – the roads tomorrow are a little bit different in terms of the surface, but they’re just as challenging and fast.

 

“Before I go, I have to say a very happy birthday to Elliott!”

 

Saturday

The second full day of action will see the crews tackle 112km’s over seven stages.

Time for a completely new challenge for the crews and teams as the championship goes across the south Atlantic for the first in a double header in South America. This will be the first running of a round in Paraguay. This gives the crews a big challenge with new pace notes for the stages and hopes that the pre-event testing in Europe has given the teams the correct base setup as well. Don’t forget that there is no testing for the Rally1 crews outside of Europe.

Let’s take a look at the stages and hear from the crews. There will be 333km’s over nineteen stages. The longest day will be Friday with almost 141km’s over eight stages with a service in the middle. Saturday has almost 113km’s over seven stages with includes a third run in a super special which is run twice on Friday. Sunday is as usual the shortest day with just under 80km’s over four stages.

 

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Elfyn Evans

“After Rally Finland we’re back in the lead of the drivers’ championship, but the pack is incredibly close, so we can expect a big fight until the end of the season. We’re heading into another gravel rally in Paraguay, so it might not be easy to defend that lead when we need to open the road, but like usual we’ll be trying our best to get a good result. It’s always a big challenge to prepare for a new rally, and especially when it’s outside of Europe and we’re not able to test there beforehand. We’ll need to wait for the recce to really see what the stages and the conditions are like and try to adapt the car to suit that as best as we can.”

Kalle Rovanperä

“The result in Finland was amazing for us and for the team, and the points we got were really valuable for the championship. Now we need to try to keep going like this with a good feeling and continue the fight until the end of the season. We are working hard with the team to try and keep the pace that we had in Finland for these next gravel rallies, and I think we have a good idea now as to how we can be fast. Paraguay will be a new rally for everyone, and we don’t really know what to expect, so it’s not an easy one to prepare for, but hopefully it can suit us well.”

 

Sébastien Ogier

“Rally Finland was amazing for our team and good for the manufacturers’ championship, which has been our main target again this season. Also in the drivers’ championship, to have four drivers so close is great for the fans and it’s exciting to be part of that fight. We’ve been on the podium in every rally we’ve started and we’re going to try to keep that up in the next events if we can. I always enjoy the challenge of a new rally like this one in Paraguay where everybody will be starting from zero, writing new pacenotes from scratch and needing to adapt as quickly as possible, and I’m looking forward to discovering it.”

 

Takamoto Katsuta

“Rally Finland was really nice for me; to have that speed and also take a good result with it. I will try to take this good feeling to Paraguay, even though we don’t know exactly what kind of rally we will face there. Going to a brand-new rally can always be tricky. I think everybody will need to switch their mindset a little bit following a pure flat-out rally like Finland. Now we have something more unknown, even if there might be some fast sections. We will see on the recce what it’s really like, and if the conditions look nice, then maybe we can push for another good result.”

 

Sami Pajari

“Our feeling is good after the pace we had in Finland, and that gives us a good base to work from for the next two rallies – even though they will be a bit different in character. Paraguay will be completely new for everyone, and I like it when we have new stages or a completely new event: it feels a bit more equal when everyone starts from the same position. We don’t know so much about what the stages there will be like. From what I’ve heard and seen, it could be that the conditions are quite nice and not too rough, but we’ll find out more once we’re there.”

 

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Ott Tänak

“It’s always exciting to go to brand-new events, but it’s difficult to predict how the weekend will play out. It’s a great challenge for all of us in the team, and if we can pull off a good result, it’s always rewarding. We go to Rally del Paraguay with a blank sheet of paper, so the recce is the first time we can really try to understand what the rally will be like. It’s a lot of work with all the new notes, car setup and preparation. Everyone in the team will always throw themselves into whatever is needed, particularly when it’s a level playing field for everyone. Good points are essential for us in Paraguay, and we will push for that result.”

Thierry Neuville

“South America has always been a great place for the WRC to visit, and we all hope to see lots of fans on the stages in Paraguay. We don’t have any testing for the event, so we have been studying the footage shared by the event organisers and speaking to locals to get a feel of the stages. We can really start to refine the car setup after the recce when we know a bit more about the grip levels and our pacenotes. It’s a huge unknown for all of us, but a new challenge is exciting for us and the championship. We need to optimise the weekend to ensure we get some strong points.”

 

Adrien Fourmaux

“We don’t know too much about what to expect at Rally del Paraguay, but I do know that the fans are really committed. In preparation, we’ve already started to analyse some of the stages through videos to maximise the information that we can get, and when we get to Paraguay we will get some more information from the locals. Across South America, the surfaces are really interchangeable, so the profile is unknown to all of us. Our pacenotes start as a blank piece of paper, and we can only really perfect them after we have been on the stages. I’m usually more competitive on new rallies, and I know that we can target the podium in Paraguay.”

 

M-Sport Ford WRT

Grégoire Munster

“I’m really looking forward to going to Paraguay. It’s a brand-new event for everyone, which is always an exciting challenge. From the stage footage we’ve seen, the surface looks quite slippery in places – almost like Kenya – but it’s faster and more straightforward overall. In the mountain sections there are also some steep inclines, which will add to the challenge. It looks like a great new addition to the Championship because it’s so different from what we already have on the calendar. I can’t wait to discover the country and enjoy tackling these new stages.”

Josh McErlean

“Paraguay is a completely new event for all of us, so we’re heading in with a clean slate. That can be a positive because it means everyone starts from the same place. From what we’ve seen, the surface looks mostly clay with some fast sections and long straights, and in parts it even has a bit of a Safari feel. It’ll also be my first time competing in South America, which is really exciting. With Chile coming up straight afterwards, it’s a big few weeks with plenty to learn, but we’ll take it all step by step and make the most of this South American adventure.”

 

Oliver Solberg (WRC2)

“It’s exciting,” smiled Oliver. “Whenever we’re going somewhere new, there’s always something special about it. Nobody really knows what’s coming for the stages, the weather, anything. It’s cool. I’m really looking forward to it.

 

“Any time we get to go to South America is special – motorsport and rallying, for sure, runs through the veins in that part of the world. Argentina is just next door, and everybody knows the stories about the amazing number of people who go to spectate there. I’m sure Paraguay will be really the same.

“We had the chance to see the president from Paraguay [President Santiago Peña] on his visit to the last round in Finland. He was a really cool guy who had a lot of passion for the sport of rallying and for bringing it to his country. This is the kind of thing we need in the WRC.”

 

Much as they love the travel, the people and the place, Oliver and co-driver Elliott Edmondson know they’re there for one reason with the Printsport-run Toyota GR Yaris Rally2.

 

“Points and hopefully a win,” said this year’s Rally Estonia winner. “This reason is not changing – it’s why we go to every round. Finland didn’t deliver what we wanted, so we have to go hard and fast to chase the big points for the WRC2 title next week.”

 

Talking about the terrain which sits in wait, Elliott added: “Like Oliver said, it’s always interesting to go to a new event – and this one is completely new. We’ve been doing all the research we can, but the pre-event recce is going to be an interesting one where we discover plenty about the route and the roads.”

 

 

Summary

This will be a significant rally this year in the battle over the driver and co-drivers world championship title. Elfyn and Scott will open the road on Friday as they lead the championship again from their teammates, Kalle and Jonne and Seb and Vincent.

Top placed Hyundai crew Ott and Martin are thirteen points from the championship leaders and fourth on the road, whilst Thierry and Martijn are fifth and fifty-one points away and will need a top result this weekend and for others ahead to have a very poor result to bring them back into the championship battle.

 

For M-Sport their two crews will have a hope that good road position on Friday and taking experiences from sandy conditions to hopefully get a strong result.

Well, onto the final day and we had two runs of Ouninpohja to enjoy. That would give the crews 47.96km’s to enjoy over an iconic stage. Ott would open the road throughout the two stages and would hope that they could take some points in not just the power stage but also with the points from the Sunday standings.

 

Well into SS19 Ouninpohja 1 – 23.98 km they went and Elfyn set the pace from teammates Seb and Kalle. Of course, with Ott opening the road he’d only manage to set the eighth fastest time, but this did mean he’d moved closer to the top ten. With Elfyn setting the pace ahead of Seb he further reduced the gap to third overall to just over one second.

 

Onto the final stage then, and there was drama for Ott and Adrien who both got punctures in the stage. Ott had a huge spin in top gear which was caused by the tyre delaminating. Ironically the demise of Adrien from the top ten meant that Ott finished in tenth place. The top five was Kalle, Takamoto, Seb, Thierry and Elfyn. Fastest over the two stages, Kalle took victory from Takamoto and Seb.

 

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

 

Final Overall Classification – Rally Finland

1	K. Rovanperä	J. Halttunen	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	2:21:51.4
2	T. Katsuta	A. Johnston	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+39.2
3	S. Ogier	V. Landais	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+45.1
4	E. Evans	S. Martin	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+48.1
5	S. Pajari	M. Salminen	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+1:18.8
6	T. Neuville	M. Wydaeghe	Hyundai i20 N Rally1	+2:01.5
7	J. McErlean	E. Treacy	Ford Puma Rally1	+4:07.4
8	M. Sesks	R. Francis	Ford Puma Rally1	+5:17.2
9	G. Munster	L. Louka	Ford Puma Rally1	+5:24.9
10	O. Tänak	M. Järveoja	Hyundai i20 N Rally1	+7:38.4

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Kalle Rovanperä

“It is an amazing feeling to win Rally Finland. It has been a long time coming, but with so much support from the fans every year, I feel super happy to win in front of them. This year everybody did a crazy amount of work to make it happen. Jonne and everybody in the team have been fantastic and we were pushing the whole weekend. It’s also a historical moment for Toyota to fill positions one to five, so everybody has done a great job. It was an intense final day on one of the most demanding stages to get right and we had to push really hard to take the points like we did.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“I’m very happy to be back on the podium and finish in second place in Finland, which is such an important place for me and the team. ‘Kiitos paljon’ to all the Finnish fans who are cheering for me a lot. Huge thanks also to the team who are always supporting me, and especially Aaron who has been doing a great job. I’m really happy for the team and also that Kalle could finally win here after so much bad luck: we promised each other before the rally that we could be on the podium together. I can be happy with my performance this weekend and the car was working very well.”

 

Sébastien Ogier

“This is an amazing result, especially here in Finland where the team is based. I’m sure there will be a big party tonight! It’s well deserved because the team has been pushing hard the whole year and I’m glad to be a part of such a historic result. I’m also really happy for Kalle and Jonne after last year when they already deserved to win. It wasn’t the smoothest weekend for me and I was struggling a bit to keep up with the pace. But after a lot of changes during the weekend the setup was suiting me better today and it was a fantastic feeling to drive this car on this epic stage.”

 

Elfyn Evans

“It’s a really nice result for the team to have all five cars in the top five. On my side I’m a bit disappointed how the final day turned out. It was an exciting format, and we had a really good run the first time through Ouninpohja. The Power Stage didn’t go quite so brilliantly. I had a couple of places in the stage where I couldn’t get turned in like I wanted and lost too much time. Otherwise, it was a good stage, but with such fine margins, we missed out on quite a lot of extra points. But we’ll continue onto the next one.”

 

Sami Pajari

“It’s just amazing to be part of this result for Toyota. The team was really on it this weekend, so it’s really well deserved by everybody. It has been a really good weekend for us, taking a few stage wins and otherwise having some solid pace. Today was also nice driving a stage like Ouninpohja, even if we were focused mainly on just securing the result. I have really enjoyed the whole weekend, so thanks to the team and all the fans for their support.”

 

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“We were at the front of the field for most of the weekend, but suddenly we found ourselves out of the fight and it was hard to come back from that today. In the end, we took three points from Super Sunday, which was the maximum we could do. It’s hard when we are all giving it everything we have, but things are just not going our way. All we could do is have some fun in the Power Stage and look forward to the next rounds.”

Ott Tänak

“A difficult weekend, but what’s done is done, and now we focus on the next rounds. We’re going into rougher gravel events where we were very competitive at the start of the season, so I am expecting to be back on the pace again. The team had some small troubles that had big consequences, but that’s rallying – it can be cruel, but it is the nature of this sport. The championship is still open, so the fight is still on.”

 

Adrien Fourmaux

“In terms of performance, it has been a good rally for us, but a difficult one in terms of the result. We were unlucky with punctures on Saturday afternoon and again on the Power Stage, which stopped us from scoring good points. That aside, I’m happy with how we performed in Finland; there are a lot of positives for us to take into the upcoming rallies, where we should have a chance to score good points for the manufacturers’ and drivers’ championships.”

 

 

M-Sport Ford WRT

Josh McErlean

“It’s been a crazy rally – honestly, it’s been one of the most enjoyable so far this season. Coming to Finland in a Rally1 car was always going to be something special, and to experience these conditions and these stages – especially Ouninpohja today – has been really nice. Finishing as the top M-Sport car and seventh overall is a great way to end the experience. I’m really looking forward now to a short break before heading to South America. A big thanks to the team and the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy for everything they do – let’s get ready for the next one.”

Mārtiņš Sesks

“It’s been a real pleasure to be part of the team and to be involved with a World Rally Team – getting the kind of experience I never thought I’d have. It’s been interesting; there have been some ups and downs, but the season started well, and I think we can end the programme on a good note. Now we’ll see what the future brings.”

 

Grégoire Munster

“I made a couple of mistakes on Friday which compromised the rest of our weekend, but we made some good improvements overall. We found some solid gains on the car side that will help us in Chile – and maybe Paraguay too. There are still plenty of positives to take. We had a blast driving through the Power Stage in Ouninpohja; despite a puncture, we really enjoyed it. Now we’ve got a break, and we’ll come back stronger for the rest of the season.”

 

Romet Jürgenson WRC2

“Rally Finland has definitely been a positive experience. Result-wise, it might not be quite as strong as what we achieved in Sardinia and Estonia, but when you look at the level here, I think losing only 0.35 seconds per kilometre is a decent result. Overall, the season has been really solid – no major mistakes – and we’ve definitely improved our rally craft, which is a big positive. Working with M-Sport has been a privilege, and hopefully we’ll be back again next year.”

 

 

Oliver Solberg

“Like you can imagine,” said Oliver, “the change from emotions is quite big from Estonia to here in Finland. Winning in Tartu with the factory TOYOTA GAZOO Racing team was like a dream come true for me and Elliott.

 

“Driving the Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 was the best moment in the best car in my life, it was incredible. I love the Yaris Rally2, but I think you can understand that it’s not quite the same. This is a rally I really enjoy, and we won here for the last two years, so I was really hoping for a similar result this time around.

“There really wasn’t anything we could do about the rock on Saturday. It just kicked the car out of the ruts and sent us to the ditch. It’s tough when this kind of thing happens. The sport can give you some incredible high moments, but it can also hurt you a little bit. On Saturday morning, we lost more time with a problem with the wipers – the rain was so bad we couldn’t see much at all.

 

“What does this mean for our [WRC2] championship? Let’s see. Like always with this series, it’s quite hard seeing where everybody is sitting and where the biggest fight is coming from; some of the drivers still have more possibilities to score points.

 

“Like always, I want to say a very big thanks to everybody from the team at Printsport for preparing the car so well for us.

 

“Now, we look forward to the next round in Paraguay. This is going to be a big adventure for us all. A first time in a new country is always really exciting. I’m looking forward to discovering the roads, the people and, of course, the incredible South American passion for motorsport.”

 

 

Summary

Well, Finland finally has a new home winner with Kalle and Jonne taking their first ever home win. It was a great win for the pairing and has really brought them into the title fight.

 

For Takamoto and Aaron a second podium of the year was well deserved. They took a number of stage wins and were right there when the two Hyundai crews had their problems.

 

Finally, Seb and Vincent had a good drive to third and another podium to add to their partnership.

2025 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers’ Standings
After round 9

1	Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team	458
2	Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team	371
3	M-Sport Ford World Rally Team	129
4	Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team 2	85

 

 

2025 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers’ Standings
After round 9

1	E. Evans	176
2	K. Rovanperä	173
3	S. Ogier	163
4	O. Tänak	163
5	T. Neuville	125
6	T. Katsuta	87
7	A. Fourmaux	71
8	O. Solberg	52
9	S. Pajari	48
10	G. Munster	21

Into the second full day of action and with 142km’s over eight stages the crews had a big challenge ahead of them. Greg and Louis would open the road throughout the day. However, there was some news about a penalty for Ott and Martin which would affect them in the standings. They were given a five-minute penalty after a problem after stage seven yesterday where they pulled away from the stop control and caused some injuries to one of the scrutineers who was near the front of the car and was checking the tyres after he fell over. They also have a suspended points deduction should they have a similar penalty this year.

 

Onto the action then with SS11 Parkkola 1 – 15.51 km first up and Kalle was fastest from Elfyn and Thierry. The Welshman closed the gap a little to Seb as they battled over sixth overall. Despite opening the road, Ott was sixth fastest, just five and a half seconds from Kalle.

 

Next up was SS12 Västilä 1 – 18.94 km and Kalle was again fastest from Thierry and Adrien with the rain coming down. The Finn was really in the groove and increasing his lead over the Hyundai teammates. Martins remained to be the best of the M-Sport crews, holding eighth overall.

 

The first run of SS13 Päijälä 1 – 20.19 km saw Thierry set the pace from Takamoto and Adrien. Kalle was fourth and saw his lead reduce a little over Thierry to 9.3 seconds. Meanwhile Seb saw his lead over Elfyn increase a little as the Frenchman was faster.

 

Onto the final morning stage then, SS14 Leustu 1 – 16.44 km and Kalle once again set the pace from Adrien and Elfyn. Seb was also very fast and with Sami backing off in the wet conditions the Finn was passed by his teammate for fifth overall. Elfyn was also a bit closer courtesy of his third best time.

 

After the service break came SS15 Parkkola 2 – 15.51 km and the rain was falling for all crews throughout the stage. Seb used his experience to set the fastest time from Ott and Elfyn. Interesting that Ott’s time as the driver who was second on the road would put him second fastest as well. Elfyn passed Sami in this one for sixth position as well. At M-Sport, Martins had a misted-up windscreen meaning that he was really struggling to see. His co-driver Renaur was using his leg to try and clear the moisture with a cloth on the end of his foot. They had to pull over though and clear it before they could continue. They would lose over two minutes in the end and drop to tenth position.

 

There would be more drama in SS16 Västilä 2 – 18.94 km behind the top three of Sami, Kalle and Takamoto. The drama was in the Hyundai team as both first Adrien and then Thierry suffered right front punctures. They were also both caused at the same piece of road. They both fell from second and third to sixth and seventh positions. Seb was now in third with teammate Takamoto in second place, whilst Elfyn and Sami was fourth and fifth.

 

Onto the penultimate stage then, SS17 Päijälä 2 – 20.19 km and again Kalle was fastest from Thierry and Elfyn. The Welshman had now reduced the gap to Seb who held third overall to just 1.9 seconds. Josh was holding eighth overall, the best placed M-Sport crew.

Onto the final stage then, SS18 Leustu 2 – 16.44 km in which Kalle was fastest from Takamoto and Thierry. Elfyn was quicker than Seb as well and took four tenths of a second from third placed Seb, now just one and a half seconds from his teammate.

 

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

 

Classification after Day Two

1 K. Rovanperä J. Halttunen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 2:01:28.8 2 T. Katsuta A. Johnston Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +36.1 3 S. Ogier V. Landais Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +42.9 4 E. Evans S. Martin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +44.4 5 S. Pajari M. Salminen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +59.2 6 T. Neuville M. Wydaeghe Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +1:54.7 7 A. Fourmaux A. Coria Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +2:23.7 8 J. McErlean E. Treacy Ford Puma Rally1 +3:28.3 9 G. Munster L. Louka Ford Puma Rally1 +4:27.9 10 M. Sesks R. Francis Ford Puma Rally1 +4:38.7

 

 

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Kalle Rovanperä

“It’s been a super good day for us and the team. This afternoon the conditions were tricky in many places, but we were able to control the pace quite well. The feeling in the car was a bit more comfortable and we could still do some good times without any big risks, which is always a good sign. It will be a tricky Sunday on such a demanding stage. Everybody will be pushing hard, and of course we want to secure the win, but we also need as many points as we can for the championship.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“There were some up and downs today but at the end we came back in second place so I must be happy with that. I have mostly just been trying to manage the risk. It’s not been easy to find the balance between that approach and fighting against Seb and Elfyn, but it worked out well. Tomorrow with Super Sunday and the Power Stage, I think the decision will be easier: just go flat-out!”

 

Sébastien Ogier

“I don’t feel that I did a fantastic job today; the pace was still missing a little bit. The car is quite OK to drive but I’m somehow lacking the little things which allow me to drive on the limit, and that’s been costing time on these extremely fast roads. I still have a little idea for tomorrow and hopefully it can be a good one. Tomorrow is all about Ouninpohja: the most beautiful stage of the season and the perfect showdown for the rally. It’s always fun to drive and I’m expecting it to be spectacular with everyone pushing for points.”

 

Elfyn Evans

“It’s been a good day out there for us. It’s been a tight fight with our team-mates with not a lot to separate us on most of the stages. The conditions were tricky in the first stage of the afternoon with the rain, so I was happy to get through that, and otherwise it’s been a reasonably solid and fun day and we’re looking forward to tomorrow. Ouninpohja is a stage that needs a lot of concentration, but we’ll just do the best we can and I’m sure it will be a lot of fun.”

 

Sami Pajari

“I think it has been another quite solid day for us today. We had some really close fights with Seb especially in the morning. In the afternoon I was obviously a bit careful in the rain on the first one of the loop, and then we did the fastest time on the second one. So not too bad overall and I’m still enjoying it and learning too. Tomorrow the main aim is to finish but I would like to be quick as well. Ouninpohja is such a cool stage to drive, and if you are not fully on it you are kind of wasting it, so I hope to enjoy it.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“Obviously, we are very disappointed. We were on course for a good result here that could have put us back in the championship fight, but after our puncture our hopes are lost. We will try our best tomorrow but with our road position and the fight going on between the cars behind us, it will be difficult.”

 

Adrien Fourmaux

“It has been a frustrating afternoon, with both Thierry and I getting a puncture on the same corner. It’s really disappointing for the team, and so now our sole target is to push for Super Sunday points. We expect it to be drier so the cars behind will have cleaner lines, but there were big gaps on this stage last year so we will try our best and see what we can do.”

Ott Tänak

“Our plan was to drive through and get the mileage today. In the showery conditions, it was difficult to find the right rhythm to attack on the stages. Looking ahead to Super Sunday, it’s going to be a nice stage – a new one for me, but still, we know it will be a challenge. Opening the road won’t give us too many chances, but we will try to enjoy ourselves at least.”

 

Oliver Solberg

“It’s hard not to smile when you are driving on these roads – they are so much fun, especially when you can see where you are going! This morning was super-tricky with the wiper issue, but we made it through.

“Of course, Elliott [Edmondson, co-driver] and me are disappointed not to be fighting for another win here, but sometimes this is the way the sport goes. There was nothing we could do for yesterday. It is like it is.

“As well as winning stages today, it’s positive to be out again taking experience of these roads and these conditions. I don’t have so much experience of fast gravel in this car. I did some testing earlier in the year, but then we were focusing more on the rougher, more technical gravel rallies.

“My test for Estonia was in the Rally1 car, which is different to this car. I’ve learned lots today, which has been useful. And tomorrow, we have Ouninpohja coming twice – that will be a cool Sunday.”

 

Sunday

Well, just one day left and with two runs of the amazing Ouninpohja stage at 23.98km’s giving a total final day of 47.96km’s there is still a serious amount of kilometres left in the rally. The question is can Kalle and Jonne take a first win on home soil for themselves and also the first win for a Finnish crew since Esapekka and Janne won in 2017 also for Toyota. Also, can Elfyn pass Seb for third place?