– Toyota driver Sami Pajari made his mark on Friday at Rally Estonia, the ninth round of the 2026 World Rally Championship (WRC). The Finn secured all the best times of the day and leads the standings. Behind him are Oliver Solberg (Toyota, +14.7 seconds) and Adrien Fourmaux (Hyundai, +16.5). (to the results)
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Thierry Neuville holds fourth place despite a temporarily repaired Hyundai after contact with a straw bale, 17.4 seconds behind. Following him is Sebastien Ogier (Toyota) in fifth (+21.0). The rest of the field is already over 40 seconds behind.
Martins Sesks, who received a 20-second time penalty in the morning, is the best M-Sport Ford driver in sixth place. Esapekka Lappi (Hyundai) is seventh ahead of Josh McErlean (M-Sport Ford). Evans (Toyota), who was the first driver on the track to experience noticeable disadvantages, is currently ninth. Jon Armstrong in the third M-Sport Ford completes the top 10.
Tire damage slows down Takamoto Katsuta
On the twisty WP5 “Karaski” over 11.97 kilometers, Pajari was again the fastest. His direct pursuers were Solberg with a 2.1-second deficit and Fourmaux with 2.3 seconds behind. There was no change at the top of the overall standings, but Pajari’s lead over Solberg and Fourmaux grew to over ten seconds. Meanwhile, Evans improved to seventh place, just half a second ahead of Lappi.
The WP6 “Kanepi” over 17.43 kilometers brought another best time for Pajari, who was 3.0 seconds ahead of Solberg and 4.0 seconds ahead of Fourmaux, Neuville, and Sesks. The drama of the stage was caused by Takamoto Katsuta (Toyota). A tire damage on the front left on a straight section cost the Japanese driver almost a minute to the lead. Katsuta then went directly to the service park and did not start the final spectator stage.
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The big beneficiary of this section was Sesks, who improved to sixth place in the overall standings. He was now 0.1 seconds ahead of Lappi, 0.9 seconds ahead of McErlean, and 3.9 seconds ahead of Evans. Evans was overtaken by Sesks and Lappi and lost further ground due to his starting position. “We did what we could,” explained the championship leader at the finish of the stage.
The conclusion of Friday was the WP7 “Elva linn,” a short and fast spectator stage over 1.72 kilometers in the streets of Elva. A highlight for the fans was a large roundabout in front of the town hall, which the drivers had to circle twice and which was used for an unofficial drift show. Pajari crowned his perfect day with another best time, a tenth of a second ahead of Sesks and two tenths ahead of Neuville.
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On Saturday, Rally Estonia features nine special stages covering a total of 149.6 kilometers.
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