Time then for the eleventh round of this years World Rally Championship as the teams head to the first of two rounds on the South American continent. At the last round, Elfyn and Scott increased their championship lead after finishing in third place in Finland. Of course, Sami and Marko are the latest crew to be second in the championship after their first championship victory in their home event.

 

The crews will have a big challenge in this weekend’s rally which is the second time that Paraguay will be running a championship round. This year’s edition has 357.64 kilometres over twenty-two stages. Comparing to last year, this means that there are three more stages this year and this has increased the number of competitive kilometres by over twenty.

 

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

 

Friday is the longest day with 153.78 kilometres over eight stages, then Saturday is a shorter day with 135.71 kilometres over nine stages, whilst Sunday has 68.12 kilometres over five stages.

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Elfyn Evans

“Our first time competing in Paraguay last year proved a lot more challenging than everyone had anticipated. On paper the stages looked quite straightforward with many long straights and junctions, but the rally was made far more difficult by the polished clay surface and the changing grip levels. Then, when it rained on the final morning, there was almost no grip available at all. In our position running first on the road on these gravel rallies, some rain can help to level the playing field, but it can also turn quickly into a lottery when the grip is so low. Like always, we’ll just have to do our best in whatever conditions we face when the rally begins.”

Sami Pajari

“Since Rally Finland it’s been nice to have some time to really enjoy and appreciate what we’ve achieved recently before we refocus on the coming rallies in South America. It was great to go to Paraguay for the first-time last year and see the excitement of all the fans there. It’s quite a nice rally to drive with really fast roads and some big jumps, which I always enjoy. There are also some really twisty sections and if it rains, the surface can become crazy slippery. Our recent results don’t change our approach for this event; we just have to continue trying to do the best job possible and hopefully we can keep achieving good results.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“I have very good memories from Paraguay and can’t wait to go back. There were so many fans supporting us and it was a really impressive event. The roads themselves are nice and enjoyable, but we discovered last year that the surface is very unique; very compacted and very polished, and there was very little grip when it rained. With that knowledge from last year, it can be easier to go back, but we can’t know exactly how the conditions will be this time. Anyway, we will try to enjoy it once more and hopefully it can be a nice rally for us.”

Oliver Solberg

“Paraguay put on an amazing event last year and it was special to experience the atmosphere there and the passion of the people. The roads were also rather unique, with narrow sections and wide sections and jumps and dips, and the surface was quite slippery at times. It was a lot of fun, even if it was pretty difficult. In the faster places it felt like we were on the limit with the Rally2 car; with the Rally1 car and the extra downforce we will be able to carry more speed, but I’ll need to make that adjustment like on almost every rally this year. After two podiums in the last two rallies, I hope we can keep this run going.”

Sébastien Ogier

“Rally Finland didn’t turn out the way we hoped after what had been a very good rally until the point that it ended for us, but the most important thing is that Julien and I were both OK. Now we’ve had some time to rest and recover and I’m ready to compete in Paraguay together with Vincent. Even if our championship hopes are more or less over, we still want to aim for the top step in each of the remaining rallies this year, and help the team secure the manufacturers’ title. We experienced a great first rally in Paraguay last year, with an amazing atmosphere as well as challenging stages and conditions, and we will try our best to repeat our victory there.”

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“I’m really looking forward to Paraguay. After two fast rallies, we are back to more typical gravel stages, with a more dynamic and technical profile, which I generally prefer. I really enjoyed the stages last year and the atmosphere was great, so I can’t wait to be back. We learned a lot from the event last year, particularly with some of the technical choices we made, so this year we have made some different choices with the set-up. The roads are also quite cambered, and the weather can play an important role – when it rained last year, it was super slippery. Finland didn’t go as we wanted, although we had the speed and were back to a good feeling on Sunday. For me, I’m only chasing victories and the best possible results, so the target in Paraguay is as high as it can be.”

Adrien Fourmaux

“Last year we had a really strong rally in Paraguay. We were leading on Friday and fighting at the front for most of the weekend, so it’s an event where we know we can be competitive. The stages are quite unique, with the grip changing a lot and some very fast sections, so you need to have confidence in the car and be able to adapt quickly. We learned a lot there last year, and after our recent performances on fast gravel I’m looking forward to going back. The target is clear: we want to fight at the front again and this time make sure we come away with the result.”

Hayden Paddon

“I’m very excited to finally be on gravel with the car, and to be doing it in South America makes it even more special. It feels like a full-circle moment. Our mileage on gravel is limited to just two short tests, but from the very first kilometre I felt at home in the car and on the surface. I know the car reasonably well now from our tarmac events, and gravel is my comfort zone, so it’s a matter of combining the two and getting up to speed as quickly as possible. We’ve spent a lot of time studying videos and data to prepare, and the fact that 40% of the route is new this year helps us a little. The target is different to our tarmac events – this time we want to drive flat out, give it everything we have and deliver the strongest result possible for the team.”

 

M-Sport Ford WRT

Josh McErlean

“Heading back to Paraguay gives us a good opportunity to build on everything we learned there last year. Having that experience and a better understanding of the stages and conditions should put us in a stronger position from the start. “Finland was a positive weekend for us, and we want to carry that momentum into South America. We’re into the final part of the season now, so the focus is on continuing our progress and finishing the year strongly.”

Jon Armstrong

“I’m looking forward to the challenge of rallying in a new continent once again. Having never been to South America, it will be amazing to sample the roads for the first time. We’re looking to take a more steady approach with the upcoming events, whilst using our road position to our advantage. It’s nice to be coming back to WRC off the back of a victory at the Grampian Rally – which is a real confidence boost – and we’ll continue to work on our progress as we return to the Puma Rally1 for the remainder of the year.”

Rally2 competitors

Yuki Yamamoto (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2)

“These next two rallies will be a completely new adventure for me and I’m firstly looking forward to visiting South America for the first time. Last year when I was watching Paraguay from home, it looked quite unique with a massive atmosphere and challenging stages. I’ve been trying to prepare as best I can by watching onboards from last year; the roads look fast but if it’s wet the conditions can be tricky with very slippery surfaces. It will be a big challenge but after the last few rallies I’m hoping that we can change the momentum towards a nice result.”

Romet Jürgenson (M-Sport Ford Fiesta Rally2)

“Paraguay is going to be something new for me again, and it’ll be the first time ever going to South America as well, so there is a lot to discover. But from what I remember watching from home last year, it looked like a very nice rally with a great atmosphere, and I think as an overall experience it’s going to be something very unique.

“We have had a bit of time to prepare and understand what is needed for this kind of event, and I think it’s important to get the knowledge from this rally to allow us to hopefully compete at the top level of the sport someday.”

 

Summary

This will be an important round for Elfyn and Scott in their bid to become the 2026 World Rally Champions. With a thirty-point lead over their teammates Sami and Marko, if they can increase the gap to the Finns it will put them in a very good position to join Colin and Derek and Richard and Robert as champions.

The reigning champions, Seb and Vincent are fifth in the standings and sixty-two points behind, making it a tricky challenge for the French crew to retain the title. We should never write off them though and it’s very likely that Elfyn and Scott certainly won’t have.

In terms of road position, it’s fair to state that Oliver, Seb, Adrien and Thierry will likely have the best road position on Friday’s stages should the conditions remain dry. However, if there is any rain on the stages, then this will change things and as we have seen in Kenya this can have a big effect on the times which the crews can set.

It will also be very interesting to see how Hayden and John get on as well. The 2016 Rally Argentina winners have always gone well on gravel rallies. I hope that they have a very good event, let’s see how they get on.

Looking at M-Sport Josh and Eoin will be competing at this event for the second time and will bring what they learnt last year. For their teammates, Jon and Shane, they will look to complete the stages and take learnings into the future.

The action starts with shakedown on Thursday morning where the crews will take turns to run through the stage in championship order, giving them and the teams the opportunity to prepare their cars for the three days of stages.

 

We came then to the final day and although there were only (yes, I know) two stages remaining, they were thirty kilometres in length giving a total of sixty kilometres over the final day. The stage had everything as well with quick sections and a more technical end as the crews came into the ski section area.

 

Just a correction to make from yesterday’s report as I stated that Martins and Renars would open the road after their exit stage left during yesterday. As their teammates Jon and Shane were the first retirement, they would continue to open the road during these two stages.

 

Onto the action then with SS19 Himos-Jämsä 1 and Oliver set the pace, going almost three seconds faster from Elfyn and Takamoto was third. The highest placed Hyundai crew were Adrien and Alex with the fifth best time, whilst further back Josh and Eoin were seventh fastest and the best placed M-Sport crew. Adrien’s time was actually amazing as there was a large bumble bee in their car causing a huge distraction for them. Oliver’s time was also quite remarkable as he’d hurt his back on one of the jumps in the stage.

 

There was a regroup before the crews prepared to go again in the powerstage just over two hours later.

 

It was time then for SS20 Himos-Jämsä 2 Powerstage and Jon set the early pace which could not be beaten by his teammates. The first crew to beat that time was Thierry before Adrien, Oliver and Elfyn came through. There was disaster for Takamoto and Aaron though as he lost control on a fast right-hander before going offline and hitting some bushes on the outside of the following corner with the front of the Yaris. There was damage to the front which included the cooling pack. He limped to the end and lost fifth position whilst Josh also almost ended up passing the Japanese driver for sixth. Thierry was the one who passed Takamoto moving into fifth place. The Welshman and his Swedish teammate actually set the same time in the stage, meaning that the timing needed to be taken to the hundredth of a second. It was Elfyn that got the nod for the fastest time giving him the maximum powerstage points. However, it was Oliver who was fastest over the two stages and would take the maximum Sunday points. Meanwhile Sami and Marko had crossed the line and taken their second win in a row on their home rally. What a result for them.

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

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Sami Pajari

“It feels simply amazing to win Rally Finland. It’s another dream result for us. It was already a big thing to take the first win in Estonia but to win at home is always something special. Winning at home hasn’t always been easy for Finnish drivers but somehow after a crazy rally we have managed to make it happen. This one was tougher and more intense than Estonia; it was a really close fight with Seb and Elfyn and we were setting very similar times for most of the rally. To be a winner of the ‘1000 Lakes’ is incredible. Marko and I grew up watching legendary drivers win this rally and now we are on top of the podium too; it’s crazy. Big thanks to the team and the fans for all their support.”

Oliver Solberg

“It has been a crazy weekend and a crazy day today. I’m very happy to be here at the finish, on the podium again and to win Super Sunday. We just missed out on the Power Stage by a fraction of a second, but I was just happy to be able to drive the last stage as fast as I could, as I was careful in many places. Still, we take many valuable points and it’s a great result for the team once again.”

Elfyn Evans

“I’m happy to finish on the podium but I owe this one to the team who fixed the car in service yesterday after my mistake. Super Sunday was fast paced as usual on what was a very quick stage. I maybe wasn’t brave enough on the first pass and tried to do more on the second pass; the grip was much higher, and I maybe didn’t use it all but I’m happy with the points we could take away. Congratulations to Sami and Marko; I know how special it feels to win your home rally. There was not a lot between them, us, and Seb and Julien – who I wish a speedy recovery – but they were the ones who didn’t falter and very much deserve this win.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“It’s been a really tough weekend for me. Today I was hoping to try and take some extra points, but it didn’t go so well in the end. In the final stage I saw a rock sticking out on the inside and tried to avoid it, but there was so much loose gravel off the line. We went wide and couldn’t make the next right-hander and hit a tree. It was my mistake and I feel very sorry for the team. I just need to reset and do better next time.”

Sébastien Ogier (DNF)

“This was not the way that we wanted to end this weekend especially after everything was going so well. But the most important thing is that we are both OK, so a big thank you to the team for building such a strong car. I also need to thank Julien for taking good care of me immediately after the impact and reassuring my family I am well. We will take some rest now and make sure we are back to full strength soon and thank you for all the messages we received. Congratulations to Sami and Marko for another victory and all the team for locking out the podium at home once again.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Adrien Fourmaux

“I have some mixed feelings at the end of Rally Finland. I’m very happy because I was really enjoying the rally, and I’m very pleased with the pace I was giving in the stages. I’m just a bit disappointed not to finish on the podium. We lost 1 minute 25 seconds to Sami in the rain on Friday, and today we have ended the rally 1 minute 35 seconds behind, which shows how close the gaps are if we removed the rainy stage. However, I’ve no regrets. We scored good points on Sunday, but I do feel we deserved more than that.”

Thierry Neuville

“Friday was the toughest day for our rally, and after that we were just waiting for today to take some Power Stage and Super Sunday points. In the end we scored four bonus points, which is a decent result considering what happened on Friday. It was a bit of bad luck; we went a little wide, hit one stone, and that was enough to damage the suspension. Then we were unlucky again with the timing of the rain. The result of that made the rest of the rally very challenging, but I was able to enjoy today.”

 

M-Sport Ford WRT

Josh McErlean

“Rally Finland complete. It’s been a crazy weekend with the number of accidents along the way, but we’ve kept our noses clean and to finish seventh overall is a really positive result. Obviously Friday was tricky with the weather, but after that we found a good pace and were fighting with Thierry throughout Saturday. It was hard to hold on to that on Sunday, but overall, it was a clean weekend with plenty of positives to take away, and hopefully we can carry that into South America and come away with another good result.”

Mārtiņš Sesks

“I think overall the rally started quite well, especially on Friday afternoon. In the rain we found a really good feeling with the car, and that continued into Saturday morning where we had some really good pace. We made an unfortunate mistake, probably from being a little too optimistic, and unfortunately it ended with a crash. The team then did an amazing job to repair the car and get us back out for Sunday, which was a great team effort and a real highlight of the weekend.”

Jon Armstrong

“It’s my first Rally Finland in 10 years, and I wanted to get as much mileage as possible to learn more about the event. That was the aim, but on Friday we got caught out on one of the narrow roads, got pulled into the ditch and got stuck, so it was a shame not to finish the day and get that extra mileage. After that, it was all about getting as much seat time as possible on Saturday and Sunday, learning more about the event and the roads. Some of the pace has been pretty good, but we obviously still need to improve going forward. Overall, it’s been an okay weekend, and now we’re looking forward to South America to learn what those events are all about, as well as the Grampian Rally next weekend.”

 

Summary – The Podium

What a result then for Sami and Marko taking their second win in a row and bringing themselves into the title fight. They won six of the twenty stages, meaning they were on the pace and although they moved into the lead when Seb and Julien crashed out, it was a deserved victory. They are now thirty points from Elfyn and Scott who continue to lead the championship.

 

Oliver and Elliott took second position, and this is their second podium in a row as well after second place in Estonia. This improved their points position as well, due in part to their pace over the two stages which made up the stages over the final day. Fastest over the stages gave them maximum points over super Sunday and second in the power stage meant they’d given themselves a good boost of points in the championship fight.

 

Finally, Elfyn and Scott paid tribute to the mechanics at the Toyota rally team who’d carried out the repairs after the stage where he rolled out of second place at the time. He then passed Adrien for position which then became third position. Their pace on the final day gave them second in the super Sunday standings and the fastest time in the power stage. These points meant they’ve actually increased their lead in the championship standings with four rounds left.

Final Overall Classification – Rally Finland

1	S. Pajari	M. Salminen	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	2:27:58.0
2	O. Solberg	E. Edmondson	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+26.7
3	E. Evans	S. Martin	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+1:19.5
4	A. Fourmaux	A. Coria	Hyundai i20 N Rally1	+1:35.9
5	T. Neuville	M. Wydaeghe	Hyundai i20 N Rally1	+3:52.5
6	T. Katsuta	A. Johnston	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+4:18.2
7	J. McErlean	E. Treacy	Ford Puma Rally1	+4:32.7
8	J-M. Latvala	J. Hänninen	Toyota GR Yaris	+8:25.5
9	R. Virves	J. Viilo	Skoda Fabia RS	+8:46.9
10	T. Suninen	J. Hussi	Toyota GR Yaris	+9:03.0

 

Super Sunday Classification – Rally Finland

1	O. Solberg	27:00.3
2	E. Evans	+2.9
3	A. Fourmaux	+15.5
4	T. Neuville	+19.3
5	S. Pajari	+19.7

 

2026 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers’ Standings
After round 10

1	E. Evans	201
2	S. Pajari	171
3	T. Katsuta	160
4	O. Solberg	156
5	S. Ogier	139
6	A. Fourmaux	129
7	T. Neuville	125

Onto Saturday then and there were 126 kilometres over eight stages for the crews to tackle. Jon and Shane returned to the action and would open the road throughout the day. What would the day hold?

 

Well, it was straight into the action with SS11 Parkkola 1 and Elfyn was the pacesetter, going fastest from Sami and Seb. The Welshman had nibbled a few seconds from Seb’s lead which was encouraging, bringing the gap down to thirteen seconds. Sami who held third overall also closed the gap a little. There was a change in positions in the lower top ten as Takamoto passed Josh for seventh overall.

 

The second of the four stages in the morning loop was SS12 Päijälä 1 and Sami set the pace from Seb and Elfyn this time. All the drivers said how much they’d enjoyed this particular stage. Further back, Adrien was focusing on closing the gap to Martins who held fifth overall and the Frenchman reduced the gap by almost seven seconds to the Latvian.

 

Sami made it two in a row, going fastest in SS13 Västilä 1 from Elfyn and Seb as the top three continued their front running pace. Meanwhile the fight between Martins in fifth and Adrien in sixth the Latvian kept the time loss to a minimum, only losing 1.7 seconds and the gap was now twelve seconds.

 

The final stage then before the lunchtime service break, SS14 Leustu 1 and Seb was fastest from Sami and Takamoto, but this was not the whole story of the stage. Firstly, Martins crashed out of the stage at around 1.6 kilometres into the stage and they were out for the day. Jon who was opening the road had a wide moment but managed to finish the stage. Finally, Elfyn, who’d almost finished the stage ran wide, dropping the left rear into a ditch which sent the car into a triple roll, finally finishing on it’s wheels. The car was still running, and he got going again, only to drive forwards into the ditch. The spectators who amazingly included Elfyn’s dad came to help out, getting the Yaris out from the ditch and Gwyndaf directed his son to the best exit from the field, back onto the stage and he’d lost almost two minutes, yet was still holding fifth place. Oliver was the one to benefit moving into third overall.

After the service break came SS15 Parkkola 2 and Sami was fastest from Elfyn who’s car had been rebuilt during service and Oliver Rally leader Seb was fourth and maintained a good lead of just over twenty seconds. Elfyn who of course was fifth but eyeing up Adrien’s fourth position closed the gap to the Frenchman, now just a little over six seconds back.

 

Onto SS16 Päijälä 2 and it was another stage win for Seb by just two tenths of a second from Elfyn whilst Sami was third fastest. Elfyn’s pace had edged closer to Adrien, the gap now just over four seconds. Meanwhile Josh was doing the best to keep Thierry behind him as the Belgian was edging closer for seventh place.

 

There was huge drama at the end of SS17 Västilä 2 though, after Sami, Elfyn and Oliver had already finished the stage and held the top three fastest times. Seb sadly crashed out of the lead at just over 18 kilometres into the 19-kilometre stage. The stage was red flagged, and a helicopter was brought in to take Seb to hospital. This all meant that now Sami was leading from Oliver, whilst Adrien was up to third, yet Elfyn was on the same overall time as the Hyundai driver.

 

The final stage of the day then, SS18 Leustu 2 and Elfyn was fastest from Sami and Oliver, The Welshman’s pace took him into third overall as Adrien’s hold on the position came to an end after just one stage. The other Hyundai crew Thierry and Martijn were moving up though as they passed Josh for what was now sixth place.

 

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

 

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Sami Pajari

“It has been a crazy day with a lot of different things happening, and suddenly we find ourselves in the lead tonight. The morning was really enjoyable; I was having maybe the best time that I’ve ever had behind the wheel of a rally car, driving these beautiful stages with the best car in the world. After Elfyn’s roll we moved up to second and thought the gap to Seb was too much to catch, so I just tried to keep enjoying and keep some flow in my driving. Then Seb went off, and the most important thing is that both he and Julien are OK. It shows that things can change very quickly, and we still have two stages to do tomorrow, so nothing is decided yet.”

Oliver Solberg

“My feeling was good in the first stage this morning, but I had some issues hearing my pacenotes in the next one. The gap to those in front became a bit too big and I didn’t want to take too much risk, so the plan was to try and preserve our position and see what happens. Then Elfyn had his roll and later Seb and Julien went off – I’m glad that they are both OK. Tomorrow will be a new day and a new fight, and we’ll do the best we can to secure some valuable points.”

Elfyn Evans

“Today started pretty well with a good feeling in the car. Unfortunately, we got caught out in the last stage of the morning, running a bit wide into a ditch and rolling multiple times. A huge thanks to the team who did an incredible job to put the car right in service; it was brilliant all afternoon and that allowed us to fight and gain back positions. The main target was fourth, and that became third after what happened to Seb and Julien; I want to wish all the best to them this evening. Tomorrow we’ll be trying our best like always.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“Today’s stages were very challenging, and you needed big commitment and confidence. After the time lost yesterday, our main focus was on trying some different things with the car setup. It’s hard to find a big step forward, but the times in the afternoon were not too bad. Hopefully what we found can work well tomorrow and we’ll try to get some more points. I feel sorry for what happened to Seb and Julien and I’m glad to hear they are OK.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Adrien Fourmaux

“It’s been a bit of a crazy day for us, with a lot of drama on the stages. We started in sixth, were fourth by midday, then made it into podium positions before losing it again. I have no regrets though, I gave everything I had in the afternoon loop, but the later cars were able to go much faster and we lost third to Elfyn. Even so, I am really pleased with today. I felt good in the car, so let’s see what is possible tomorrow. It won’t be easy with a 3.8-second gap to Elfyn, but our target is to find some more speed than him.”

Thierry Neuville

“It has been a long day for us, with not much for us to play for. We wanted to catch two positions – Taka and Josh – but in the end we could only manage to overtake Josh with a push on the final stage, which was definitely the nicest of the day. It was the maximum we could do as we look ahead to tomorrow, where hopefully we can score some Super Sunday points. It will be difficult, as we have seen today that the cleaning makes a difference, and running at the front we struggle for grip, but it is important we take as many points as possible from a challenging weekend.”

 

Classification after Day Two

1	S. Pajari	M. Salminen	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	2:00:38.0
2	O. Solberg	E. Edmondson	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+46.4
3	E. Evans	S. Martin	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+1:36.3
4	A. Fourmaux	A. Coria	Hyundai i20 N Rally1	+1:40.1
5	T. Katsuta	A. Johnston	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+2:54.5
6	T. Neuville	M. Wydaeghe	Hyundai i20 N Rally1	+3:52.9
7	J. McErlean	E. Treacy	Ford Puma Rally1	+3:54.4
8	J-M. Latvala	J. Hänninen	Toyota GR Yaris	+6:50.8
9	T. Suninen	J. Hussi	Toyota GR Yaris	+7:01.1
10	R. Virves	J. Viilo	Skoda Fabia RS	+7:04.2

Sunday

The final day will see Martins and Renars return to the action after the M-Sport team rebuilt the Puma in four hours. They will therefore open the road on the final two stages which are thirty kilometres in length. Will there be any final drama in them?

The first day of action on the amazing roads in the Finnish forests and the crews had 130 kilometres over nine stages. There has been a single stage run on Thursday evening and the top three was Adrien then Thierry and Seb.

 

Straight into the action with SS2 Laukaa 1 and Seb was fastest from Esapekka and Adrien. The Frenchman’s pace gained him two positions and put him and the returning Julien into the lead from Adrien and Alex, whilst Thierry and Martijn were third. Championship leaders Elfyn and Scott were fifth after dropping behind Esapekka who’d found some pace after a huge amount of preparation for this rally.

 

Onto SS3 Saarikas 1 and it was a stage win for Sami from Seb and Thierry. It had been a good start to the event for the Hyundai crews as well. Sami’s pace lifted him and Marko into third overall and was only four seconds behind the leader who was Seb. Sadly, we lost Jon and Shane in this one as they slid off the road and could not get back on, even with some help from spectators.

 

Next up came SS4 Sydänmaa 1 and once again Seb was fastest from Sami and Elfyn. The Finn and Welshman both gained positions moving into second and fifth respectively. Unfortunately, we lost Esapekka and Enni as the car slid wide and was sent into a roll, before finishing on its roof. They were out for the day.

 

The final stage of the morning loop was SS5 Hoho 1 and it confirmed Toyota’s dominance after winning all the morning stages. It was Seb again who delivered this pace from Adrien and Oliver. Adrien’s pace took him into second overall, whilst Oliver was also finding some pace and moved into fourth. Further back Takamoto and Martins both gained positions as well, going into sixth and seventh. It was a painful second stage in a row for Hyundai as Thierry hit something and damaged the front right suspension. The Belgian lost over a minute and a half finishing the stage. However, they made some repairs and got back to the service park meaning they could at least continue in the afternoon.

 

After the service break came SS6 Laukaa 2 and Sami set the pace from Oliver and Seb. Sami passed Adrien after the Frenchman was only fourth fastest.

 

SS7 Saarikas 2 saw the rain arrive in a big way for the later crews meaning the first two into the stage had the best conditions. Elfyn was fastest from Takamoto and Sami. This just showed the conditions were way harder later. With big heavy rain falling and Oliver lost almost a minute. Elfyn’s pace lifted him into third overall, and less than ten seconds from the leader.

 

Into SS8 Sydänmaa 2 and Oliver made the best of the conditions as Elfyn was still opening the road and had the worse of the rain in this one. Martins was second fastest whilst Seb was third. It was a painful stage for Takamoto who lost over two minutes with a fogged-up windscreen for half of the stage and Sami who didn’t lose so much and was thirty-four seconds down. His teammate, Elfyn passed Sami for second overall but with Seb having the best conditions they took a healthy 26 second lead.

The last forest stage then of the day SS9 Hoho 2 and Adrien showed what their car was capable of with the fastest time from Oliver and Martins. The Latvian in the M-Sport Puma was really finding some form towards the end of the day. Elfyn trimmed Seb’s lead a little to 18 seconds.

 

It was two stage wins in a row for Hyundai in SS10 Harju 2 with Thierry going fastest, but with an identical time as Takamoto whilst Elfyn was third, just three tenths back.

 

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

 

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Sébastien Ogier

“We started this morning with the plan to push because rallies like this are usually fought with very small gaps. It’s important to be in a good rhythm right away and we had a good morning, but it was still very close. This afternoon with the rain that came was a different story: then it was about trying to survive those conditions without losing too much time. It seems we managed it quite well as we increased our lead, so that’s very positive, but I’m sure the others will keep pushing and we will still have a fight on our hands for the rest of the weekend.”

Elfyn Evans

“We made a decent start this morning; the grip was changing a lot from corner to corner but the driving felt pretty committed. Then the rain arrived this afternoon and we took advantage on the second stage before the conditions deteriorated. On the next stage we got the rain pretty heavily at the start, so that was tricky to navigate, but it’s been a difficult afternoon for many people so we’re happy to get through it in this position. Seb’s had a great day and it’s a big gap to try and catch, but it’s still relatively early days in this rally and we just need to keep doing our best.”

Sami Pajari

“The morning loop was pretty decent for us, but we still had room to improve, and we tried to step up our game for the second loop. We won the first stage of the afternoon, and even in the second one when the rain came we could close the gap to Seb to just a few seconds. Then the third stage of the loop changed everything. It was really demanding for everyone, and for some reason visibility was very difficult for us and we lost a lot of time. Anyway, we are still in a podium position and the fight is still on.”

Oliver Solberg

“It’s been a pretty crazy day. This morning I never quite found the perfect feeling, but I tried to not over push and to stay in the mix. In the afternoon I felt much more comfortable, and then the heavens opened. I think we were a bit unlucky with exactly when the rain hit and when it was most intense, but we fought back later on with good speed. I’m still quite happy with our day and anything can still happen, so we keep fighting.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“It has been a frustrating day. This morning I was struggling for confidence but together with the team we changed quite a lot and in the afternoon the feeling with the car was much better; it was quite a big step. Unfortunately, in the third stage of the loop we got a lot of mist on the screen and struggled to see anything. The main priority was to stay on the road, and we lost more than two minutes. I think it was quite unlucky but there’s still two days to go and we will keep pushing.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Adrien Fourmaux

“We had good pace today, but we went from second after the first loop to sixth overall, which is quite disappointing. The rain was incredible, I was struggling to see 20 metres in front of the car, and we were just aquaplaning on the roads. I tried my best to not make any mistakes, but time flies at this rally and it is impossible to catch it back when you lose it. I will try to take fifth place and wait and see what happens to those ahead. When the conditions were mud, and no water, it was really enjoyable, but the risk of aquaplaning is a nightmare.”

Thierry Neuville

“I feel we were really unlucky today. We made a small mistake with a slightly too optimistic pace note and lost the rear of the car. We ran wide and caught a stone, but thankfully we made it back and the mechanics were able to fix the car. It was running very well this afternoon, but then the rain came and hit us very hard. I think myself; Adrien and Oliver were the most punished by it, and we lost a tremendous amount of time. The rally isn’t over – we’re aiming to catch two more positions, and then we will see what else is possible.”

Esapekka Lappi

“During a high-speed section, I braked a bit late, although I thought I was still able to slow the car down. I tried to turn in and make a cut on the corner, but that didn’t help, and we ended up with the rear of the car in the ditch on the exit. I thought we might have got away with it, but then the skirt lifted, and we rolled. It’s bad luck that how we landed caused damage to the roll cage, and now we’re not able to restart. It’s a shame for it to end this way, especially as we were demonstrating good speed, and we were satisfied with the preparation we did for Finland.”

 

Classification after Day One

1 S. Ogier V. Landais Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 1:03:47.4 2 E. Evans S. Martin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +16.3 3 S. Pajari M. Salminen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +26.7 4 O. Solberg E. Edmondson Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +41.3 5 M. Sesks R. Francis Ford Puma Rally1 +1:04.9 6 A. Fourmaux A. Coria Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +1:24.0 7 J. McErlean E. Treacy Ford Puma Rally1 +2:29.0 8 T. Katsuta A. Johnston Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +2:30.7 9 T. Neuville M. Wydaeghe Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +2:36.2 10 R. Virves J. Viilo Skoda Fabia RS +3:08.7

Saturday

The second full day of stages in Finland will see the crews tackle eight stages over 125 kilometres. It will be a huge challenge and it will be interesting to see how things go for the championship challengers.

The fast rally section of the season is underway for sure with this year’s visit to the beautiful and quick roads in Finland. Elfyn and Scott increased their lead in the championship at the end of the last event in Estonia and will open the road again on Friday’s stages.

In terms of the stages, this year sees the crews face twenty stages over 316 kilometres. Thursday has shakedown in the morning with the first stage in the evening, then Friday sees stages two to ten totalling almost 128 kilometres. Then Saturday has stages eleven to eighteen totalling just over 126 kilometres and then Sunday has just the final two stages of 30 kilometres each giving a 60-kilometre total final day.

Let’s hear from the drivers!

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Elfyn Evans

“Rally Finland is one of my favourite events on the calendar. It’s an amazing sensation to drive these Rally1 cars on those roads, and in terms of pure driving thrills, nothing else beats it during the season. You need to be able to find a good rhythm and a good feeling with the car to be competitive, but when everything’s working well, it can give you great confidence and enjoyment behind the wheel. I’m looking forward to it as always and hoping for some conditions that are more in our favour and enable us to be in the fight from the start of the weekend.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“Rally Finland is like a second home rally for me. I moved to Finland when I started rallying and learned pretty much everything I know there, and I still have many friends in Jyväskylä. I have many great memories from the rally – I made my WRC debut there 10 years ago – and to finish second to Kalle last year was very special for me. I was very happy that he could win, but I hope I can go one better. It’s a very demanding rally: you have to be fully committed straight away, and you need full trust in your pacenotes and the car. But I have a good feeling and will try my best.”

Sami Pajari

“To win Rally Estonia was amazing, and a feeling that is still sinking in. There was not much time to celebrate or relax, as two days after the rally we were already testing for Rally Finland. Like Estonia, this is one of my favourite rallies, but it’s even more special to be able to compete at home in front of all my family and friends and a lot of fans cheering for us. The stages are beautiful, and I really enjoy driving them. Many will be expecting that we can win again; we can’t underestimate the competition, but we of course hope that we can make it happen. I’m really looking forward to it.”

Sébastien Ogier

“Finland is one of the homes of rallying and one of the most enjoyable rallies to drive. It’s also one of the most challenging to win, especially against fast drivers from the north of Europe, and it’s a big honour to have been able to achieve that a couple of times in my career. Rally Estonia was not easy for us driving on those roads for the first time after five years away, but at Rally Finland we will have a higher target in mind as I’ve been there the last two years and been competitive, so I’m looking forward to it.”

Oliver Solberg

“Rally Finland is something very special. It’s a rally that every driver wants to win at some point in their career because it’s such a unique challenge. The way that the stages flow, with the speed and the crests and the jumps, feels amazing. I’ve had some good rallies there in the past in Rally2 cars, but I’m sure that my first Rally Finland driving for TGR-WRT as the home team, in such a great car in such a fast rally, will be my most special experience there yet. After a good, consistent rally in Estonia, it would be great if we can finish on the podium again.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“There are a lot of similarities between Estonia and Finland, but for me the biggest difference is the surface. Estonia is softer and more gravelly, whereas Finland has much higher grip, so sometimes it feels a bit like driving on tarmac. There are also more crests and blind corners. We learned a lot in Estonia and still have a little room for improvement, so we’ll be working to make the car even stronger ahead of Finland. Experience always helps, but many of the drivers know these roads extremely well and have the advantage of local knowledge. Our goal is the same as it was in Estonia: to fight for victory, be in the battle from the very first stage, stay out of trouble and have a perfect weekend.

Adrien Fourmaux

“Rally Finland is a unique event and one of the true classics of the WRC. It’s not just about driving flat out – you have to commit over the crests and jumps, making sure you land the car perfectly to carry speed into the next corner. The podium we achieved in Estonia gives us confidence heading into Finland. Last year we were fighting for second and third with Thierry until we both suffered punctures after hitting the same rock on Saturday, so I believe we can be strong this year as well. We have a good road position, completed a positive test in Finland, and we’ll be pushing hard. I’m confident we can fight for another podium.”

Esapekka Lappi

“It will be nice to be back at my home rally, even if I probably don’t have an advantage after missing the event last year. At rallies like Finland, experience counts for a lot because the regular competitors know from memory how much speed they can carry into every corner and crest. There are some new stages this year, so everyone starts with a slightly cleaner slate, which should help us to have better chances. After Estonia, the goal is simply to improve, have a stronger weekend and be closer to the front.”

M-Sport Ford WRT

Josh McErlean

“Finland is always one of the highlights of the season and one of my favourite rallies on the calendar. Driving these incredible Rally1 cars over the famous Finnish roads is something every driver dreams of. We’re looking to build on the positives from Estonia and continue making progress throughout the weekend.”

Jon Armstrong

“I’m looking forward to the ultimate rally experience with the final year of Rally1 cars. I’ve only done Finland once before, which was 10 years ago, so it will certainly be a tough challenge to be on the limit from the word go. But we will certainly give it our best and build on our positive pace from Estonia.”

Mārtiņš Sesks

“After seeing some good pace from us in Estonia, I’m looking forward to seeing what we can achieve in Finland. Estonia was great preparation, it has a lot of similarities to Finland, and I think we will be able to be competitive next week.”

In WRC2 we have some crews from both Toyota and M-Sport competing.

Yuki Yamamoto (Driver WRC Challenge Program GEN2)

“I’m looking forward to this Rally Finland. It’s always a special rally for me as my second home rally. I’ve been living in Jyväskylä for five years, so the atmosphere feels very familiar, and the roads are the most beautiful in the calendar. I had a bit of a disappointing rally in Estonia, so I really want to bounce back in Finland. Last year, it was a really good rally and a real turning point for me, so I hope to have the same good feeling and keep that strong pace through the whole weekend to fight against top drivers.”

Romet Jürgenson

“Finland is always one of the highlights of the season – it has a unique character of roads which are always really enjoyable to drive. There are a lot of new stages this year, some reversed stages, so there will be a lot of driving by pacenotes which should suit me well. We will try and improve on last year’s pace, and we definitely want to be a bit better than we were in Estonia, so we have a bit of time now to analyse and improve.”

Mille Johansson

“Rally Finland is one of the highlights of the WRC season and a rally every driver dreams of competing in. The roads are incredibly fast and demand total commitment from the very first stage.

“Our goal is to build our pace from the start, stay consistent, and make the most of every opportunity. The competition is extremely strong, but if we execute our plan and avoid mistakes, I believe we can fight for a strong result. I’m really looking forward to being back with the team again and to be back competing in Finland.”

Summary

Last year Kalle and Jonne took their first victory on home soil, but then retired at the end of last year from the championship and they were the first Finnish crew to take victory since Esapekka and Janne in 2017. Sami and Marko joined the elite group of Finnish crews to take a championship win. Could they do the same this weekend?

Meanwhile elsewhere at Toyota, the news broke this week that Seb’s former co-driver is returning to competition after it was announced that Vincent was not competing due to personal reasons.

It is hard to look past the crews at Toyota for one of them to take victory this weekend, but road position will be very important on Friday and therefore we could look at Adrien and Alex, or perhaps Esapekka and Enni taking victory. You’re probably wondering why I’m not including Thierry and Martijn in possible predicted winners. The Belgian has not really been comfortable on these fast stages over the years. They could take a podium though which would do something for their championship challenge.

At M-Sport Josh and Eoin are hoping to put what they learnt last year to good use and improve on last years seventh overall. Martins and Renars were on place further back in eighth and will take part again this year. What will we see from the Latvian crew? Jon and Shane take part this year for the first time at the top level and will be looking to complete the stages and gain experience for the future.

Let’s see what happens then!

The final day then saw the crews face only two stages, but they were a double run of a long stage over 24 kilometres. Josh and Eoin returned to the action following their mid-afternoon retirement with a damaged engine manifold on their Puma, the Motorsport Ireland backed crew would open the road throughout the two stages.

 

Into SS17 Kääriku 1 and it was a great start to the super Sunday standings as Oliver set the pace from rally leader Sami, whilst Adrien had a fantastic stage and increased the gap to his teammate Thierry from 1.9 seconds to 9.8 seconds. Elfyn was also quick, matching the third placed time set by Adrien. Josh who was opening the road had a small off at a junction, but at least was able to finish the stage.

 

Then it was onto the final stage, SS18 Kääriku 2 the Powerstage and Oliver was fastest this time and Thierry was second with Elfyn third. The final two positions in the powerstage were taken by Seb and Takamoto. Sami and Marko crossed the line with the sixth best time and had taken their first top class victory and what a superb drive from the young Finnish crew. They climbed atop their Yaris and celebrated their victory.

Let’s hear from the drivers then and take a look at the final finishing positions, plus the full points standings.

 

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Sami Pajari

“It’s simply an amazing feeling. ‘Arigato gozaimasu’ to Morizo-san and everyone at TGR-WRT for your support and for trusting in me. Thanks to all my supporters, family and friends who stood behind me even when we had tricky times. I also want to thank myself for not giving up and for continuing to push. We’ve had a good first part of the season and after being so many times on the podium, there was no doubt this result was coming, but it’s never easy at this level. This is one of my favourite rallies together with Finland, and I was just enjoying the driving and everything felt natural. Let’s now enjoy the moment before our home event at Rally Finland.”

Oliver Solberg

“This has been a very good weekend. It was very important for me to have a clean weekend and find a good rhythm and get back the feeling and the confidence. Thank you to the team who have supported through a tough time, and I’m very happy to bring back this great result and to be back on the podium. Sami and Marko have done an amazing job with incredible speed and really deserve this result. Today I was able to turn it up just a few percent and take the maximum points from Sunday, so I’m very happy.”

Sébastien Ogier

“It’s been a lot of fun to be back here in Estonia this weekend driving these amazing roads and this fantastic event; it was definitely the right decision. Congratulations to Sami and Marko on their first win: they were clearly the fastest this weekend, so enjoy it! On my side I was not far from the target I set myself. After five years away from these high commitment roads, I was just missing a little bit, and maybe a few tenths on this final day. Still, we scored decent points for the championship, and we will go to Rally Finland with a higher target.”

Elfyn Evans

“We faced a tough start to the weekend with the stages being so dry and the cleaning effect so clear. In the end, I think we clawed back as many positions as we could and that sixth was realistically the most that was possible. Then, the final day was quite OK for us. I think the rain helped a bit to even things out and we had a pretty good run through both stages. So, we came away with some decent points and now we’ll look forward to Rally Finland.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“This weekend did not go the way that we had hoped. We knew that Friday could be difficult with our road position, but our pace was not bad, and I think we were doing our job quite well until we had to stop, and this really affected the rest of our rally, because it was hard to do much from first on the road. It’s very frustrating but nothing is over, and we keep going and keep pushing. We tested some different things with the car for Rally Finland and I hope we have a good rally there.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Adrien Fourmaux

“It feels very good to be back on the podium, it was a proper push today in my battle with Thierry, on the first run especially and then we had to ensure the result on the second run. Clearly the first run made the difference today because we had different setups, and it was optimised for the first pass and then a bit worse for the second, but we had a really big push on the first one. In the Power Stage, we knew that we had a decent gap; I should have done a little bit better, but overall, it has been a very positive rally, a good start for us on the fast rallies and I hope we can repeat this kind of performance in Finland.”

Thierry Neuville

“We started the rally with some issues, and we couldn’t really get the car working, so that meant we had to swap a lot of things for Saturday, which suddenly helped the performance to come back. We were continually improving throughout the day and closed on third by the end of Saturday, but I was just not quite in my rhythm this morning and we lost out to Adrien, who definitely deserved to take third place, hats off to him. It is still a good result for the team, considering where we came from, and second in the Power Stage was the maximum we could achieve from the weekend.”

Esapekka Lappi

“We had a challenging weekend in which we struggled with the pace. Generally, the car felt fine throughout the days, it was just difficult to understand why the speed and the times weren’t there versus the competition. On the other hand, we were able to gain more information and data on the setups and tyres, plus more mileage ahead of Finland, where we hope to be better.”

 

M-Sport Ford WRT

Mārtiņš Sesks

“All in all, I think it was a weekend with positives. We did a good job on Friday with our limited experience, and looking ahead to Finland, Friday’s performance is a good positive – it has a lot of similarities with Finland. The rest of the rally was about managing; we did okay, but I wouldn’t say great. I’d say it’s good preparation for Finland, where the grip is higher and maybe we can be a bit more competitive there.”

Jon Armstrong

“It was a bit of a tricky start to the rally, we had the tyre debead on the first stage, over the jump, and then we struggled to make back the time we’d lost. But even without that we’d only have gained one position; the difference was the road position we lost going into Saturday, and we don’t know how much we could have gained with that.

“Overall, we’re happy with the pace. When you gauge it against Josh and Mārtiņš in the same car it’s looking quite good, so we’re happy with that, and we’re looking forward to Finland – it’s going to be a good experience in one of these cars.”

Josh McErlean

“It was a bit frustrating, obviously, what happened on Saturday, but our pace on Friday was nice. Sunday was a bit of a struggle starting first on the road, but we’ll keep learning, and we have plenty of positives to take into Finland. It’s a big reset for the team this week, and we’ll push on in Finland.”

Summary

What a drive then for Sami and Marko, with their sixth podium of the year and their first victory for them at the top level of this championship. Twelve stage wins gave them the lead they needed including the first nine stages. This was impressive as they didn’t take a stage win in this event last year. This result means that every Toyota driver has taken at least one win this year and has also brought the Finns into third in the championship.

 

For Oliver and Elliott this was well needed result to take second overall after a number of events which had seen them not get a result after little mistakes had big consequences. The second place points along with maximum points from super Sunday has given them a good boost in the standings.

 

Finally, Adrien and Alex scored third and has taken them onto equal points with their world champion teammates in the championship standings. It was a good result for the French duo after a few poor results, and this was a well-deserved result.

The next event is Rally Finland, also known as the 1000 Lakes rally and the Gravel Grand Prix to be held over the 30 July to 2 August.

 

2026 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers’ Standings
After round 9

1	E. Evans	177
2	T. Katsuta	152
3	S. Pajari	144
4	S. Ogier	139
5	O. Solberg	130
6	T. Neuville	111
7	A. Fourmaux	111
8	E. Lappi	25
9	H. Paddon	21
10	Y. Rossel	20

 

2026 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers’ Standings
After round 9

1	Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team	464
2	Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team	308
3	Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team 2	157
4	M-Sport Ford World Rally Team	116