Sébastien Ogier heads a Toyota Gazoo Racing lockout of the top four after the first full day of Rally Finland, weathering sudden afternoon rain on the fast forest stages. Reunited with former co-driver Julien Ingrassia for the first time since 2021, the Frenchman ends Friday 16.3 seconds clear of team-mate Elfyn Evans, with Sami Pajari third. The GR Yaris Rally1 fills all four leading positions on home soil.

Toyota Gazoo Racing enjoyed a commanding Friday at Rally Finland, with Sébastien Ogier building a healthy lead through a day of sharply changing conditions on the quick gravel stages north-east of Jyväskylä.

A flying morning for Ogier

After Thursday evening’s opening super special on the streets of Jyväskylä, the rally moved to the forests for four stages run twice. Ogier, partnered again by Ingrassia for the first time in four years, set the fastest time on three of the morning’s four tests to take the lead, reaching mid-day service 5.3 seconds ahead of Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux.

Sami Pajari, who took his maiden WRC win in Estonia two weeks ago, was the only other driver to win a morning stage. He ended the first loop third, eight seconds down, then opened the afternoon with a fastest time to move up to second overall.

Rain reshuffles the order

Storms forecast for the afternoon duly arrived on the Saarikas stage. Running first on the road as championship leader — usually a disadvantage in the dry — Elfyn Evans made the most of the better conditions to win the stage and climb to third. The picture flipped on the following Sydänmaa test, where Oliver Solberg, who had lost around a minute in the worst of the Saarikas downpour, set the quickest time.

Ogier stayed composed through both wet stages, stretching his advantage to 26.1s over Evans at one point. A more measured run through Hoho and the closing Harju super special left him 16.3s clear at the finish. Pajari holds third, 10.4s further back and 14.6s ahead of Solberg, completing a top-four sweep for the locally built GR Yaris Rally1.

“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,” Ogier said. “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.”

A costly moment for Katsuta

Takamoto Katsuta went second fastest to Evans on SS7 to run fourth, but lost more than two minutes on SS8 amid poor visibility, dropping to eighth. He shared the fastest time on the closing Harju stage.

Deputy Team Principal Juha Kankkunen called it “quite a dramatic day, especially with the weather,” adding that he could not recall such heavy rain falling on dry, rutted roads at Rally Finland. “Seb especially has been very good,” he said.

In the support classes, several GR Yaris Rally2 drivers are locked in a close fight, with Roope Korhonen second, team principal Jari-Matti Latvala third and Teemu Suninen fourth.

What it means

With four Toyotas heading the field on one of the calendar’s fastest events, the manufacturer looks well placed on home ground — though the release notes the gaps remain small and two days still run. Ogier himself expects “a fight on our hands for the rest of the weekend.”

Facts: Rally Finland after day 2 (Friday)

  • 1. Sébastien Ogier / Julien Ingrassia (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) — 1h03m47.4s
  • 2. Elfyn Evans / Scott Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) — +16.3s
  • 3. Sami Pajari / Marko Salminen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) — +26.7s
  • 4. Oliver Solberg / Elliott Edmondson (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) — +41.3s
  • 5. Mārtiņš Sesks / Renārs Francis (Ford Puma Rally1) — +1m04.9s
  • 6. Adrien Fourmaux / Alexandre Coria (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) — +1m24.0s

Saturday brings familiar stages to the south-east — Parkkola, Västilä, Päijälä and Leustu — with Västilä and Päijälä run in the opposite direction to last year.

Source: newsroom.toyota.eu