Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen finally won Rally Finland, laying to rest the ghost of last year when they crashed out on the penultimate stage.

It was a scintillating final Wolf Power Stage which Rovanperä won by two seconds from Takamoto Katsuta and Sebastien Ogier.

The Finnish wunderkind took the Super Sunday bonus points and moves into second place in the championship standings, just three points off Elfyn Evans who reclaimed the title lead after a disastrous weekend for Ott Tanak.

Tanak suffered a delaminated tyre which caused a high-speed spin on the final stage while Adrien Fourmaux suffered yet another puncture and retired four km from the end of the stage to avoid further damage to his car.

Elfyn Evans brought his GR Yaris home in fourth overall having won the morning’s first stage by 0.4 seconds from Ogier.

Sami Pajari came home in fifth overall, giving Toyota a top five lockout, only the second time in history, a feat last achieved by Lancia 35 years ago on Rally Portugal in 1990.

Thierry Neuville brought his Hyundai home in sixth overall, having run in second place until his fateful puncture on stage 16 on Saturday afternoon.

Josh McErlean was the top M-Sport Ford crew in seventh, followed by Martins Sesks and Gregoire Munster. Ott Tanak salvaged a single point for tenth.

Roope Korhonen fended off TGR Team boss Jari-Matti Latvala to claim his maiden WRC2 victory with Robert Virves rounding out the podium.

Read Motorsport Monday for the full story on the fastest rally in history where Rovanperä averaged 129.9km/h!

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Wet weather greeted the competitors on Saturday morning as the longest day of Rally Finland got underway.

Overnight, Ott Tanak was given a five-minute penalty for a scrutineering incident in a tyre checking zone after stage seven, where he had just crashed into a tree. The penalty dropped the Estonian down to 24^th position in the overall standings.

Rovanperä, chasing his first home win, set off to increase his lead which he almost doubled from 4.9 to 8.3 seconds after Saturday’s opening stage. On stage 12, the Finn’s lead was 12.0 seconds but on (unlucky) stage 13, he picked up a slow puncture and lost 2.7 seconds to Thierry Neuville, who still held second overall.

Rovanperä powered his GR Yaris to another stage win to extend his lead to 14.7 seconds at the end of the morning loop after Neuville lost the rear brakes on his Hyundai. The podium fight between the Belgian and Adrien Fourmaux in third was down to 0.3 seconds.

After the midday service, it was raining again and the crews faced tough conditions. Martins Sesks crawled through the first part of stage 15 with zero visibility and finally found a safe place to pull over and clear the misted-up windscreen. He lost over two minutes and dropped from being the leading M-Sport crew to tenth overall.

At the sharp end of the field, Sebastien Ogier took his first stage win with the top five drivers covered by a mere 1.2 seconds. Sami Pajari turned up the wick to take the fastest time in stage 16 having lost his sixth place overall to Elfyn Evans on the previous stage.

Stage 16 tuned the rally on its head. Lightning struck Hyundai twice; firstly, Fourmaux picked up a right-front puncture which did quite a bit of cosmetic damage to his i20 N as he continued, albeit at a reduced pace and moments later, Neuville also picked up a right-front puncture.

Fourmaux dropped a minute 48.8 seconds and plummeted to seventh, while Neuville lost one minute 38.2 seconds and dropped to sixth overall. Both drivers said they had no idea how their punctures had happened…

Suddenly, Toyota held a one-two-three-four-five with Rovanperä streaking away with a twenty-nine second lead over Takamoto Katsuta, Ogier, Evans and Pajari.

The final two stages went off without any incidents, with Rovanperä taking the scratch time in both stages to end the day with a 36.8 second lead while Evans was closing on Ogier with 1.5 seconds separating the pair.

In WRC2, Roope Korhonen continues to lead with Jar-Matti Latvala holding second from Robert Virves.

The final day features just two stages; the iconic Ouninpohja stage, at 23.98km in length will be run twice.

It is far from over…

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Oliver Solberg and Elliot Edmondson stunned the WRC elite with a commanding display across the high-speed gravel roads of Estonia, sealing his breakthrough win on debut in a Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 – nearly 20 years after father Petter’s final WRC success in 2005.

With an overnight lead of 21.1 seconds heading into Sunday’s final three stages and 60km of racing, it was a nervous Solberg who faced a wet-dry stage. He made no mistakes and set the fastest time, as he did on the 24km long penultimate test, taking his tally to nine stage wins.

Solberg also took the maximum Super Sunday bonus points. “After everything, so many years trying and trying and trying and dreaming, and me and Elliott finally made it,” said Solberg. “I just want to say thank you to Toyota, to the test team who helped me get so comfortable, for all the help this weekend from this beautiful, beautiful team. I’ve never had such a good time in my life.”

Home hero Ott Tanak and Martin Jarveoja brought their Hyundai i20 home in second place and took the championship lead by one point from Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin.

Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe completed the podium after Hyundai called time-out on their ferocious fight on Saturday. The current world champion was slapped with a 10-second penalty for a jumped start on the first stage of the day.

Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen finished a humbling and lonely fourth overall, with the three-time Rally Estonia winner taking the Wolf Power Stage win.

Adrien Fourmaux and Alex Coria ended fifth overall having left bits of their Hyundai in the Estonian countryside after a nose-first landing in the day’s opening stage.

Evans and Scott Martin passed Takamoto Katsuta for sixth in the penultimate stage, but the Japanese driver was forced to retire before the final test.

Sami Pajari and Marko Salminen ended seventh ahead of M-Sport Ford’s leading crew, Martins Sesks and Renars Francis, with Josh McErlean and Eoin Treacy and Grégoire Munster and Louis Louka rounding out the top ten in their Puma Rally1 machines.

Robert Virves and Jakko Viilo claimed their maiden WRC win on home soil ahead of fellow Estonians Georg Linnamäe and James Morgan.

Read the full report in Motorsport Monday tomorrow.

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It may be just a one-off outing in Toyota Gazoo Racing’s GR Yaris Rally1 for Oliver Solberg and Elliot Edmondson, but the 23-year-old grabbed the opportunity with both hands by winning three of Rally Estonia’s six Friday stages.

Solberg was blisteringly quick through Friday morning’s opening 24.35km stage, the longest of the rally, beating his double world champion teammate Kalle Rovanperä by 5.3 seconds, and grabbing the lead of the rally which he held throughout the day.

Solberg went on to win stage four, the repeat of stage two, again beating his illustrious teammate by 2.8 seconds. The young Swede’s third career stage win came on SS7. Stages three, five and six saw Solberg set the second fastest time to close out his return to the top class with a 12.4 second cushion.

“To be leading the rally and to have won a few stages, and to have this amazing feeling in the car, you know – this day has been all about fun,” Solberg grinned. “I don’t know what to say – It’s just been the best day of my life.”

Home hero Ott Tanak and Martin Jarveoja won stage three, taking second overall off Rovanperä, and went on to set the fastest time on stage five, cementing his overall position in the standings. “It’s just so loose and [there’s] no grip whatsoever,” he said. “I did everything I could, it is as it is at the moment.”

Hyundai’s defending champion Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe ended the day in third position. The Belgian duo won the opening super special stage on Thursday but lost time in Friday’s morning loop. Neuville did not have confidence in his car to challenge but after the midday service, he began to reel Tanak in. 1.8 seconds separates the two i20 N drivers after Neuville took the scratch time on the day’s final super special stage.

Rovanperä ended the day in fourth overall, 5.9 seconds behind Neuville. “It’s pretty much the maximum we can do with this car and the current feeling,” the Finn reflected.

Adrien Fourmaux and Alex Coria ended the day in fifth overall after a frustrating morning as he battled for grip. Set-up changes in service transformed his Hyundai and he immediately went on to win SS 6 and only lost the top spot in stage seven by 0.3 second to Solberg.

Takamoto Katsuta succumbed to Fourmaux’s newfound speed which was compounded by a spin and intercom issues to end sixth overall in the third TGR Yaris.

Elfyn Evans, first on the road as championship leader, struggled for traction and languished in eighth – ahead of fellow Toyota driver Sami Pajari, whose morning was hampered by an intermittent power loss.

Mārtiņš Sesks and Josh McErlean rounded out the top 10 in M-Sport Ford Pumas, split by 18.6sec. Grégoire Munster was 11th after a difficult day that included brake issues, a tyre deflation and an overshoot.

In WRC2, Robert Virves is dominating the category with a 34.4 second lead over his Estonian countryman Georg Linnamäe. Roope Korhonen, Mikko Heikkila and Lauri Joona round out the top five.

Pre-event favourite Nikolay Gryazin crashed out early in stage two.

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The sixth round of the FIA World Rally Championship, Rally Italia Sardegna, was brutal in every respect.

Sebastian Ogier and Vincent Landais topped the timesheets after Thursday’s shakedown, and he emerged from Friday’s battle with a slender lead of 2.1 seconds over Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux and Alex Coria.

Ogier won Friday’s opening stage but starting with an unfavourable third on the road starting position, Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe and Ott Tänak and Martin Jarveoja led the way in a Hyundai one-two after stage two.

Fourmaux went on the attack on the final stage of the morning loop, winning the stage and bouncing from fourth into the overall lead in the process, having maximized his better road position. In the overall standings, Neuville was second from Ogier, Tänak and Sami Pajari.

“Everything is going well,” Fourmaux said. “I really tried to use the lines in front of me and stayed clean and tidy to avoid getting caught in the loose. It paid off, so I’m pleased with that. I expected a lot of sweeping.”

Of the Fords, there was no sign – in a barely believable scenario, all three M-Sport Pumas retired in the stage two. Gregoire Munster and Josh McErlean both suffered suspension damage while Martins Sesks rolled at high speed.

When battle resumed after the service break, it was Neuville’s turn to lead after stage four, albeit by 0.2 seconds over Fourmaux with Tänak making it a yet-to-be-seen in 2025  Hyundai one-two-three.

In the next stage, a re-run of Ford’s ‘stagus horribilis’, Neuville retired after whacking a bank which damaged the left rear corner of his car. The carnage continued  when Takamoto Katsuta and Jourdain Serderidis both rolled at the same corner. Both were able to continue, with somewhat battered machinery and no windscreens, and wearing goggles.

At the end of the fifth stage, Fourmaux and Tänak led the way with Ogier 4.6 seconds off the lead.

The final stage of the loop saw Ogier win comfortably from Kalle Rovanperä and Fourmaux, snatching the overnight lead by 2.1 seconds with Tänak keeping a watching brief 5.2 seconds further back.

Pajari did a sterling job to hold fourth, with Rovanperä and the championship leader Elfyn Evans languishing down the order in fifth and sixth respectively, courtesy of running first and second on the road.

Katsuta brought his less than pristine GR Yaris home in seventh, with the WRC2 leaders Nikolay Gryazin, Emil Lindholm and Yohan Rossel rounding out the top ten.

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Hyundai Motorsport gave Adrien Fourmaux and Alex Coria an early Christmas present by signing the young French duo to drive a third i20 N in all 14 rounds of the 2025 FIA World Rally Championship next year.

Fourmaux, who endured a torrid debut in Rally1 in 2022, stepped back into a Rally2 car in 2023 to re-build his confidence and hone his driving skills before returning to rallying’s top tier in 2024 with M-Sport Ford.

The Puma driver delivered a standout performance across an exciting season, claiming five podiums during the year.

It was suggested earlier in the year that Hyundai was re-considering its third car driver rotation strategy.

Fourmaux said: “I’m really excited to join Hyundai Motorsport for the 2025 season. It’s a big opportunity for me and Alex, and we are looking forward to getting started with the team. As a driver, you’re always looking to grow and push yourself, and this feels like the right step at the right time. Hyundai has had a strong presence in WRC for years, and I’m proud to be a part of that for the future. I’m ready to give my best and see where this journey takes us.”

Hyundai Motorsport President and Team Principal Cyril Abiteboul said: “Our shared third car approach in 2024 allowed us to deliver one of the team’s strongest years in WRC and I would like to sincerely thank Esapekka, Dani and Andreas for their massive contribution to it. For the renewed challenges of next year, consistency and stability across all three cars will be crucial. We’re therefore delighted to confirm Adrien and Alexandre as part of our team after their incredible 2024 season. Adrien has impressed not only with the results he has achieved this season, but with his renewed mindset and attitude he has brought to his return to Rally1.  We believe our line-up of Thierry, Ott and Adrien will be a formidable force on the world’s stages in 2025.”

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Andreas Mikkelsen and Torstein Eriksen took the lead of Rally Poland on Friday morning’s first stage and relentlessly built a 7.4 second lead over the morning loop ahead a sensational Martins Sesks on his Rally1 debut in a non-hybrid M-Sport Ford Puma.

The Latvian was speechless when he found out he’d set the second fastest stage time in SS2.

Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin had their most competitive outing in months holding third place a handful of seconds further back in third.

Called in as a last-minute replacement to stand-in for Sebastian Ogier who withdrew after a recce accident, Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen were doing an exceptional job in fourth, given their minimal prep time.

Straight after the tyre-fitting zone, Rovanperä blitzed the stage and took the lead, albeit by 0.2 seconds from Mikkelsen. Sesks was close, 1.1 seconds further back with Evans another 1.1 seconds away.

After stage six and seven, Rovanperä was third, 2.1 seconds off the lead before leapfrogging Evans for second, 1.8 seconds behind Mikkelsen as the day wound down.

“This morning everything was quite tricky for me given our preparation, even more than I was expecting. With the preparation time we had, and after such a long time without driving a fast rally or even a test, it’s not been easy to make good and precise pacenotes for these speeds. I just tried to find a pace where I was comfortable and to finish the loop without any mistakes. Then in the afternoon we could show our pace straightaway and it was more enjoyable. I think we did all we could, it was a clean day with no mistakes and our position is not bad tonight considering everything. Tomorrow I hope we can be stronger in the first pass and let’s see what we can do,” said Rovanperä.

Hyundai’s leading driver Mikkelsen said: “It has been a good day at Rally Poland. It is a shame we couldn’t do more stages, but all in all a positive day. I was far too cautious on the long stage after mid-day service: I am used to the Rally2 cars where you have to be really careful in the ruts, but with these tyres you can just throw the car in. It’s one of the learnings I can take advantage of moving forward; I love this event, and I want to bring a fight to the guys tomorrow. It will be a proper battle, with no road cleaning and the top guys starting in front of me, so a completely different day to today.”

It was mighty close over the lightning fast stages! Another superb drive came from M-Sport Ford’s Adrien Fourmaux and Alex Coria, the young Frenchman setting times well within reach of the top runners. He won stage seven but the stage was cancelled (as was stage three earlier) due to errant spectators in the stage and competitors were awarded nominal times.

A final push in the day’s final stage saw Fourmaux pip Sesks for fourth but with just 0.2 seconds, the two Ford drivers will be itching to continue their fight.

Grégoire Munster held sixth ahead of the championship leader Thierry Neuville who found the going particularly difficult opening the road.

Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja were forced to retire in stage two after an unavoidable collision with a deer which ran across their path. He said: “It was really bad luck for us today. Looking back at the onboard, we were on a straight section but the time between the deer emerging from the bush and the impact was only 0.26 seconds. There was no time to react and avoid the situation.”

In WRC2, Sami Pajari held an 8.9 second lead over local hero Kajetan Kajetanowicz in a Toyota vs Skoda fight.

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It was a brutal day in Sardinia – thrilling, but brutal.

Overnight leader Sebastian Ogier elected to take just one spare tyre, a strategy that backfired almost immediately in Saturday’s first stage when he developed a slow puncture, leaving the eight-time WRC Champion to nurse his tyres over the three increasingly rough stages before hitting the tyre fitting zone at lunchtime.

Ott Tanak powered his Hyundai i20N to the fastest time in that decisive first stage, snatching the overall lead by the slenderest of margins – 0.1 seconds.

Championship leader Thierry Neuville, fifth at the end of Friday’s action, rocketed into third place albeit 35 seconds off the lead but crucially for his championship aspirations, well ahead of Elfyn Evans who was way off the pace in sixth.

Ogier wasn’t in dire straits just yet though and won the following stage, the GR Yaris driver emerging back in the lead by 2.2 seconds. Stage seven was rough and Ogier was mindful of his rubber situation so eased off, ending the stage second quickest behind Tanak, who re-took the overall lead by 2.2 seconds.

Once the GR Yaris had a new set of Pirelli rubber bolted on, Ogier demolished the opposition, winning three of the afternoon’s four stages to take a comfortable(ish) 17.1 second lead into the short Sunday finale, helped by Hyundai telling Tanak to ease up after Neuville’s demise.

Stage eight saw Neuville slide off the road, down a bank and out of the rally. Takamoto Katsuta was having a great run in third until forced to retire with terminal transmission problems in stage nine.

Dani Sordo inherited third with Evans up to fourth, the Welshman really needing to capitalize on Neuville’s misfortune. He is within striking distance of the Spaniard, needing to find 30.5 seconds.

In WRC2, Sami Pajari extended his WRC2 lead to almost one minute but Rossel delivered one of the most stunning comeback drives in recent memory to climb from 15th to second overall gaining almost 1min 20sec on Pajari and winning every single stage.

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Sébastien Ogier delivered a near-perfect performance to lead Hyundai Motorsport rival Ott Tänak after Friday’s opening leg at Rally Italia Sardegna.

Ogier capitalised on his more favourable road position to win two of the four stages in his Toyota GR Yaris, opening an early 4.5sec advantage over i20 N driver Tänak.

The Frenchman’s only blot on an otherwise imperious day was an overly cautious first drive through Sedini-Castelsardo, where he lost 5.9sec to Tänak whilst trying to conserve tyres. In the end, Pirelli’s hard compound rubber stood up to the test of the Mediterranean island’s high heat and rocky roads.

“It’s good,” smiled Ogier. “It’s been extremely rough and demanding for the tyres and I am happy that we made it because it was challenging with only five tyres.”

Tänak went fastest on SS2 and, despite losing hybrid boost on two occasions, second place overnight marks the Estonian’s strongest start to a rally so far this season.

His team-mate Dani Sordo completed the podium a hefty 28.7sec behind, grabbing the position when M-Sport Ford Puma hotshot Adrien Fourmaux suffered a tyre delamination on SS3. Fourmaux later retired with an electrical issue.

While fourth went the way of Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta, it was a testing afternoon for championship frontrunners Thierry Neuville and Elfyn Evans, who held fifth and sixth respectively after starting first and second on the sandy roads where grip was at its lowest.

A leaking tyre on his GR Yaris during SS1 only compounded Evans’ frustrations and he ended the day almost one minute adrift of the lead.

“That has definitely been the hardest day you could imagine to open the road on in Sardinia,” exhaled Hyundai star Neuville, who headed Evans by 24 points in the drivers’ standings before this round. “A tough day for us, but [we will] carry on.”

Grégoire Munster trailed Evans by 11.9sec in seventh overall while Sami Pajari led the WRC2 category as well as holding eighth.

Pajari threw caution to the wind on Friday charging to a lead of 18.3sec alongside co-driver Enni Mälkönen.

Former Junior WRC champion Pajari bookended Friday with the quickest times on the opening and closing of the day’s four rocky speed tests, as he searches for his maiden victory aboard a Toyota GR Yaris Rally2.

The Finn’s biggest threat came in from Pierre Louis-Loubet – making only his second start of the season in a Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 – with the Corsica-native winning the day’s second stage to briefly take the overall lead by 1.2sec.

But Loubet’s time at the top was short-lived after he was caught in Emil Lindholm’s dust, who had pulled over to change a wheel on his Hyundai i20 N Rally2 in SS3. Loubet completed the stage as the ninth-quickest as a result and is awaiting a notional time at the time of writing.

Pajari moved back into the lead, completing the penultimate test 0.6sec down on stage winner Georg Linnamäe before going 3.5sec quicker than Loubet on the day’s finale.

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Kalle Rovanpera emerged from Saturday’s 160km of WRC Safari Rally Kenya with a lead of over two minutes. Positions behind were up and down as fortunes fluctuated and the brutal African stages took their toll.

Straight after service it was back for the second loop and immediately there was yet more drama.

Stage 11, the first after the lunchtime service saw Neuville come to a stop at km 24. The Belgian got going again but stopped just 2.2km later and was forced to complete the stage in EV mode. The problem was fuel system related. He got the engine running after a bit of fiddling after the flying finish but dropped 2min 38 seconds to the leaders, losing second overall, plummeting to fifth.

Tanak was not without his problems either, as a window came loose and the car’s cabin filled with dust which cost nine seconds.

Fourmaux’s steady drive saw him move into third place, 45 seconds up on Evans.

The next stage (SS12) was more of the same for the championship leader except he dropped 7 min 12 seconds this time, and lost another minute in the final stage in a day from hell for the Hyundai team.

Evans won stage 12 in spite of a left front puncture, ending one second clear of Tanak.

Sleeping Warrior 2 saw Lappi crawling from km 13, his windscreen opaque after hitting two “large birds”. The feathers on the i20’s bonnet suggested two guinea fowls will become someone’s meal. Lappi lost over 10m in the stage as he frequently pulled over to let his fellow competitors through without hindrance.

Fourmaux picked up a slow puncture but the tyre exploded, shredding the Puma’s rear bodywork, and Evans had yet another puncture, finally stopping to change his left rear tyre which had ripped the Yaris’ left rear bodywork with four km of the stage remaining. Evans, in fourth saw the gap to Fourmaux stretch from 40 seconds to well over two minutes.

With a lead of 2min 17 seconds, Rovanpera could afford to take it easy, and he reported he’d had no hybrid power for the entire stage but he only dropped 8.6 seconds.

After winning all six stages on Friday, Saturday delivered five different winners of Saturday’s six stages. Katsuta took two, with one each for Evans, Rovanpera and Tanak.

With a lead of over three minutes, Gus Greensmith could affords to be cautious. Oliver Solberg quickly moved into second overall and what followed was a ding dong battle with Solberg taking four stage wins to the flu-ridden Greensmith’s two and a reduced lead of 1min 55 seconds.

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