– Toyota pilot Sebastien Ogier has defied the torrential rain and leads the Rally Finland, the tenth round of the 2026 World Rally Championship (WRC), after Friday. Changeable weather shook up the standings at the end of an eventful Friday.
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The reigning world champion, who is competing with his substitute co-driver Julien Ingrassia, is defying the tricky conditions and built a lead of 16.3 seconds over championship leader Elfyn Evans (Toyota). (to the results)
“That was a very good day,” said Ogier. “The afternoon was extremely tricky and probably no one really enjoyed it, but it’s good that we got through it safely.”
Rain reminiscent of the Safari Rally
In their first joint start since 2021, Ogier and Ingrassia quickly found their rhythm again. They won three of the four gravel stages in the dry morning and built a lead of 5.3 seconds over Hyundai driver Adrien Fourmaux.
The teams had expected rain, but no one could predict the intensity of the showers, which were more reminiscent of the Safari Rally Kenya than Rally Finland.
Ogier extended his lead on the sixth special stage (SS) “Laukaa 2” by 0.1 seconds, while Toyota teammate Sami Pajari moved into second place with a 0.3-second lead over Fourmaux.
The rain washes Fourmaux off the podium
On the following stage, the heavens opened completely – but those at the front of the field still caught the best conditions. Fourmaux was hit hardest: the Hyundai driver caught the rain at its worst phase and lost 1:29.8 minutes, which threw him out of the podium positions.
Ogier completed the stage only 4.4 seconds slower than stage winner Evans, but his lead over Pajari shrank to 3.3 seconds. The stage win catapulted Welshman Evans from fifth place directly to third overall.
The rain continued on the eighth special stage, but there Ogiers lead grew to 26.1 seconds. His only pursuer Pajari struggled with the conditions, lost 34.1 seconds, clearing the way for Evans, who climbed to second place.
Close gaps before Saturday
On the last two stages of the day, Ogier played it safe and deliberately lost some time to Evans, who reduced the deficit to 16.3 seconds by the service.
“The morning wasn’t bad from our side, but the afternoon was a bit of a lottery,” said Evans. “On the second stage of the loop we still had better conditions, but on the next one we probably got hit the worst. I’m just glad to have made it through.”
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Estonia winner Pajari held on to third place (+26.7 seconds), but has to look behind as his lead over Oliver Solberg is only 14.6 seconds.
Oliver Solberg gains momentum
“We lost the win on that one stage,” said Pajari. “The blower didn’t work and we didn’t notice it at first, so the windshield was completely fogged up. Very unfortunate, but we’re still fighting for the podium.”
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Solberg struggled with pace in the morning but improved significantly in the afternoon. A second fastest time on SS6 reduced his deficit to the lead to 9.6 seconds. However, the Swede was also among those affected by the extreme rain on SS7 and lost almost a minute.
The conditions were so severe that water ran into the car through the ventilation slots. With a fantastic time, Solberg secured SS8 and ended the day in fourth place right in the fight for the podium – 41.3 seconds behind the lead.
Exclamation mark from Martins Sesks
M-Sport Ford driver Martins Sesks was among the winners of the afternoon: the Latvian up-and-comer moved up from seventh to fifth and is now 19.1 seconds ahead of the unlucky Fourmaux.
“The afternoon was anything but easy, that’s clear. We dropped from second to sixth in a single stage. That’s bitter, but the rain was incredible and I couldn’t see 20 meters ahead. I needed a boat, not a car. I did my best, but the time was gone and it was impossible to make it up,” groaned Fourmaux.
Josh McErlean (M-Sport Ford) finished the day in seventh place, 1.7 seconds ahead of Toyota driver Takamoto Katsuta, who had a tough day. Katsuta struggled with understeer and oversteer in the morning before a fogged windshield on the wet SS8 cost the Japanese driver more than two minutes.
Esapekka Lappi out of the rally
Friday also saw two retirements in the Rally1 category. M-Sport driver Jon Armstrong touched the right rear track limit on SS3 and crashed his M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1 into a ditch. The Northern Irishman will continue the rally on Saturday under restart rules.
Hyundai driver Esapekka Lappi lost the rear of his vehicle on SS4 and also slid into a ditch, where he rolled his car. While the 2017 Finland winner and co-driver Enni Mälkönen remained uninjured, the damage to the car’s roll cage is too severe for on-site repair.
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On Saturday, Rally Finland features eight special stages covering a total of 135.70 kilometers.
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