The first day of action in Croatia would see the crews tackle almost 130 kilometres over eight stages. As championship leaders Elfyn and Scott would open the road whilst Oliver and Elliott would be next in.

 

The action would come straight away in SS1 Vodice – Brest 1 with Elfyn and Scott going fastest from Sami and Jon. There was drama for Oliver and Elliott who hit a bank on the side of the stage and spun across the road before ending up at an angle off the side of the road. They did try to get back onto the road with some spectators attempting to push the Yaris back. The car was completely beached though and they were out for the rest of the day.

 

Elfyn and Scott made it two out of two with a stage win in SS2 Lake Butoniga – Motovun 1 from Sami and Thierry this time. The Welshman had increased his lead over Sami to 15 seconds whilst Thierry moved into third overall. Meanwhile Jon and Adrien both had punctures in the stage and lost time finishing the stage. They were now in seventh and twentieth after their problems.

 

Next came SS3 Beram – Cerovlje 1 and it was a disaster for Elfyn and Scott who went off the road at around halfway through the stage. Sadly, they were out for the day and will now just as their teammates focus on Sunday’s stages and the points available on the final day. Thierry set the fastest time from Jon by just one tenth of a second and Takamoto was third. All of this meant that Sami was now leading the rally from Thierry, whilst Takamoto held third overall. Jon and Shane’s pace in the stage took them into fourth overall as well and the Irish crew were showing some pace.

 

The final morning stage saw Sami open up his lead as he set his first fastest stage time of the rally beating Takamoto and Adrien. Takamoto pace allowed him to move past Thierry and into second overall. Meanwhile we sadly lost Jon and Shane after they went wide and damaged the Puma on kerbs lining the edge of the road.

 

After the service break came the second run of SS5 Vodice – Brest 2. Sami was fastest by 1.8 seconds from Takamoto, with Thierry third fastest. Sami’s pace saw him increase his lead over his teammate to a little over ten seconds.

 

Next up was SS6 Lake Butoniga – Motovun 2 and the changes which the Hyundai team made to Thierry’s car appeared to be working as he set the fastest time by 2.9 seconds from Takamoto with the rally leader Sami third fastest. The Belgian’s pace took him ahead of Takamoto and into second overall, with a reduced gap of just a little over seven seconds to Sami.

 

Just two stages remained then, first up was SS7 Beram – Cerovlje 2 and Thierry once again was fastest from Sami whilst Takamoto was third. This meant two things as the Belgian moved away from Takamoto and a little closer to Sami as well. There was some drama for Josh who had been running in fifth overall, but sadly suffered a puncture losing eight positions and falling to thirteen overall.

Onto the final stage then SS8 Učka 2 and it was clear that Thierry’s car didn’t work as well as he set the third fastest time whilst teammates Sami and Takamoto were the pacesetters with the Finn leading the way. Takamoto edged really close to Thierry bringing the gap down to just nine tenths of a second.

 

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

Classification after Day One

1 S. Pajari M. Salminen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 1:12:18.5 2 T. Neuville M. Wydaeghe Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +13.7 3 T. Katsuta A. Johnston Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +14.6 4 H. Paddon J. Kennard Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +1:15.0 5 A. Fourmaux A. Coria Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +1:54.6 6 Y. Rossel A. Dunand Lancia Ypsilon HF +2:45.9 7 N. Gryazin K. Aleksandrov Lancia Ypsilon HF +3:08.0 8 A. Cachón B. Rozada Toyota GR Yaris +3:27.9 9 L. Rossel G. Mercoiret Citroën C3 +3:35.1 10 R. Korhonen A. Viinikka Toyota GR Yaris +3:47.0

 

 

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Sami Pajari

“It has been really tricky out there today and we could see already this morning that it was really easy to make a mistake. I wasn’t feeling completely comfortable to begin with this morning, but I think we could drive with quite a clever and consistent pace and that paid off for us. Then in the afternoon I felt like things were much more under control and I was able to enjoy it more, especially this last stage of the day. It’s a good feeling to be in the lead tonight but I know that there’s still a really long way to go. I’m sure that tomorrow will not be any easier and that it will be another challenging day.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“We saw a lot happening already in the morning loop, which was quite tough for the team. I was sorry to see Oliver and Elfyn off the road, and I knew then that it would be important for me to keep going. The stages were very tricky with a lot of grip changes, so it was easy to make a mistake. I wasn’t taking any risks, but I was quite happy with the feeling and the pace that we found, and I think we were managing things quite well. There’s still a long way to go and anything can happen tomorrow could be even more challenging with more mud on the road.”

Elfyn Evans

“We had a really good start this morning, with a good feeling in the car and good speed in the first two stages. Then, unfortunately, a bit of a disaster for us when we slid off the road on the third stage. We just got caught out; the corner was a bit tighter than expected and we came into it too fast. We’re very disappointed that we couldn’t use the potential we had and we’re very sorry for the team. The target now is to find good form ahead of Sunday and see what we can recover in terms of points.”

Oliver Solberg

“It was really disappointing what happened in the first stage this morning. It was my first time with this hard tyre on the car in rally conditions and I was maybe too optimistic considering that limited experience. I was just a bit too fast in this corner, misjudged the grip that I had, and ran wide and touched the wall. I’m very sorry for the team, but I will try to learn from this. We’ve had a good feeling with the car and tomorrow is a chance to learn some more and get ready to aim for points on Sunday.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“Today went better than expected. We were able to find something that we built on throughout the day to increase our speed. We’re not exactly where we want to be yet, but we were able to compensate for that with our driving and the tricky conditions, and that’s what kept us in the fight for a good result here this weekend. We will take the positives from today and build on them to stay in contention. The battle for the top three is nice, but I don’t think we quite have the upper hand yet. It’s been a long time since we were able to drive as fast as we have today, and we will carry on pushing hard on the stages we know tomorrow.”

Hayden Paddon

“The position we’re in at the moment is much better than we expected coming into Croatia. We weren’t taking massive risks, but we’ve seen what happened to those who did, so we just have to carry on like this. It was starting to feel a bit more natural after some setup changes this afternoon, and we were definitely heading in a better direction. In conditions like today’s, it’s all about having confidence in the car, and when you’re confident it’s easy. Bit by bit it’s coming back, so we have to keep this progress going. We’re on target for how far we wanted to be behind our team-mates, but tomorrow will be a harder day. Everyone’s pushing really hard, it’s now time for us to dig deeper.”

Adrien Fourmaux

“If we didn’t have the puncture we would have been in the fight more, so now it’s harder to find the balance between pushing to stay within reach or playing it safe. I’m trying to keep it clean and smooth, and listen to the pacenotes closely, but it was dirty everywhere today. We know that as a team tarmac is not our best surface, so for us to be in the position we are in now is a positive. I’m happy to see the performance we have against Toyota – we’ve definitely made a step forward. There is only one new stage tomorrow, but for me it’s the key point of the rally. It’s very demanding so if something happens, it will be on this stage.”

 

Saturday

The second day of action will see the crews tackle 116 kilometres over eight stages. There is an added dimension of trickiness as there is no mid-day service break either, the crews will just have a tyre fitting zone. Oliver and Elfyn will return to the action as well, hoping to prepare for Sunday’s stages and the points on offer.

We came then to the final day of action and the crews would be facing just over fifty-seven kilometres over four stages to finish the rally. Elfyn would open the road throughout the day in these final stages.

 

First up then was SS17 Oserengoni 1 and Seb set the pace from Oliver and Adrien. Takamoto continued to lead the rally, his lead over Adrien now a few seconds over a minute. The Japanese driver was looking good to take a first victory with his Irish co-driver Aaron Johnston.

 

Next up was SS18 Hell’s Gate 1, the first run through what would be the powerstage and Elfyn was fastest from Oliver and Seb as the three teammates continued to show their pace at the front of this championship. Takamoto was being careful and taking no chances out there as he set the ninth best time.

 

Next up then was SS19 Oserengoni 2 and Oliver was fastest in this one as Seb and Elfyn were second and third fastest. Once again, Takamoto continued to manage his pace setting the eighth best time but still maintaining a considerable margin over Adrien with just one stage remaining. Of the three early championship protagonists Oliver was the only one who had remained in the overall top ten, whilst his teammates Seb and Elfyn were holding eleventh and thirteen respectively.

 

We came then to the final stage, SS20 Hell’s Gate 2 and of the front runners Elfyn set the early pace before first being pushed down by Seb and then Oliver to the third best time as the Swede took the stage win. Adrien came through to take a well fought for second place and Sami for his third-place finish.  All eyes were on the number eighteen GR Yaris piloted by Takamoto with his co-driver Aaron as they came through the stage and crossed the finish line to take their first ever WRC victory. There were emotional scenes at the time control before they climbed onto the top of their car.

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

Safari Rally Kenya Final Classification

1	T. Katsuta	A. Johnston	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	3:16:05.6
2	A. Fourmaux	A. Coria	Hyundai i20 N Rally1	+27.4
3	S. Pajari	M. Salminen	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+4:26.1
4	E. Lappi	E. Mälkönen	Hyundai i20 N Rally1	+6:07.3
5	R. Virves	J. Viilo	Skoda Fabia RS	+11:38.7
6	G. Greensmith	J. Andersson	Toyota GR Yaris	+12:09.0
7	F. Zaldivar	M. Der Ohannesian	Skoda Fabia RS	+12:20.0
8	A. Mikkelsen	J. Listerhud	Skoda Fabia RS	+12:30.7
9	D. Domínguez	R. Peñate	Toyota GR Yaris	+13:28.4
10	O. Solberg	E. Edmondson	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+16:44.5

Super Sunday Classification – Safari Rally Kenya

1	O. Solberg	33:28.9
2	S. Ogier	+3.6
3	E. Evans	+17.5
4	T. Neuville	+26.8
5	A. Fourmaux	+38.4

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Takamoto Katsuta

“It’s such an amazing feeling to achieve this result. It’s hard to describe how I felt when I crossed the finish line: it was just crazy. There have been so many difficult moments, and these memories all went through my head. It hasn’t been easy but finally we are here. Thanks to Aaron who has worked so hard with me, and to every single person in the team, which has always been believing in me. Trying to manage today was really difficult, because you see every small rock and you try to avoid them. But we managed it without any problems, so thank you to the team for giving me such a strong car and strong support. We’re here because we never give up and we’ll keep working hard to achieve more results like this.”

Sami Pajari

“It’s really nice to finish on the podium again. This was a real adventure of a rally, a really tough one but that’s the nature of this event. The performance we had on Friday especially was really nice, and to take five stage wins is great. We had the speed, but the most important thing today was just to reach the finish without any issues. Thanks to the team for keeping the car running all week. I’m super happy for me and Marko and also for Taka and Aaron taking their first win.”

Oliver Solberg

“The goal for today was to have one last push after the disappointment of yesterday. I just tried to turn it around and do the best that I could, and we ended up having a fantastic day, winning Super Sunday and the Power Stage. We did the best that we could possibly could to recover, so I’m really happy with the day. And if it couldn’t be us winning, then I’m also happy to see Taka and Aaron winning the rally. With all the hard work Taka does and the passion that he has, he really deserves it.”

Sébastien Ogier

“Today we tried to get as many points as we could, but it’s never easy to push to the maximum in these conditions like we had in the Power Stage. I just tried to drive clean in the ruts, and it’s possible to go faster if you really push it. Speed-wise I think it’s been a good weekend, but this is also the rally of the year where the speed matters the least. I’m really glad to see that Taka could still bring the win home for the team and for himself: it’s well-deserved for him after all these years of effort.”

Elfyn Evans

“It’s definitely been a tough weekend. We tried to use our head but still we weren’t able to get the car through the whole rally. It’s like this, sometimes it happens in rallying like we know. I’m a bit disappointed with today also: we were quite slow in the first stage this morning and conditions were not ideal for us. We tried but didn’t get as many points as we would have liked. I’m pleased to still be leading the championship, and we can look forward to Croatia. I’m very happy for Taka and Aaron who have worked really hard and are very deserving of this win.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Adrien Fourmaux

“I’m feeling relieved finishing on the podium after four tough days; this is a big result. I said often this weekend that Safari Rally Kenya isn’t over until the finish line, and anything can happen. We never gave up, even when we had a lot of time to make up on Friday. On Saturday morning, we had more issues to battle. We knew coming into this event that everyone would have problems, but our plan was to have fewer than everyone else. We can be pleased that we achieved that. Congratulations, and a big thank you, to the team – it has been a proper team effort this weekend. What the mechanics did yesterday was unbelievable. People think rallying is about the driver and co-driver, but there are many others behind the scenes who contributed to this success.”

Esapekka Lappi

“We had a plan this weekend and let nothing deviate us from it, and it has paid off. We might not have won the rally; however, it is the first time I have finished it. If you’d have told us at the start of the weekend we would finish second and fourth as a team, we would have taken it, and considering that we should be very satisfied with the result today. Thanks to the mechanics, who did an amazing job at every service. Today we were slow to be safe, we had a bit more rhythm on the Power Stage, but it was all about ensuring we finished. It was the toughest event I’ve ever done; I’ve never done so many repairs on the road section. The conditions Thursday and yesterday were insane, the mud made it so difficult to drive and keep the car alive.”

Thierry Neuville

“A very tough rally comes to an end; this has been a Kenya like no other. It has been an incredible adventure from the beginning, and the conditions were very difficult. The team has done really well, making some great steps forward with the car to address the issues we had previously and surviving where others failed. Today was tough, we tried hard to fight for Super Sunday, but we just couldn’t go any faster. We didn’t give up, and I’m happy we did what we could after a lot of disappointments on each stage. We will fight back. Finally, a big shout-out to the mechanics who have done an incredible job this weekend to get the car repaired every time – they deserve this great result.”

 

M-Sport Ford WRT

Jon Armstrong

“It’s been one of the toughest weekends we’ve experienced. Some of the issues we had – one of them was my mistake – but at least we were able to fix the car and continue. It’s a big bonus to get to the finish without having to super rally, and the car held up really well apart from a couple of small things. That’s just Kenya – you take it on the chin and bank the experience. I’m quite happy with our pace in some of the stages too, so I’m looking forward to getting back on tarmac – but all of this has been valuable knowledge for the next gravel rally.”

Josh McErlean

“It’s disappointing to retire with the engine issue after the effort the whole team put in this week. Safari is always a huge challenge, but there were some positives for us – especially the third fastest time on Friday which showed the pace we’re capable of. Thanks to the team at M-Sport for all their hard work!”

Romet Jürgenson (WRC2)

“It’s been a really difficult weekend for us, starting with issues already on stage one – and it basically got worse from there. On the second day we didn’t get any further than the first stage again, but at least on Saturday we got to do some proper mileage. Sunday brought another issue, so it’s one of those weekends where you just want to draw a line and focus on the next one. The team put in a huge amount of effort and sometimes it just doesn’t get rewarded – that’s the way it goes sometimes.”

 

Summary

Well, we knew it was going to come one day and now Takamoto and Aaron now join the elite of this championship as rally winners. There were moments during the rally which really tested them including the double puncture on Saturday. Yet, they were just there when their teammates hit problems and took their first win in the rally which gave Taka his first podium in 2021.

Adrien and Alex took a very well deserved second place to add to his previous podiums. Again, there were problems along the way, but their drive gave them good points which has placed them in fourth in the championship standings after three rounds and the top Hyundai crew.

 

Finally, Sami and Marko took a third overall podium and their second in a row. Lots of stage wins showed that they really have the pace now. Their first win cannot be far away.

 

2026 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers’ Standings
After round 3

1	E. Evans	66
2	O. Solberg	58
3	T. Katsuta	55
4	A. Fourmaux	47
5	S. Pajari	32
6	S. Ogier	26
7	T. Neuville	25
8	E. Lappi	21
9	R. Virves	10
10	G. Greensmith	8

 

 

2026 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers’ Standings
After round 3

1	Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team	157
2	Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team	114
3	Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team 2	35
4	M-Sport Ford World Rally Team	23

 

The next round is in Croatia taking place over the ninth to twelfth of April.

Onto Saturday’s action then and the crews had just under 123 kilometres over eight stages to improve their position on the leaderboard. Oliver and Elliott held a one second lead over their world champion teammates, Seb and Vincent. Meanwhile Josh and Eoin returned to the action after their early exit on Friday.

 

First up then was SS11 Soysambu 1 and Oliver was fastest from Elfyn and Adrien. Seb suffered a puncture and lost over two minutes, the result being that he dropped from second overall to fifth. Elfyn, Sami and Adrien were the three to benefit from the champions problem. Their teammate, Takamoto was also benefitting from problems as he moved up one position at the expense of Thierry who’d lost two positions.

 

Next up was SS12 Elmenteita 1 and Seb who was clearly fired up set the pace from Adrien and Thierry. The Frenchman moved up the leaderboard and back into third overall, whilst Sami suffered a huge tyre blowout which tore the left rear quarter panel to pieces. He emerged from the stage having lost five positions in eighth position. Elfyn had some drama in this one as he suffered a double puncture on the right-hand side of his Yaris. The three Toyota drivers, Takamoto, Elfyn and Oliver all had something to say about the changes made to the stage since recce earlier in the week. They were really angry.

 

There was some real drama on the following stage though, SS13 Sleeping Warrior 1. Elfyn’s suspension failed on the right-hand rear, and this was traced back to the double tyre failure in the previous stage having put huge pressure on the set-up. Seb set the pace in this one from Jon with Takamoto third fastest. There was drama for lots of crews, with windscreens covered in mud as they ran out of water to clean it. Esapekka was one of those who lost lots of time just making sure that he and Enni reached the end of the stage. Josh in his Puma also had trouble as his car took in some water into the engine. He and co-driver Eoin pushed the car away from the stop line time control, as the engine had cut out. They would get the engine running though and make the start line for the next stage.

After the service break came SS14 Soysambu 2 and Adrien was fastest from Takamoto and Esapekka. This was also the Hyundai team’s first stage win of the rally and with the demise of both Oliver and Seb from the front of the leaderboard Takamoto was now leading the rally from Adrien and Esapekka, whilst Sami was in fourth and only one and a half seconds behind his fellow Finn.

 

Onto what was meant to be the penultimate stage of the day then, SS15 Elmenteita 2 and Sami was fastest by almost five seconds from the new rally leader Takamoto whilst Adrien was third fastest. Sami’s pace took him into third overall from Esapekka who suffered a mud splatted windscreen making it really tricky to see the road.

 

The final stage was cancelled bringing the day to an early end.

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

Classification after Day Two

1 T. Katsuta A. Johnston Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 2:41:00.2 2 A. Fourmaux A. Coria Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +1:25.5 3 S. Pajari M. Salminen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +5:29.1 4 E. Lappi E. Mälkönen Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +6:18.5 5 R. Virves J. Viilo Skoda Fabia RS +9:42.1 6 G. Greensmith J. Andersson Toyota GR Yaris +10:37.4 7 F. Zaldivar M. Der Ohannesian Skoda Fabia RS +10:43.8 8 A. Mikkelsen J. Listerhud Skoda Fabia RS +11:24.4 9 D. Domínguez R. Peñate Toyota GR Yaris +11:57.8 10 O. Solberg E. Edmondson Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +18:21.0

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Takamoto Katsuta

“Everybody knew that today would be very tough and that a lot of drama could happen. Of course, I would not have hoped for these difficulties to happen for our team-mates. Already in the morning I was just following my strategy of trying to stay away from problems, and in the afternoon I was really trying to manage the situation and avoid all the rocks. In a way it’s easier to be fighting for tenths of a second, and now it’s more about surviving which is not so enjoyable, but still the times have been quite OK. There’s still quite a long day ahead tomorrow and I will just stay focused and try my best to bring the car home.”

Sami Pajari

“I’m sure today has been an exciting day for the fans to follow, because you could never know what was going to happen next. We were not the only ones to face difficulties this morning, and I think we were lucky to get back to service with the damage we had. Thankfully the team could fix the car and the afternoon was quite positive for us, as we gained some positions and took another stage win. Tomorrow there will be drivers who retired today who have nothing to lose, but I will be very happy to have a clean day and reach the finish.”

Oliver Solberg

“The morning had started really well: we were trying to be clean but still have good speed. The feeling in the car was good and we were able to extend our lead. Unfortunately, after that muddy third stage we had an issue and had to stop on the road section. This team is known to be the strongest and most reliable and unfortunately this was just one of those days where we got an issue. It’s hard in the moment, when you’re leading the rally and the car stops on the road section trying to get back to service, but we will come back with a big push tomorrow.”

Sébastien Ogier

“We were having an eventful morning, but we managed to complete the last stage of the loop with a good time, coming back into second position. Unfortunately, it looks like some of the mud got into our alternator and although we tried everything we could on the road section, we ran out of battery before we could get back to service. This has been the most extreme Safari Rally we’ve seen in recent years: considering that our team has a reputation for having the strongest car, today has proven just how tough this year’s rally is. Tomorrow there will be quite a few of us fighting for Super Sunday and Power Stage points and we’ll see what we can do.”

Elfyn Evans

“This morning started pretty well for us and things were going fine in the second stage as well, but we unfortunately got caught out by the layout of the end, hit a rock and picked up a double puncture. It looks like there was some more damage caused by the impact because in the next stage when we came to the first braking point, something gave way at the rear, and unfortunately there was no chance to continue. After a long run of events without retirements, it’s a huge disappointment of course, but it’s one of those things and we have to move on. Tomorrow we’ll be looking to get back at it and try to fight for some points.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Adrien Fourmaux

“Today has been one of the toughest days of my career. We have to say thank you to the mechanics and the whole team who did a very good job at midday service to prepare the car for the afternoon, they did a fantastic job. Tomorrow we will try to push for the Super Sunday points, but we still need to secure the podium. Everybody had technical issues today, and we were struggling with the transmission because of the amount of mud we faced on the stages. Tomorrow will be tricky, but the Power Stage is flat out, so we’ll see what that is like if the rain comes.”

Esapekka Lappi

“We have been trying to survive since SS1. The stages are more or less fine, but we are really busy working on the car on the road sections, trying to keep it moving on to the next stage. We have had overheating issues almost every stage; the mud is coming into the radiator and blocking it, so that’s one area that we had to focus on. We had so much mud on Sleeping Warrior that it went in the clutch as well. We need some food and a good night’s sleep before we go again tomorrow.”

Thierry Neuville

“We had multiple problems throughout SS14 that led to our retirement. First of all, we had a harsh impact on the front left in the first section and I felt that something wasn’t 100% right on the car, but we carried on. A couple of kilometres later we got a double puncture, so we immediately stopped to change the tyres, and then four to five kilometres later the driveshaft snapped, and we knew we were finished. There’s still one more day to go, and we just need to try to get through. It will be difficult, but we will see what we can bring home tomorrow.”

 

Sunday

The final day will hopefully see all the stages run and no cancellations. There are 57 kilometres over four stages. Sadly, Josh and Eoin won’t be returning to the action as the damage to the engine in their Puma from the water taken in is too bad.

The first full day of this rally would see the crews tackle 137 kilometres over eight stages. There had already been two stages on Thursday afternoon with really tricky conditions in the first one and Oliver led from Elfyn by over thirty seconds with Seb a further thirty seconds back in third overall. Thierry was the best of the three Hyundai crews holding sixth overall, whilst Jon was seventh for M-Sport.

 

Onto Saturday then and unfortunately the first stage was cancelled, SS3 Camp Moran 2. This was the stage hit by huge rain and puddles on Thursday afternoon.

The first action then was in SS4 Loldia 1 and Seb set the pace from his teammate Sami, whilst Adrien was third. Oliver who was leading the rally was eighth fastest whilst his closest challenger for the lead, Elfyn, was sixth. The Frenchman reduced the gap to the front in this stage.

 

Next up then came SS5 Kengen Geothermal 1 and Sami set the pace from Seb and Elfyn in this one. Once again Oliver was near the bottom end of the top ten with the ninth best time and thirteen seconds off the pace. His two teammates had reduced the gap as well with Elfyn less than thirty seconds away and Seb now under forty seconds. It was an impressive stage win for the Finn as he suffered a puncture as well.

 

Sami also won SS6 Kedong 1, the stage with the jump near the tree, from Takamoto and Thierry was third fastest. Interestingly, Oliver beat both Seb and Elfyn in this stage going sixth fastest with Seb eighth and Elfyn tenth. There was no big-time gaps between the three of them meaning the gaps remained pretty much as they were at the end of Kengen.

 

After service the crews returned to SS7 Kedong 2 and Seb was fastest this time from Sami and Esapekka. There was a little bit of movement on the overall leaderboard as Seb passed Elfyn for second overall and despite a twenty second penalty Sami moved ahead of Takamoto. The Japanese driver sadly suffered double punctures on his front tyres, losing thirty-two seconds and falling to fifth overall.  At least he had two spares on-board to be able to change before the next stage. It was a good drive from Jon in this one who set the sixth best time, just four tenths of a second behind former M-Sport driver Adrien.

Then it was back to SS8 Kengen Geothermal 2 and once again Sami showed that he had this one figured out going fastest again from Seb and Thierry. With no spare tyres, Takamoto just took it easy going sixth fastest. There was some time loss for the rally leader though as Oliver had a puncture on the right-hand rear corner which then saw his lead reduced to just one second over Seb with Elfyn now just a further 4.7 seconds back. Also getting a puncture was Jon in his Puma and he fell one position overall to ninth as Esapekka moved into eighth.

 

Seb ended Sami’s run of fastest times, winning SS9 Loldia 2 from Adrien and Oliver who set the identical time of fourteen minutes, fourteen seconds and four tenths. Seb’s pace took him a little closer to his Swedish teammate, with just seven tenths of a second between them! There was some movement further down the leaderboard as both Thierry and Adrien passed Takamoto for sixth and seventh overall. There was more drama for Jon though who stopped in the stage for over twenty minutes. The reason was that he’d lost the rear and clipped something at the edge of the road and broke the driveshaft and a part of the suspension. He and co-driver Shane got it changed, but this left the Puma with front-wheel drive. They did make it through to the end which was important.

 

Onto the final stage then, SS10 Mzabibu 2 and Sami was once again setting the pace from Oliver and Seb. Oliver opened the gap to his world champion teammates to one second whilst Elfyn who remained in third overall saw the gap grow to just under twenty seconds.

 

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

Classification after Day One

1 O. Solberg E. Edmondson Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 1:33:50.2 2 S. Ogier V. Landais Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +1.0 3 E. Evans S. Martin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +20.5 4 S. Pajari M. Salminen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +1:10.5 5 T. Neuville M. Wydaeghe Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +1:46.1 6 A. Fourmaux A. Coria Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +1:47.3 7 T. Katsuta A. Johnston Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +1:53.3 8 E. Lappi E. Mälkönen Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +2:53.2 9 R. Virves J. Viilo Skoda Fabia RS +6:53.6 10 G. Greensmith J. Andersson Toyota GR Yaris +7:08.1

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Oliver Solberg

“Today the goal was to try to be clean and keep a similar pace to Elfyn. This afternoon was so rocky, and for my first time in the car in these conditions it isn’t easy. We probably lost half our lead from being careful, and half the lead from the tyre damage in SS8. That was unfortunate but a lead is a lead and I have to be happy with that. Seb has been incredible today, probably taking more risks, but there’s such a long way to go and to be one second in front is better than two minutes behind.”

Sébastien Ogier

“I think I can be very happy with today, starting with a deficit of more than a minute and being only one second from the lead tonight. Of course, we always believed that we could come back after last night, but it felt like a long shot even here in Kenya. Now it’s all very open, so let’s see. I think we are all expecting that tomorrow is the biggest day of the rally with three very demanding stages, so many things can still happen, but we’ll try to keep the same approach and a strong rhythm.”

Elfyn Evans

“It’s been a bit of a mixed day for us. We gave away a bit of time at moments, some of it a bit unnecessarily, but that’s also the nature of this rally. We damaged a wheel in the first run through Kedong and dropped a bit of time with that. It’s been going OK but I wouldn’t say I’m happy. The stages that are coming tomorrow are prone to a lot of rain, especially in the afternoon, and conditions could be difficult already in the first pass. We’ll just keep trying to do the best we can.”

Sami Pajari

“It’s been a nice day for us. The conditions were relatively straightforward, and I just tried to choose the sections where I could push. I still felt that in the most tricky and rough places I was trying to back off. Still, we could set the fastest time in four of the stages and be very close in the others, and that was really nice to see. It’s not like we were just flat-out everywhere because that will end very quickly: you need to be clever too. That will be important too on tomorrow’s stages, where we’ve seen a lot of rain and drama before.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“This morning I was driving quite steady and not really pushing, but still the times were not too bad and the feeling in the car was good. Unfortunately, in the first stage of the afternoon we got the double puncture. That was really not ideal, and I just tried to survive the afternoon with so many rough sections knowing that we didn’t have any spare tyres. We’ve lost a few positions but a minute on this rally is almost nothing and we know that tomorrow anything can happen. Hopefully there will be some drama and I’m ready if it rains.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“It has been an eventful day here in Kenya. I didn’t have the best start this morning, but when we got into a rhythm we felt more comfortable, especially this afternoon after we made some changes. The roads are more rutted, but I just couldn’t drive the car faster. We had a few troubles this afternoon with a stone causing our fan to break and our radiator to overheat. Tomorrow, we’re expecting the worst, although we’re not quite sure what that will be – so we need to focus on getting through, keeping a rhythm, accept the weather isn’t in our favour and do everything we can to stay out of trouble.”

Adrien Fourmaux

“I was really enjoying today – we had the pace, and we were able to do some very good times, so overall I am pleased. We were missing out on the fastest time by a few tenths each stage, but at least we were there and able to close the gap to those ahead of us. That is a positive, and let’s see what we can do tomorrow. We know many things can happen, so we just need to make sure we are performing well in the rain.”

Esapekka Lappi

“This morning it became clear that the settings I have on the car, which I chose myself, are not right, but there isn’t much we can do about the situation. Instead, we focused on what we can control, and were able to make it a bit better. Today we took a similar approach to yesterday – just try to survive until the finish.”

 

Saturday

The second full day of both morning and afternoon stages sees the crews tackle just under 123 kilometres over six stages, with the longest stage of the rally Soysambu as well at twenty-four kilometres run twice. There is also the possibility of rain arriving in the afternoon as well.

 

Who will be holding the top positions at the end of the day?

Time for the first round of this seasons championship on gravel and on some of the most iconic roads of Kenya. After their win last time out Elfyn and Scott lead the championship and will open the road throughout the stages on Friday.

 

This years edition has 350 kilometres over twenty stages. The action begins with shakedown on Thursday morning before two stages that afternoon which total just over 33 kilometres. Then Friday sees the most amount of stages at eight with almost 140 kilometres of action. Saturday is a little shorter with six stages and almost 123 kilometres of action whilst Sunday’s stages see the crews tackle four stages with just over 57 kilometres of action.

Let’s hear from the drivers.

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Elfyn Evans

“It’s been an incredible start to the year for the team, but we certainly can’t underestimate the challenges ahead of us, especially going into a rally like Safari. It can be a really unpredictable event: you can find rocks in the middle of the road or hidden in the grass, and when it rains there can be standing water and zero grip. It’s been a very successful rally for our team, which works hard to give us a strong car with modifications to help us in those tough conditions. Last year’s rally was quite extreme with the weather, and I was very happy to get through it and come away with the win for the first time. It won’t be an easy feat to repeat but that will be the target.”

Oliver Solberg

“Safari Rally Kenya is a rally that I love and I’m looking forward to doing it with the GR YARIS Rally1 car for the first time. It’s a very different type of rally to somewhere like Sweden or Estonia because it’s not about pure speed or finding the ultimate feeling with the car. There are some sections you can attack and have a lot of fun in the car, but you can’t do that everywhere, so you need to try to find a consistent and safe pace. The team has an amazing record in Kenya, and we can be confident that the car will be strong. The main goal is to have a clean rally and if you can do that, you can bank some very good points.”

Sébastien Ogier

“It will be a pleasure to return to Kenya after missing the last two editions of the Safari Rally. I look forward to being back in this beautiful country and seeing the excitement of the African fans, and it’s always a unique experience different to any other rally. It will be my first time being there at this earlier time of year, and it looks like it could be wetter than I’ve seen in the past. How you approach this rally depends a lot on the conditions you face, and these can evolve very quickly. It’s an event you need to start with humility, but the team has been in amazing form and Kenya has been good ground for us in the past, so let’s hope we can achieve another great result.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“It was enjoyable to be in the fight in Sweden and hopefully I can take this feeling forward to Kenya, even though that will be a very different challenge for everybody. For the Safari, you need to forget about driving flat-out like in Sweden and sacrifice some speed to try to manage everything. Despite this, it’s another rally that I really like, and it seems to suit me quite well. Our team has also been very good there and they are always providing us with a strong and reliable car for those tough conditions. It’s a special rally for me and for the team and we always feel great support, and I’m confident we can aim for another good result.”

Sami Pajari

“Sweden was a really nice rally for me with a solid performance and result, but Kenya will be a completely different and unique challenge. Doing the rally for the first-time last year was a real adventure. On some stages it’s more a matter of surviving, but there are others which are more fast and flowing. It’s a rally where I believe experience is playing quite a big role. Last year we had a clever approach and finished fourth, which was a good result for our first time, but I hope this year we can have more speed and fight for the podium positions, while still needing to be smart about where we push and where we back-off.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“Safari Rally Kenya is one of the most demanding events on the calendar for both man and machine. It’s been a tough event for us, but last year we were able to secure our first podium, and that’s where we want to get back to. It’s hard to know what the conditions will be like but based on what we’ve had over the past few years, we expect a huge variety. Rain tends to be very localised, but it’s usually heavy across stages like Sleeping Warrior. As well as navigating the conditions, we must optimise our setup to protect the car as much as possible. Balancing reliability with the right setup is always a challenge, but avoiding punctures is an even bigger one. My goal is to have a trouble-free event; we can be fast in Kenya, but we’ve also struggled to get through without any issues. Hopefully this year we can bring home another strong result.”

Adrien Fourmaux

“Safari Rally Kenya is a unique event for our championship. Everything from pacenotes to the unpredictable weather are very different to other rallies, and they’re not necessarily things that we are used to. This event can be a mix of fesh-fesh, mud and deep puddles across rough sections – this can be very hard on both the car and the mechanics. Tyre management is crucial; we have to get the best out of them without doing too much damage. We’ll be fourth on the road in Kenya, which is a strong position for this event. It’s ideal because you avoid the destroyed roads you’d get starting further back, and you can also make the most of the lines in the road from the cars in front. Our target is to have a clean rally – avoid damaging the car and risking any punctures – so we can finish on the podium.”

Esapekka Lappi

“We’ve tried to maximise our preparations for Kenya by focussing on reliability, including enhancing our demisting system for the best visibility in wet conditions. Pure performance is not as crucial in Kenya, so we are at less of a disadvantage there. It’s difficult to prepare for the fesh-fesh as it’s almost impossible to find similar conditions in Europe, so it’s often just full throttle and fingers crossed. Enni hasn’t competed in Kenya before, but she did do a recce there two years ago, which gives her some understanding of what it’s like. Her most important preparation will be getting advice from our co-driver colleagues. I’d like to be in a position where we’re on the pace to fight for a good finish, but to do that we need a calm and collected approach.”

 

M-Sport Ford WRT

Josh McErlean

“Safari Rally is one of the toughest events of the year. The focus is on being smart, looking after the car and putting together a consistent performance. If we do that, we can come away with a really positive result.”

Jon Armstrong

“Kenya will be a unique challenge for me and Shane, as it’s our first time there it will be a lot to discover. As we work through our preparations and research, I can tell it’s not going to be easy, but we will give it our best shot and focus on keeping it as clean as we can! We recently spent time in the workshop preparing with the team and working on the car which was very valuable going into such a rough event.”

Romet Jürgenson (WRC2)

“Kenya will be a very different challenge compared to the rallies I’ve done in the past. Maybe Greece in my Junior WRC years compares a little, but it’s definitely an event where we have to think about the long game and getting through without major issues to secure a good position in the end. That will be our aim, to get the experience of this unique and great event and then just hope for the best result we can get.”

Summary

The action gets underway tomorrow with shakedown before the first two stages in the afternoon.

Who will take victory this year?

We came then to the final day of action and three stages to run over 61km’s. Not only was the win on the cards for the crews, there were also extra points for the fastest five through the stages, there of course were points available for the five fastest in the powerstage.

Once again Martins would open the road throughout the day, whilst Elfyn would be last to complete for the top-class car crews. He held a little over thirteen second lead over his Japanese teammate as they fought for victory.

 

It was an excellent start for the rally leader in SS16 Västervik 1as he set the fastest time from his teammates Takamoto and Oliver. It was also a good stage for Martins who was fifth fastest and only just over one second behind Sami. In the overall standings Adrien remained in fourth now a little under ten seconds behind the returning Esapekka. There was a penalty of a minute placed onto Thierry which was applied at the end of Saturday’s action as the Belgian was penalised for not having his helmet strap done up.

 

After a visit to the service park for service came SS17 Västervik 2 and Takamoto was fastest from Sami and Elfyn and only seven tenths covered the three of them. There was a change for overall positions as Adrien moved past Esapekka and into fifth overall. Jon was again on the pace going faster than Thierry by a second, yet barring disaster the Belgian would still take seventh given that there was a gap of thirteen seconds between them.

 

We came then to the final stage, SS18 Umeå 2 the Powerstage. Thierry set the pace in this one and as Elfyn came through he was up on the splits but some of that speed embed away in the final corner towards the flying finish and he finished just one tenth of a second behind giving him second in the stage, whilst Takamoto was third, Oliver fourth and Esapekka fifth.

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

Final Classification – Rally Sweden

1 E. Evans S. Martin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 2:35:53.1 2 T. Katsuta A. Johnston Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +14.3 3 S. Pajari M. Salminen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +46.0 4 O. Solberg E. Edmondson Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +1:11.6 5 A. Fourmaux A. Coria Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +1:50.3 6 E. Lappi E. Mälkönen Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +1:53.2 7 T. Neuville M. Wydaeghe Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +3:45.9 8 J. Armstrong S. Byrne Ford Puma Rally1 +4:05.5 9 J. McErlean E. Treacy Ford Puma Rally1 +6:05.4 10 R. Korhonen A. Viinikka Toyota GR Yaris +10:36.2

Super Sunday Classification – Rally Sweden

1	E. Evans	30:38.5
2	T. Katsuta	+1.0
3	O. Solberg	+13.2
4	S. Pajari	+20.6
5	A. Fourmaux	+32.6

 

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Elfyn Evans

“It’s been a great weekend for us and the whole team here in Sweden. The car has been amazing to drive, so a big thanks to the team. It’s an incredible feeling to drive on these fast stages in such nice winter conditions, and when you feel good in the car, it’s always a pleasure. We didn’t have a huge margin coming into the final day, and with so many points available on Sundays, we had to push until the end, but we can be very happy with what we came away with. It’s been a great start to the year, but it’s still early days and we need to keep working hard.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“This is a great result for the team and I’m very happy to be part of it, so a huge thanks to the team for all their hard work. Everything was working well with the car, and I was enjoying it a lot. Big congratulations to Elfyn: he was so strong here again this year and deserves this win. Hopefully next time I have a chance to fight for victory I can push harder. It’s always enjoyable to be in the fight, especially on this kind of high-speed rally when it’s so intense and you’re fighting over tenths of a second. Kenya is another rally that seems to suit me, so I’ll look forward to that.”

Sami Pajari

“This is an amazing result for us and for the team. I want to say a big thank you to the team and to everybody who was giving us such great support after Rallye Monte-Carlo didn’t go to plan. This time we were back on the pace and I’m of course really happy to be back on the podium. I really enjoyed the driving this week with this car in these conditions. It’s nice to be back on the level where I think we should be and where we were at the end of last year. Now we just need to keep pushing for even better results in the future.”

Oliver Solberg

“Of course, I was hoping for more from my home rally, but I think I underestimated how difficult it would be on Friday. My mistake maybe cost a podium and put me on the back foot for the rest of the weekend, but fourth is probably the best I deserve. There’s been a lot of learning in my first proper snow rally with this car and my first time starting first on the road. I tried my best and scored some decent points. The support has been amazing, and I’ve really enjoyed myself in the car. A big thanks to the team: they’ve done a great job and this 1-2-3-4 is a fantastic result.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Adrien Fourmaux

“The rally was beautiful, and the conditions were good, but we are not where we wanted to be in terms of results. We are still taking home some points, and I’m in a better position than last year in terms of the championship, so we just need to make sure we are on the pace in the upcoming events. We have done a good job at the first two events, but we need to keep our heads down and improve to make sure that the next two rallies are going to be fast.”

Esapekka Lappi

“This weekend was probably a bit better than I was expecting in terms of pace against my team-mates, but on the other hand I’m a bit frustrated that we couldn’t be closer to Toyota. I quickly understood that I only need to compare myself to Thierry and Adrien – it’s the only realistic reference that I need, and it went really well throughout the weekend. The conditions on the roads were good and were less of a tyre killer on the second pass, so it was different to what we usually experience here.”

Thierry Neuville

“We need to take all of our courage as a team to work hard and bring us back to where we belong. We are doing a lot, driving a lot, but somehow, we’re not moving in the right direction. I don’t know where the improvements need to be made – I made a lot of changes during the weekend and there was no difference. We basically had limited grip and a lot of understeer. Kenya has never been our strongest event, but we need to go forward and hope for the best.”

 

M-Sport Ford WRT

Jon Armstrong

“I really enjoyed Rally Sweden – it’s good to get this finish under our belt after Monte. We’ve shown some good pace and good splits along the way, and for our first time on this surface in the Rally1 car, it’s been great for us and the team. We’re really happy with our progress and now we can see how we can improve that going forward. But overall, it’s been a good weekend, and we can be really proud of what we’ve achieved as a team here.”

Josh McErlean

“Rally Sweden done – it’s nice to get to the finish after a really difficult Monte-Carlo, one of the toughest events of my career. It’s been a weekend of ups and downs. Friday didn’t start so cleanly, but we’ve showed some good pace throughout and we’ve got some clear things to work on before Kenya. Overall, it’s been positive from a bounce-back perspective. We’ll focus now on Kenya, and the team has done great to get two cars to the finish inside the top ten – all in all, a good job from the team.”

Mārtiņš Sesks

“There were a few unfortunate things happening throughout the weekend, but if you look at the positives, we had our first stage win of the year and we were able to show our pace in some stages – which means we’ve found something good. Jon and Josh also showed some good speed, and overall, as a team I think we can look forward to some more good performances during the summer gravel rallies.”

Romet Jürgenson WRC2

“Sweden this year was one of those difficult events where things just weren’t really clicking for us. We were showing some good performance on Friday afternoon and got a joint-fastest stage time there. But again, on the first loops with more snow and ice, we were generally lacking some performance. On Saturday we ended early after a small crash, but the team did a good job and fixed the car so we could get the confidence back on Sunday. I think we can definitely see the overall package has improved on the Fiesta – it shows that when things are clicking with the set-up, we’re producing some very good stage times, and next time we can come back stronger.”

Mille Johansson WRC2 retired

“Rally Sweden didn’t go our way this year. We faced technical issues during Friday morning which made the car quite low on power. The afternoon wasn’t too bad, but we filled the air filter full of snow on SS5. I was trying hard to find a good rhythm, but unfortunately it ended early for us after an incident that damaged the roll cage. Not the best start of the season, but we will learn and come back stronger.”

 

Summary

Well, what a great drive by Elfyn and Scott in their Yaris this weekend. They maintained a really good pace and when Takamoto and Aaron passed them at the end of Friday they didn’t seems too worried and then we saw them retake the lead on Saturday’s morning stages, they were never headed again on the overall leaderboard and took five stage wins. They join an elite group as three-time winners of this classic rally.

Takamoto and Aaron also had a fantastic rally taking a well-deserved second place and four stage wins along the way. They held the lead overnight from Friday into Saturday but were not able to hold the pace they’d shown on Friday.

 

Finally, Sami and Marko took their second overall podium, winning two stages and mixing it at the front. There was a brief moment on Saturday when they started to edge closer to second placed Takamoto and Aaron but ultimately that was not to develop into anything, and they made it to the third place.

2026 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers’ Standings 
After Round Two

1	E. Evans	60
2	O. Solberg	47
3	T. Katsuta	30
4	A. Fourmaux	28
5	T. Neuville	21
6	S. Ogier	18
7	S. Pajari	17
8	E. Lappi	9
9	L. Rossel	8
10	Y. Rossel	6

2026 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers’ Standings
After Round Two

1	Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team	117
2	Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team	66
3	M-Sport Ford World Rally Team	18
4	Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team 2	14

 

Next up is Safari Rally Kenya held from the 12 to 15 March, just three weeks’ time.

Onto the second day of action and Martins would return to the action in the Puma, meaning he’d open the road throughout the day, whilst Takamoto would be the final car from the top class to complete. Could his teammate Elfyn retake the lead?

 

First up then was SS9 Vännäs 1 and it was a great start for Elfyn to the day as he set the fastest time from Oliver and Sami. Takamoto was fourth and 7.2 slower meaning he’d dropped behind Elfyn by 4.4 seconds into second place. Interestingly Martins who opened the road set the best time of all three M-Sport crews. Meanwhile of those three, Jon was the best placed holding eighth position. Also, Oliver’s pace saw him move ahead of both Esapekka and Adrien and into fourth overall.

 

Onward then to SS10 Sarsjöliden 1 and it was a stage win for Martins in the Puma as all the leading crews came through and could not beat the Latvians time. Elfyn got the closest with a time just nine tenths of a second behind, whilst Oliver was third. It was a good stage for the M-Sport team as Josh was fifth and Jon seventh fastest with the same time as Adrien.

 

Oliver was fastest in SS11 Kolksele 1 by nine tenths over Elfyn whilst Sami was third and having a good start to the day and actually reducing the gap to Takamoto who was in second overall but now only 12.9 ahead of his teammate.

 

After the service break came SS12 Vännäs 2 and it was a stage win for Sami by 1.1 seconds over Esapekka, whilst Takamoto was a further 2.1 seconds and third fastest. Elfyn was keeping close though and was fourth and just seven tenths away meaning he maintained a 15.4 second lead over his teammate as they battled for the top spot.

 

It was a stage win for Elfyn is SS13 Sarsjöliden 2 from Takamoto by 2.6 seconds and Oliver third. Takamoto was not able to set the pace we saw on Friday and was just not comfortable to push as hard as he did. Meanwhile the best of the M-Sport crews was Jon who set the fifth best time putting his car ahead of two Hyundai’s. It was a good run for the Motor Irish Rally Academy supported driver.

 

Just two stages remained then for this second day and Sami was fastest in SS14 Kolksele 2 from Takamoto and Adrien. It was a great stage from the young Finn as Oliver was only seventh and saw the gap to third placed Sami grow to over thirty seconds.

 

The final stage of the day then, SS15 Umeå Sprint 2 and Takamoto was fastest from Oliver and Sami. Elfyn was sixth fastest and the gap was now just over 13 seconds between the two teammates as they battled for victory. Jon also had a great stage setting the fourth best time.

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

Classification after Day Two

1 E. Evans S. Martin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 2:05:14.6 2 T. Katsuta A. Johnston Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +13.3 3 S. Pajari M. Salminen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +25.4 4 O. Solberg E. Edmondson Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +58.4 5 E. Lappi E. Mälkönen Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +1:09.5 6 A. Fourmaux A. Coria Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +1:17.7 7 T. Neuville M. Wydaeghe Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +2:10.0 8 J. Armstrong S. Byrne Ford Puma Rally1 +3:24.8 9 J. McErlean E. Treacy Ford Puma Rally1 +4:48.8 10 R. Korhonen A. Viinikka Toyota GR Yaris +8:24.1

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Elfyn Evans

“It’s been a good day for us overall. In the morning we were strong and that’s when we were able to make the biggest gains. This afternoon was a bit more mixed. It was much harder on tyres than we expected, but we still got through it cleanly. Tomorrow can still be quite a challenging day: the longer stage we do twice is a tough one and it’s been reversed for this year. The gaps are still small, so I’m sure it’s going to be a good fight.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“I can’t be so happy with how today went; I think it could have been much better. In the morning I was struggling with the grip and I’m not completely sure why, but we were losing a lot of time. The conditions are tough because it’s very cold, so in the afternoon we had to manage the tyres as well, but thankfully we didn’t lose so much time. I feel the car has been working well and when we had a good feeling, we had the pace. There’s still one day to go and I’ll definitely try my best.”

Sami Pajari

“I’m pretty satisfied with today and especially this afternoon when we could take a couple of stage wins. I have a really nice feeling with the car and I’m enjoying the driving in these proper winter rally conditions. Taka has also been pretty strong this afternoon, so he hasn’t been making it easy for us to try and close in. There’s still quite a lot of kilometres to go tomorrow and we just need to try and continue the same rhythm and keep pushing.”

Oliver Solberg

“This morning was great for us. The conditions were consistent, the feeling was good, and we could catch some time and some positions. This afternoon I think the road cleaning was playing a bigger part again. There was a lot of loose snow, and I struggled a bit with the rhythm and was sideways a lot. At least we could get up to fourth place today which I think was the realistic goal, as my team-mates are doing a great job in front, and I’ll keep doing my best tomorrow.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Esapekka Lappi

“Overall, I have to say it was a good day. We changed a lot overnight, and then we made some changes throughout the day, and when it started to feel a bit more natural, I decided not to touch the car. It felt good enough for what I wanted, and I just wanted to learn to drive a bit faster. Being the leading Hyundai is good enough for me at the moment, so let’s see where we finish tomorrow.”

Adrien Fourmaux

“I made quite a lot of changes on the car – this morning we made some adjustments to the dampers, and it really helped us this afternoon. It’s a shame we didn’t find this solution earlier, but it’s helped us gain some freedom in the setup to just go for it. Today was quite positive, which is encouraging for tomorrow; it’s still going to be a hard fight against the Toyotas, but we will go for it.”

Thierry Neuville

“The conditions were generally nice today – much more consistent – so everything was a bit easier than yesterday, giving us a bit more speed and letting us enjoy the stages a bit more. I pushed hard with the setup today – we tried lots of different adjustments. I forgot to send my wife flowers for Valentine’s Day, so I told her I would at least set a fastest time, so there was extra pressure today!”

 

Sunday

The final day then will see three stages and a total of 61km’s to bring this year’s edition of Rally Sweden to a close.

 

Can Elfyn hold on to take his third win in this iconic rally, or will Takamoto find the pace to pass his teammate and take his first victory?

 

We’ll find out tomorrow!

The first full day of this winter rally on the beautiful roads of northern Sweden saw a battle for the lead between teammates as they took on seven stages and 125km’s. The first stage of the event had already happened the previous evening and Oliver held the lead from Elfyn and Takamoto was third. Of course, Oliver would open the road throughout Friday’s stages and face that challenge as the championship leader.

 

First up then was SS2 Bygdsiljum 1 and Elfyn would set the pace going almost six seconds faster than Takamoto, with Sami third fastest. Oliver lost quite a bit going almost ten seconds slower than Elfyn with the sixth fastest time. The Swede emerged from the stage in second overall with Takamoto just under a second behind now in third.

 

Elfyn made it two in a row in SS3 Andersvattnet 1 with Takamoto again being the closest challenger but five seconds slower. Adrien was third a further few seconds back. There was some drama for two of the drivers. First Thierry went into a snowbank, and he lost over a minute, setting the twenty-second best time. It was worse though for Martins in this one as he suffered a tyre delamination and was a minute and forty seconds off the best time. Meanwhile Oliver fell four positions down to sixth place, now almost forty seconds behind Elfyn.

 

Oliver came back in SS4 Bäck 1 to set the fastest time from Elfyn by just 1.2 seconds with Takamoto third fastest a further 3 seconds back. The Swede’s pace took him back up the leaderboard into fifth place albeit still well over half a minute from his teammate. Incredibly there was another puncture for Martins in his Puma. It was not a good morning so far for M-Sport.

 

After the service break came SS5 Bygdsiljum 2 and it was a stage win for Takamoto from Sami and Esapekka. Elfyn was fourth fastest and with Takamoto almost nine seconds faster the lead came down to just over five seconds. There was a change further back as Oliver was passed by Adrien for fifth place.

 

Takamoto made two in a row setting the pace in SS6 Andersvattnet 2 from Sami and Elfyn. The Japanese moved a little closer to his Welsh teammate bringing the gap down to just two and a half seconds.

 

There was finally a stage win for the Hyundai team in SS7 Bäck 2 with Thierry setting the pace from Oliver and Takamoto. Elfyn was fifth fastest and dropped behind Takamoto by just a tenth of a second. Meanwhile the two remaining M-Sport crews held eighth and ninth with Jon ahead of Josh.

Onto the final stage of the day then, the SS8 Umeå Sprint 1 and Oliver was fastest from Thierry and Takamoto. Elfyn was fifth and saw the gap to his teammate grow to a little under three seconds.

 

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

Classification after Day One

1 T. Katsuta A. Johnston Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 1:10:33.7 2 E. Evans S. Martin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +2.8 3 S. Pajari M. Salminen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +22.2 4 E. Lappi E. Mälkönen Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +45.9 5 A. Fourmaux A. Coria Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +50.3 6 O. Solberg E. Edmondson Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +51.0 7 T. Neuville M. Wydaeghe Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +1:43.8 8 J. Armstrong S. Byrne Ford Puma Rally1 +2:40.3 9 J. McErlean E. Treacy Ford Puma Rally1 +3:31.8 10 R. Korhonen A. Viinikka Toyota GR Yaris +4:41.9

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Takamoto Katsuta

“Everything went well and according to plan today. We knew that the afternoon would be more difficult for the frontrunners, so I just tried to be patient in the morning loop and then in the afternoon we were able to catch back up and take the lead. It was quite a tricky loop in terms of tyre wear, but I think we did a good job of managing that and finding the right places to push. Still there are two days to go but I feel confident and comfortable with the car and just need to keep focused. Elfyn is fast and never easy to beat, but I will try to fight until the end.”

Elfyn Evans

“It was a good start for us this morning, even though the conditions were not straightforward. The grip was changing from one stage to another and keeping us on our toes. Inevitably the road was going to evolve this afternoon and get quicker for those running behind us, but we did what we could. It wasn’t quite enough to hang onto the lead tonight, but there’s still a long way to go. Taka is always very strong on this rally, and it will be nice to fight with him again tomorrow. Our road positions will be more equal and that should keep it interesting.”

Sami Pajari

“I’m quite happy with today, it’s been a pretty good one and it’s always nice to be in a podium position, even if there is still a very long way to go. We didn’t make any mistakes and I’ve been enjoying the driving a lot in these beautiful winter conditions. I’m always looking for things we can do better, and we just need to keep pushing tomorrow. It will be a different challenge with a different road order, but we’ll just do the best we can.”

Oliver Solberg

“I think I underestimated just how difficult it would be as the first car on the road today. It’s a big learning curve. I was a bit careful in the first stage this morning, so I tried to drive a bit more normally and more sideways in the second one, but there was a lot of snow. I was a bit too fast, off the line, and I was lucky to get back on the road. We did hit something and pick up a puncture but didn’t lose too much time. We tried our best this afternoon and we’re still in position to fight for something tomorrow, when the road position will be better, so we need to be positive.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Esapekka Lappi

“To be performing how we were today after such a break is not bad, but it feels like I could drive faster. I’m not on the limit yet, but it’s not been a bad day – we’re still on the pace. We need more grip, but the car has improved compared to two years ago. The conditions today were difficult, and I think all three days will be really icy, so tomorrow will be very similar to today. We will try to stay out of the banks and see where we end up.”

Adrien Fourmaux

“For us, we struggled with performance. We’ve made a step forward from yesterday, but we are certainly not where we want to be compared to our competitors. Positively, we are now fifth, so our road position tomorrow will be better – we kept Oliver behind us, which will hopefully optimise our chance tomorrow. The rally is still long, and we are still in contention for the podium – that is the main thing. It isn’t over until it’s over.”

Thierry Neuville

“Generally, I was a bit more pleased with the balance of the car this afternoon, especially on the last stages of the loop, but the performance is still not there. When the car is difficult to drive but still has the performance, at least the speed is there, but when you’re lacking both it’s very difficult. We are very limited with what we can do, but we are playing around a bit with the car to try and find something. Toyota are strong, and we have to take a step forward to catch them.”

 

Saturday

The second day will see the crew tackle seven stages which total 104km’s. Can Takamoto hold onto the lead, or will we see Elfyn come past him?

 

Time will tell!

Time for the crews to head to the snow-covered roads of northern Sweden. The crews face eighteen stages and a total of 300.99km’s over the three days of competition. As championship leaders, Oliver and Elliott who won in Monte-Carlo will open the road throughout Friday’s stages. There is the added dimension that Friday will see the longest day of action with over 135km’s of stages giving the additional challenge for the Swede and Brit in the ninety-nine Yaris as the road-openers.

Elfyn and Scott are just four points behind their new teammates in the world championship standings and they come to this round as two-time winners. They will have a road position advantage over their teammates. Will they be able to make the best of the advantage they have? Well, there’s no doubt they have the experience and skills to do just that.

 

Let’s hear from the drivers.

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Oliver Solberg

“To go to my home rally leading the championship is something crazy that I couldn’t have dreamed of. It’s an amazing feeling, but I’m still taking everything rally-by-rally, with a lot to learn in each different event I go to with this car. Rally Sweden has always been my favourite rally of the year. It’s a great atmosphere with friends and family around. It also has my favourite conditions: it’s the most fun that you can have in a rally car. Starting first on the road in Sweden is maybe not always the best place to be, but it’s still something very cool for me. Maybe in some stages I can have an advantage, and others maybe not. I can only hope for good conditions, do my best, and drive as fast as I can.”

Elfyn Evans

“Rally Sweden is a unique event in the WRC calendar and one that’s usually a lot of fun to drive. Rallye Monte-Carlo was a solid start to the season for us and, as always, we’ll be aiming once again to challenge for victory in Sweden. A lot depends on exactly what the conditions are like. If we get freezing temperatures and good solid icy conditions, then it should be possible to challenge from our position early on the road, like we could in 2025. On the other hand, if there’s a lot of fresh snow to clean, it can be more difficult. We had some good preparation in very cold conditions at the Arctic Rally last week and if we could see something similar in Sweden, it will be a great event.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“I’m really looking forward to Rally Sweden. When I started my rally career with the TGR WRC Challenge Program in Finland, I did a lot of my early driving on snow and ice, so I feel comfortable in these conditions. The roads in Sweden also have a similar high-speed character, which I enjoy. Ever since the event moved to Umeå, we’ve always had very nice conditions there with a good snow and ice base. I’ve been competitive there in the last few years and have good confidence from that, so this year I will try to do a similar performance to last year, or even better: this is my target.”

Sami Pajari

“We had a disappointing start to the season at Rallye Monte-Carlo, but I’m looking forward to a better rally in Sweden. It’s one of my very favourite rallies. I’ve always liked driving in those conditions, which are obviously quite natural for a Finnish driver. When I was starting out in rallying, we drove half of the season in winter conditions, so it’s something I’m quite familiar with and normally a very enjoyable rally. I’ve seen that maybe the snowbanks could be smaller than in previous years, but hopefully we still get proper snow and ice conditions and can have a fun winter rally.”

Yuki Yamamoto (Driver WRC Challenge Program GEN2)

“Rally Sweden is one of my favourite rallies. I’ve driven a lot of events on snow, including this one a few times previously, and the profile of the roads is similar to Finland, so it’s something a bit more familiar for me and I’m very excited. There are many special challenges: the difference in grip when you go off-line can be even bigger on snow than on gravel, and although you can use the snowbanks to push a bit harder, you also need to respect them. Again, we’re not registered for WRC2 points, but the plan is to push, have a good feeling and good pace.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Adrien Fourmaux

“Rally Sweden can be quite demanding – you need a lot of commitment across all of the stages. We need precision from our car so we can optimise our speed using the snowbanks without getting trapped in them. In recent years, it’s been more frozen with little fresh snow, so there should be fewer snowbanks, and I also expect grip will probably be worse than last year. You need a very well-balanced car that inspires confidence and commitment in every corner. Unlike Monte-Carlo, this is a pure performance rally all weekend, where it is important to take into account the weather conditions when setting up the car. We have a strong road position for this event, so the aim is to go all out for the win and close the gap in the manufacturers’ championship.”

Thierry Neuville

“Rally Sweden is generally a very consistent event, thanks to the snowy surface. As a team, we’ve always performed quite well there, and I won the event back in 2018. To replicate these results, we need a fast car and the right conditions. High snowbanks help us slow down on the roads, but also allow us to lean on them to avoid the ditches. For this to work, the car has to have an easy setup, good rotation, and has to work well with the studded tyres. If there’s fresh snow you need maximum protection, but on solid ice it’s all about a stiffer, more precise set-up. We’re going there targeting the win, but we know the challenge will be tough from Toyota. Last year we were in the fight for victory until the final day, so hopefully we can repeat that again this year.”

Esapekka Lappi

“I thought my WRC career was over, so I’m very surprised and excited to drive at the top level again with Hyundai Motorsport. My results in some of my most recent WRC events haven’t been very successful, so I’m aiming to change that this year and show commitment under every condition that I face. In 2024, the conditions on Friday night were very challenging, with heavy snowfall at night making visibility very limited, but we handled it well. Being Finnish, it’s not the most challenging rally for me, but the high speeds and lack of grip make it tricky. We will benefit if there is fresh snow, as the tyre lines of the cars in front will clear it, whereas if it is icy, it might get slower for the cars behind. We’ve carried out two winter events with a Rally2 car in Finland and a test day with the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 car on snow. Rally Sweden is Enni’s fourth outing in Rally1, our first together in a top-tier manufacturer entry, which makes this opportunity really special for both of us.”

 

M-Sport Ford WRT

Josh McErlean

“Sweden is a rally I’m really looking forward to. The focus is now on bouncing back, keeping things consistent, and building momentum across the whole weekend. We showed a strong performance level here last year, and with the extra experience I’ve gained since then, the goal is to repeat that level and keep pushing forward. I’m focused and ready to get back to work with the team.”

Jon Armstrong

“I’m really looking forward to Rally Sweden. It’s the only full snow event on the calendar, so it’s always the ultimate playground for driving a rally car. Hopefully we can have something a bit more consistent in terms of conditions compared to the first round of the season. We’ve also got our test with the Puma coming up this weekend, which will be important preparation. I haven’t competed in Sweden since 2022, but I have great memories from the event – that was the year I won the Junior category. The stages have changed a bit since then, so there will be plenty of new notes to write during recce, but I’m really excited for the challenge ahead.”

Mārtiņš Sesks

“I’m happy to be starting my first event of the year with M-Sport, and I’m really curious to see how we’ll do on our second Rally Sweden. We want to use the experience we gained last year and apply it this time around. I’m really looking forward to being back with the team and the car, and hopefully we can target another good result and show a similar pace to what we had in Saudi.”

Romet Jürgenson

“It’s always exciting to go to Sweden and drive on snow and ice, especially with the big snowbanks. Going into the rally, we can already be more confident as we’ve competed in this event before. The key will be getting a good feeling with the car during testing, which will really allow us to push in these conditions, as the gaps are going to be very small, and performance is crucial here. That’s the aim – to go for it at this event.”

Mille Johansson

“I’m incredibly excited to step up to WRC2 – it’s a very big step in the right direction for my career. Now we have to work extremely hard to deliver results against the best drivers in the world, and that gives me a lot of motivation and determination.

“Expectations will naturally vary from event to event. At some rallies I want to make a real impact, while others will be more about gaining mileage and building experience with both the car and myself. Rally Sweden is really the event where I want to show good and consistent pace over the whole weekend and hopefully have a great debut in WRC2.”

 

Summary

Well, it’s exciting to see a few drivers return, with Martins and Renars returning for M-Sport Ford, plus Esapekka and Enni making their first start as a crew for Hyundai. The Finn won this rally for the team in 2024 with his old co-driver Janne and now makes a return to the top of the sport with the 2024 WRC2 co-driver champion Enni who joined him in competitive action last year as they competed in the Finnish championship.

 

All eyes will be on the Toyota crews who have had great success in this round ever since the manufacturer returned to the championship in 2017. The question is can Hyundai take their first win in Sweden since 2024 with Esapekka and former co-driver Janne?

 

Enjoy the action which gets underway with shakedown on Thursday morning, UK time 10 o’clock.