A chaotic Saturday reshaped the running order at Rally Finland, with Sami Pajari inheriting the lead of his home event for Toyota Gazoo Racing. The turnaround followed a roll for Elfyn Evans and, later, a heavy accident that ended Sébastien Ogier’s rally. Toyota says Ogier and co-driver Julien Ingrassia escaped without serious injury but will stay in hospital overnight for observation.

Rally Finland’s penultimate day delivered one of the most eventful legs of the season, and it ended with Sami Pajari on top of the timesheets. The 22-year-old took over the lead of his home round for Toyota Gazoo Racing after two of his team-mates hit trouble on the fast gravel stages south-west of the Jyväskylä service park.

How the lead changed hands

Sébastien Ogier started Saturday with a 16.3-second cushion over Elfyn Evans. Evans won the morning’s opening stage and chipped the margin down to 11.6s, but he rolled near the end of the loop’s fourth and final test. With help from spectators he rejoined the road and finished the stage 1m49s behind Ogier, dropping down the order while Ogier’s advantage over Pajari grew to 22.7s.

Pajari and Ogier then traded stage wins at the start of the afternoon, with Ogier still ahead by 20.9s. The picture changed completely on SS17, where Ogier went off the road in a fast left-right sequence.

Ogier and Ingrassia out after heavy crash

Ogier and co-driver Julien Ingrassia climbed out of the car unaided and without serious injury, according to the team. Both were taken to hospital for further checks, which Toyota says returned positive results. Because of the force of the impact, the crew were kept in hospital under observation overnight.

“The most important thing is that I have spoken with Seb and Julien and they are both OK and nothing is broken,” said deputy team principal Juha Kankkunen. “We need to check the data to understand what happened, because it would be unlike Seb to go off in a place like that; he was doing a fantastic job controlling the rally and wasn’t having to push too hard.”

With Ogier out, Pajari ended the day leading by 46.4s over team-mate Oliver Solberg.

Evans fights back to third

After the mid-day service crew repaired his car, Evans recovered strongly to climb back to third overall, 49.9s behind Solberg and 3.8s clear of Adrien Fourmaux’s Hyundai. Takamoto Katsuta completed the top five.

“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,” Evans said. “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.”

Pajari, meanwhile, was measured about his unexpected position. “It has been a crazy day with a lot of different things happening, and suddenly we find ourselves in the lead tonight,” he said. “It shows that things can change very quickly and we still have two stages to do tomorrow, so nothing is decided yet.”

Latvala leads his class

Team principal Jari-Matti Latvala sits eighth overall and leads his category, 10.3s ahead of fellow GR Yaris Rally2 driver Teemu Suninen. Suninen tops WRC2, as Latvala is not nominated to score points. Jaspar Vaher is the best-placed TGR WRC Challenge Program driver, fourth in WRC2, after Yuki Yamamoto spun out on SS13.

What it means

With just two stages left, Toyota holds three of the top three positions but faces a delicate final day. The rally closes on Sunday with two passes of the reshaped Himos-Jämsä stage — at 30.02 km, the longest of the event. The second run doubles as the rally-ending Power Stage, offering up to five bonus points for the fastest drivers, plus five more for the quickest across the day.

Facts: Rally Finland, end of day three (Saturday)

  • 1. Sami Pajari / Marko Salminen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) — 2h00m38.0s
  • 2. Oliver Solberg / Elliott Edmondson (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) — +46.4s
  • 3. Elfyn Evans / Scott Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) — +1m36.3s
  • 4. Adrien Fourmaux / Alexandre Coria (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) — +1m40.1s
  • 5. Takamoto Katsuta / Aaron Johnston (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) — +2m54.5s
  • Retired: Sébastien Ogier / Julien Ingrassia (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1)

Results as of 21:00 on Saturday. The rally concludes on Sunday.

Source: newsroom.toyota.eu