Category: WRC

Onto the final day then and ahead of the crews were two close to 30km stages and the shorter 8.6km powerstage. Adrien and Alex returned to the action and would open the road throughout the three stages. Elfyn held a small three second lead over his teammate Takamoto with Thierry a further three seconds away.

First up was SS16 Västervik 1 – 29.35 km and Takamoto was really fast winning the stage from Ott and Kalle. Elfyn was 7.5 seconds slower and dropped to second overall, now 4.5 seconds behind his teammate. Thierry remained third overall. Further down the standings Greg passed Oliver for eighth position.

After a short break and service, the crews returned to SS17 Västervik 2 – 29.35 km for a second run. The top three fastest were Elfyn, Thierry and Ott. Takamoto could only manage the same time as Ott which was 8.2 seconds slower than his teammate and fell back to second place, now 3.7 behind Elfyn. Elfyn was really quick on this one, beating Thierry by almost seven seconds. It was a fantastic drive for the Welshman to regain the lead.

The time had come to run the final stage, SS18 Umeå[Power Stage] – 8.62 km. Adrien set the early pace and Ott was unable to beat his teammates time. However, each driver that came through after Ott beat the previous best time and we ended up with the top five looking this way. Adrien secured a single point with fifth. Fourth was Kalle, Thierry third, Takamoto second and Elfyn taking not only top spot in the powerstage also setting the pace throughout Sunday as well and he’d also secured victory. It was a brilliant drive for him, and Scott and they’d secured victory in the most remarkable way, from opening the road throughout Friday’s stages yet still taking stage wins.

Let’s take a look at the final standings and hear from the drivers.

Final Overall Classification – Rally Sweden

1 E. Evans S. Martin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 2:33:39.2 2 T. Katsuta A. Johnston Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +3.8 3 T. Neuville M. Wydaeghe Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +11.9 4 O. Tänak M. Järveoja Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +16.8 5 K. Rovanperä J. Halttunen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +32.8 6 M. Sesks R. Francis Ford Puma Rally1 +2:09.4 7 S. Pajari M. Salminen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +2:27.0 8 G. Munster L. Louka Ford Puma Rally1 +4:08.6 9 O. Solberg E. Edmondson Toyota GR Yaris +8:23.1 10 R. Korhonen A. Viinikka Toyota GR Yaris +9:05.6

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Elfyn Evans

“It’s been an amazing weekend. We led for a lot of the rally, but the margins were always tight and it was never really comfortable. This morning I got caught napping a bit in the first stage by Taka, who really made me fight for it, and thankfully we managed to turn it around and unlock good pace on the next stage. I’m very happy with the end result and to have won the Power Stage as well. It’s been a very good start to the season for us and we couldn’t really have dreamed of much better. Usually after a good Rallye Monte-Carlo it’s hard to score well in Sweden but the good conditions gave us a chance and I feel we made the most of it.”

Kalle Rovanperä

“Overall, it’s been a difficult weekend for me. We were trying to push hard but we could not have the pace or the performance that we wanted, even on this final day. It’s a big disappointment but this is the only snow rally in the season and now we need to focus on the next rally on gravel with a completely different tyre and work to be stronger there. I’ve been closely following the battle at the front and I’m really glad that both drivers could bring home the one-two and the maximum points for the team: well, done to Elfyn who’s done a really good job, and I’m proud of my friend Taka also.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“It’s been a really nice fight with Elfyn and with the Hyundai drivers not far behind us as well. It’s been a really intense battle for the whole rally and there was some pressure throughout, but I enjoyed it a lot. At the end, I’m happy to have done a good job for the team, to bring the car to the finish and score some good points. Well done to the team for this result and hats off to Elfyn, who did an amazing drive on the penultimate stage. Next time I will be ready to push more to try and take that victory. I was able to manage the speed through the whole weekend and this is giving me more confidence for the future and a good feeling for Kenya.”

Sami Pajari

“Overall, it has been a really enjoyable rally and it’s good to reach the finish without any big mistakes. It’s still quite disappointing what happened on Friday morning when the tyre came off the rim and we lost quite a lot of time, which then maybe gave us not such a good starting position for the next days. Still, I think we had some nice pace and some good moments, including some top-three stage times, and the feeling has been good. It’s been valuable learning and I’m grateful to the team for the support.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“We are happy to be on the podium, but nevertheless we are disappointed that we weren’t able to score the big points. We were still struggling today with the balance and tyre degradation. The feeling wasn’t there 100% even though we were improving, and it seems it has been better for our competitors than for us. Our first event in the upgraded car felt good, overall, the performance was there. It’s hard to really analyse everything as we saw the variation based on road position was crazy this weekend. You could be in the middle of the group and have the best conditions at some points or have the worst. We were in the game this weekend and that’s what counts.”

Ott Tänak

“Friday was not the greatest day, but we were still very much fighting for the victory. On Saturday, we lost some time driving in a safer mode through the stages. This morning we tried to catch the leaders, but on the second loop the road conditions were still cleaning so much. I’m not sure we got the best out of the new car this weekend, but I would say when the car is working it’s nice to drive and we just have to put the package together now. Toyota has been very strong; they are doing a good job and it’s something we need to catch up with.”

Adrien Fourmaux

“We have been competitive all weekend so I would say the positive thing is we have the pace, but we need to avoid the mistakes and go from there. I am happy we could score at least one point in the Power Stage; it’s the bare minimum but it’s something so we didn’t come back with nothing. We are focused on the future – there are still 12 events and a lot to be done, so I will keep my head on my shoulders. Yesterday’s mistake will not happen again. Kenya is next and anything can happen, so I will be working a lot with the team to make it successful.”

 

M-Sport Ford WRT

Mārtiņš Sesks

“That’s Rally Sweden done and dusted! I’m quite happy actually about our performance and our consistency. With our ‘safe speed’, we managed to get through the rally and collected some decent times as well. Especially on the second passes, where we were a bit more used to the road conditions, we were able to get some top-three times which was the big positive of the weekend.

“On some other stages we posted some competitive split times, so I think the good thing is that we can see we have the speed here and we can drive really fast in some circumstances. I think the big thing this weekend was the experience and to build some consistency for the future, and for the rest of the season to come this is a good start. I think it was quite a decent result.”

Grégoire Munster

“For sure, not the result we wanted here on Rally Sweden, but lots of positives to take home. We reached the finish without making any big mistakes; but we have some regrets from the first stages on Friday morning and the big-time loss there, which caused us to open the road on the following days.

“Still, we learned a lot and we’ve worked with the engineers on the set-up and have done some analysis and on-board comparisons to be able to keep improving. Although it doesn’t reflect in the stage times, we made some good improvements despite opening the road.”

Josh McErlean

“It’s been a really positive and strong weekend, the team’s done a fantastic job preparing the car and Eoin’s done a brilliant job on the notes. It’s been a real step forward since Monte-Carlo, we’ve shown some strong pace in terms of stage times and it’s something we can take forward with us. It’s given me huge confidence to say that I can actually fight with the top guys, and delivering top-five times has been really good to see.

“Honestly, it’s been really fun and so enjoyable to drive one of these cars on this surface and through these forests, it’s been simply incredible. I’m very humbled and appreciative of the opportunity. It was a shame with what happened today considering the pace we’ve been showing all weekend, we just ran a bit wide on a fast right-hander, got into the soft snow and it sucked us into the snowbank which stopped us in our tracks. The spectators did a fantastic job getting us out of there, so a big thanks to them and thanks to everyone supporting us this weekend. I’m really looking forward to Kenya next, it’s going to be a great adventure.”

Jourdan Serderidis

“Well, with so little experience on snow, it was a hard start on Friday, and we made some mistakes on setup. Then, we improved stage after stage, giving a better performance and having some fun! We took a lot of confidence in Umeå, and I am sure it will help us for the next events, Kenya and our national rally in Greece.”

Romet Jürgenson

“For our first ever WRC2 round, we’ve had a very good trouble-free event with a solid result on the board. We actually hit one of our targets already on Friday, when we were constantly in a good place pace wise compared to the fastest crews. There were definitely some difficult moments during the weekend, for example on Saturday, but now on Sunday in similar conditions we once again improved quite a lot. So, all in all, a very good start to the season. Big thanks to all the people at M-Sport for a good effort! Let’s go again soon!”

 

Oliver Solberg (WRC2 winner)

“It’s a fantastic feeling to win my third Rally Sweden in three years. It’s incredible. I love this event, these people and these roads, so to come home and win again is something very special.

“I have to say, this one was quite tough at times. The conditions were proper for the winter rally, we could see that with the beautiful blue sky and the incredible ice, but at the same time the road was changing a little bit. We were getting some ruts coming and you had to pick your line carefully at times. In the second stage this morning, I was steady. I felt it would have been easy to make a mistake there, so we took our times and brought the car home – and then went fastest on the last one. I love that Umeå stage, it’s so much fun!”

“This is what we wanted,” said Oliver. “We wanted to come here, to come to my home rally and put down a good result which would make a good start to the year. For me, this has been such a happy place to rally for the last few years and now it’s the same this season.

“The focus now is on moving forwards with the WRC2 title race. We want that championship this year.” 

2025 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers’ Standings 
After round 2

1	E. Evans	61
2	S. Ogier	33
3	K. Rovanperä	31
4	T. Neuville	29
5	O. Tänak	26
6	T. Katsuta	25
7	A. Fourmaux	21
8	M. Sesks	8
9	J. McErlean	6
10	S. Pajari	6

2025 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers’ Standings
After round 2

1	Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team	120
2	Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team	72
3	M-Sport Ford World Rally Team	25
4	Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team 2	11

Summary

What an amazing rally! Elfyn and Scott put a fantastic drive together this weekend to take a second Rally Sweden victory. Seven stage wins showed the pace they had, even though they’d opened the road throughout Friday’s stages. This win has taken them firmly into the lead of the championship.

Takamoto and Aaron were incredibly quick as well all weekend with two stage wins. They’d also been quick all weekend. It was a fantastic performance which they should be very proud of. That first win is certainly coming.

The reigning world champions had a mixed bag of performance. They were not on the pace to run at the front of the field, but eventually dialled some performance into the car. This led to four stage wins and some pace that took him to the podium.

Looking ahead, the teams have a few weeks before Safari Rally Kenya next month.

Day two dawned with stunning snow-covered stages just like Friday and a beautiful blue sky. There had been some snow fall overnight and this left the stages with some loose snow for the early crews to sweep. Jourdan would open the road throughout the day.

First up then was SS9 Vännäs 1 – 15.65 km and it was a 1-2-3 for Toyota as Kalle, Takamoto and Elfyn took the top positions respectively. Takamoto closed the gap to his teammate Elfyn to just one tenth of a second whilst Ott remained third overall. Further back Sami was on the move and passed Josh for eighth overall.

Into SS10 Sarjöliden 1 – 14.23 km and Elfyn set the pace in this one setting the fastest time from Kalle and Adrien. Takamoto set the same time as Adrien, seeing Elfyn increase his lead over him to two seconds. There was an overshoot at a junction for Josh and the gap to Sami who was ahead of him grew to almost six seconds.

The final stage of the morning loop, SS11 Kolksele 1 – 16.06 km saw Thierry take a stage win at last. Kalle and Sami were second and third fastest behind the Belgian whose pace had brought him into third overall. Kalle was also on the move passing Adrien for fifth overall. The Frenchman had to stop after he’d started the stage when he realised that he’d not done up his helmet strap and he dropped from fourth to sixth.

After the service break came SS12 Vännäs 2 – 15.65 km and Adrien came back from the set back on the previous stage to set the fastest time from Ott and Elfyn. The Welshman increased his lead over his teammate to six seconds as well after Takamoto set the sixth best time after a brief off road moment. Sami also had a small moment after an overshoot.

Next up was SS13 Sarjöliden 2 – 14.23 km and Elfyn was fastest from Thierry and Kalle in this one increasing his lead over Takamoto to 8.6. Thierry also moved back into third overall pushing Ott down to fourth. Unfortunately, we lost Adrien in this one as he clipped a snowbank which took his i20 and pulled the car into it which ended up facing the opposite direction and completely beached. He and Alex tried to dig the car out, but this didn’t work, and they were forced to retire for the rest of the day.

Onto the penultimate stage then, SS14 Kolksele 2 – 16.06 km and Thierry was fastest from Takamoto and Ott. Elfyn was fourth and maintained a six second lead over his Japanese teammate. The Welshman had a moment but managed to survive it and complete the stage. It was close though. There were also moments for Josh and Martins as they suffered a stall and spin in the stage.

The final stage then, SS15 Umeå Sprint 3 – 5.16 km and whilst it was a god one for the top three of Thierry, Takamoto and Ott, Elfyn had a moment under braking and a brief stall. He lost a few seconds and now Takamoto was only three seconds and Thierry a little over six seconds from him.

Let’s take a look at the top positions and hear from the drivers.

Classification after Saturday

1 E. Evans S. Martin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 2:00:04.2 2 T. Katsuta A. Johnston Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +3.0 3 T. Neuville M. Wydaeghe Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +6.3 4 O. Tänak M. Järveoja Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +12.8 5 K. Rovanperä J. Halttunen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +22.9 6 M. Sesks R. Francis Ford Puma Rally1 +1:31.4 7 S. Pajari M. Salminen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +1:43.6 8 J. McErlean E. Treacy Ford Puma Rally1 +2:05.8 9 G. Munster L. Louka Ford Puma Rally1 +2:45.9 10 O. Solberg E. Edmondson Toyota GR Yaris +6:09.6

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Elfyn Evans

“Overall, today has been pretty good. It’s a close fight and I think there have been ups and downs for almost everybody at some point. There were just a couple of small mistakes in the last two stages which were quite costly: when the times are so tight there’s not much margin for error. On the penultimate stage I just lost the line ever so slightly, and in the last one the rear stepped out under braking, I locked the wheels and stalled. We need to try and avoid such mistakes tomorrow. Everything is to play for, and it should be an exciting day.”

Kalle Rovanperä

“Today was definitely much better than yesterday. We did a lot of work with the setup last night, and it felt pretty good on the first stage this morning which was narrow and technical. There we could feel comfortable and have some pace. When the stages are wider with long and fast corners, I’m still looking for some more precision. For tomorrow we’ll try to put everything we have learned this weekend together and aim to score some good points.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“It has been a challenging day but quite a strong day I think. This morning I was not completely happy with the feeling in the car and this afternoon I was struggling a bit with the conditions. I had an overshoot and had to reverse, but I think we managed to gain some time back afterwards. The gap is not big in front or behind, but it feels good for me to be in this position. Tomorrow will be interesting, but I will just try to continue what I’ve been doing the whole weekend and see what happens.”

Sami Pajari

“It has been quite a solid day today. The morning especially was really nice and enjoyable for us. There were some stages where I felt I left some margin and some room to improve but still the times were OK. This afternoon there were some trickier conditions on the second pass, and I felt I was struggling a bit more there. But overall, it has been a good clean day full of learning in different conditions, so there are a lot of good things to take into tomorrow.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“The target of the day was to get closer to the lead and finally we achieved that. I’ve been satisfied with our performance; step by step we’ve been able to increase the speed. We’re still fighting a bit with mid-stage sections, but overall, I think we went in the right direction, and we know now what to do. There are extra points to take tomorrow, so in such a close battle everyone will be flat out. Let’s cross our fingers that everything will go our way tomorrow, and we will see.”

Ott Tänak

“This morning I had a better feeling chassis-wise, and it only improved from there. The first stage was positive, but then after this we lost some speed. The rest of the day we had to maximise everything we could. Some stages were bad, some were good, but that’s just the way it’s been. I think with the pace we’ve had this afternoon, a fight for the win tomorrow doesn’t look too promising. When it’s icy, the new tyres are consistent and tyre wear is not too bad, but we will see what the conditions are like tomorrow.”

Adrien Fourmaux

“Today was not my day definitely, on SS11 I had to stop to tighten my helmet and lost more than 20 seconds, and then this afternoon I get trapped in a really soft snowbank. The car was in the snowbank on the outside and it pushed the front into it after that, so for 60 metres we were forced along it. At some point it caught the front and then we got stuck in the really fresh snow; it was really deep and there were no spectators. A difficult day, but I just want to refocus on tomorrow and try to get some points for the championship where we can.”

 

Oliver Solberg

“It’s been a good day today, the conditions were a little bit different from yesterday, but the focus for me and Elliott has been to stay on the road, stay sensible and stay out of trouble.

“Like yesterday, there were plenty of fans out there and, once again, I’ll say thank you for waving the flags – it’s an incredible feeling to drive at home like this.

“So far, so good. We need to stay like this for one more day and tomorrow is not going to be easy – it’s a proper day with the two long stages.”

 

Sunday

The final day will see the crews tackle 67km’s over three stages, with two runs of a 29km stage before the final stage to decide the winner, podium positions and points for the championship.

The first full day of action on Sweden’s snow- and ice-covered road would see some fantastic action and very interesting stage results. Coming into the seven stages Elfyn led from Ott and Kalle. It was a very good start for the Toyota pair.

First up then was SS2 Bygdsiljum 1 – 28.27 km and it was Elfyn who was fastest from Takamoto and Ott. A nice surprise for the number 33 crew as they increased their lead over the Estonian’s to 2.7 seconds. Takamoto’s pace brought him and Aaron into third overall, 6.5 from the leaders and past Adrien, Thierry and Kalle. The Finns were really struggling out there. There was drama for Sami and Marko. Earlier in the stage they were setting a really great pace before hitting a snowbank and pushing a rear tyre off the wheel rim. They dropped a couple of positions to ninth place after looking likely to move up the leaderboard.

Onto SS3 Andersvattnet 1 – 20.51 km and Adrien showed great pace winning the stage from Elfyn and Ott. Takamoto was also right on the pace setting an identical time to Ott. Adrien’s pace brought him ahead of Takamoto and into third overall. Meanwhile Elfyn continued to lead the rally now with a 3.9 second lead over Ott.

The final morning stage then, SS4 Bäck 1 – 10.80 km and it was a second stage win in a row for the French duo at Hyundai. Elfyn was still setting great pace going second fastest and Takamoto third. Adrien moved into second overall pushing his teammate Ott down to third. Further down the leaderboard Kalle was on the move, passing Thierry for fifth overall.

After the lunchtime service came SS5 Bygdsiljum 2 – 28.27 km and Takamoto was fastest this time from Thierry and Martins. The Japanese star with his Irish co-driver moved into the lead as Elfyn and Scott could only manage the seventh best time and was now 5.8 seconds from their teammate.

Following that was SS6 Andersvattnet 2 – 20.51 km and Ott was fastest from Elfyn and Martins. Elfyn moved back into the lead with Takamoto and Ott remained third. Martins remained the top placed Ford driver holding seventh place.

Onto the penultimate stage of the day then, SS7 Bäck 2 – 10.80 km and Thierry found some pace at last going fastest from Ott and Sami. This all led to a change at the top as Elfyn could only manage the eighth best time and was now half a second from new overall leader Ott who leapfrogged Takamoto and Elfyn.

There were more changes at the end of SS8 Umeå Sprint 2 – 5.16 km as Elfyn was fastest from Thierry and Takamoto. Ott fell again to third place. At the end of the final stage just 2.5 seconds covered the top three.

Let’s take a look at the top positions and hear from the drivers.

Classification after Saturday

1 E. Evans S. Martin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 1:08:36.5 2 T. Katsuta A. Johnston Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +0.6 3 O. Tänak M. Järveoja Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +2.5 4 A. Fourmaux A. Coria Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +7.9 5 T. Neuville M. Wydaeghe Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +9.1 6 K. Rovanperä J. Halttunen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +25.5 7 M. Sesks R. Francis Ford Puma Rally1 +43.6 8 J. McErlean E. Treacy Ford Puma Rally1 +1:02.6 9 S. Pajari M. Salminen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +1:10.6 10 G. Munster L. Louka Ford Puma Rally1 +1:22.5

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Elfyn Evans

“It’s been very close out there today. Sometimes it’s suited us to be running at the front and sometimes it hasn’t. This morning it was pretty good for us but the grip was still quite changeable and difficult to read. The afternoon was not so kind for us and even the last stage felt quite messy but still the time was good. Compared to how it’s been when we’ve opened the road here in the past, we should probably be quite happy to be in the lead after Friday, but the gaps are very tight so let’s see how tomorrow plays out.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“Today has been very good. It has felt very comfortable: we have not been pushing crazy hard but still the times have been coming. I’m enjoying it a lot so it’s going well so far but there’s still some way to go. At the moment it’s very tight in the top five; one mistake could cost a lot, so I will try to continue in the same way and have another clean day tomorrow. The starting positions should be more equal, and the conditions should be good so I’m looking forward to it.”

Kalle Rovanperä

“It hasn’t been the best day for us. I was struggling more than I was expecting with my feeling in the car and how my driving style is working together with the tyre. We tried many small things during the day and made some steps, so we had a slightly better feeling this afternoon, but we’re still not in the place we want to be. If we can find something more for tomorrow then hopefully it will be a better day and we can be more among the top times.”

Sami Pajari

“The feeling was really good in the first stage this morning: it felt quite clean with a nice flow, and I didn’t feel I was pushing that much. In one place we hit the snowbank, which is quite normal on a snow rally, but for some reason the tyre came off the rim. It was disappointing to lose so much time, and without that it could have been a really good day. But it’s all about the learning, and there’s still two more days to drive and enjoy.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Ott Tänak

“We tried to put a consistent run together, but it was not so much fun in the car today, so we are for sure looking forward to tomorrow. We need to use the used tyres in the right moment and make sure you finish them, but the last two stages were more icy and the fresh tyre was probably more needed there. Normally when it’s icy it’s very good for the first car on the road and then normally the ice breaks down more and more, the layer seems to be a bit thicker so maybe it will last a bit more tomorrow, but we will see.”

Adrien Fourmaux

“It was a really positive day; I think everybody enjoyed the conditions; it was really nice this morning with a lot of ice. This afternoon, as expected, we saw the gravel in the ruts, and we had to manage our tyres a bit more to try our best to not be lose too much to the others with better road positions. I don’t have too much experience on snow, but I am enjoying it, trying to do my best and use my experience from last year. It seems to be working really well and we want it to continue like this tomorrow. It will be more icy, and the loop is shorter than today so it’s going to be easier for the tyres. Tomorrow will be full attack for everybody.”

Thierry Neuville

“We knew this morning that we had to keep calm and accept that we were losing time, but we also knew that the afternoon would be to our advantage. I think we made the best out of it and I’m pretty satisfied with how the second loop went – the feeling was better. We are missing experience on the tyres and with the setup as well; the amount of understeer left me a bit surprised. It’s going to be a big push out there tomorrow, but if the feeling is like it was this afternoon then we will definitely be in the game.”

 

WRC2

Oliver Solberg

“Honestly, I can tell you, I have been really feeling the love coming from the forest today.”

“It’s so nice to see so many fans out there – I have to thank them all very much for the cheering and the waving of the flags! For the driving, it’s been good. We have made some nice times and we’re in the lead, but I think there is still some more speed to come from me and the car.

“I feel like we’ve visited nearly every snowbank along the way today!

“We’re going to have a look at the car tonight and see if we can change something for tomorrow. The conditions have been nice and quite consistent for us – it’s such a pleasure to drive a winter rally when it’s like this.” 

Saturday

The second full day will see the crews tackle 97km’s over seven stages. Who will make the best of the conditions out there? Elfyn and Scott’s drive on the full first day has been remarkable given that they were opening the road and to lead this rally shows they are right there this year. Long may it continue!

It’s already round two of this years championship. The teams head north to Sweden and the snow-covered roads around Umea. Coming to the rally, with their teammates Seb and Vincent not competing, Elfyn and Scott are the effective championship leaders and will open the road throughout Friday’s stages.

This year there are 300km’s over 18 stages. Friday sees the second longest stage run of the whole weekend at 28km’s and with being run twice also means that this is the longest day as well at almost 130km’s.

Saturday sees 102km’s over seven stages. These are shorter stages throughout the second full day of action.

Sunday sees just three stages with a total of nearly 69km’s. However, one stage is 29km’s and is run twice before the short 10km powerstage.

Let’s hear from the drivers.

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Elfyn Evans

“Our podium in Monte Carlo was a solid start to the year and we’re looking forward to the next challenge in Sweden. It’s an event that’s always a lot of fun to drive with the stages being as fast as they are. Opening the road could make for a difficult start to the weekend if there’s a lot of fresh snow like last year. On the other hand, if it’s icy, it could play into our hands; we’ll be giving it our all regardless. There’s a lot of learning to do at the start of the year about the new Hankook tyres and for Sweden it’s no different. So far the feeling is quite different to before and we have to try and adapt to that and get the most out of it.”

Kalle Rovanperä

“It was not the easiest start to the season for us at Rallye Monte-Carlo, but we ended the weekend with some good points and now we want to try and have a strong performance in Sweden. Driving on snow is always a lot of fun and doing the Arctic Rally along with our pre-event test has been also really important to get some good kilometres on this surface with the new tyre and to get a feeling for it. We’ve been working hard with the team to find the best setup and the right direction for us to take, and so far the feeling has been pretty good. We’ll have to see what the conditions will be like but hopefully it can be a good rally for us.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“Rally Sweden is one of my favourite rallies and I will try to do my best there for the team. It’s going to be a big challenge with the new tyre for this event, which means that the feeling in the car will probably be a bit different to previously on this surface, but I will try to adapt to this. A lot can depend on the conditions we face. If there is a lot of snow like last year, then our road position could be good, but if the surface is just pure ice it could be more difficult for us. Naturally I’m hoping for plenty of snow, but I will do my best either way.”

Sami Pajari

“I’m really looking forward to Rally Sweden. It’s one of my favourite events in the whole WRC season. It’s a completely different event compared to Rallye Monte-Carlo: the conditions are usually more stable, and the tyre choice is a lot simpler with just one type of tyre available. In that sense, the approach can be more straightforward. Perhaps some people are hoping that I can fight for a top result there, but for me it’s very much still a learning event, because it’s my first winter rally in Rally1. So I’m not setting such high expectations: I just hope that we can enjoy the rally and have a good solid event.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Adrien Fourmaux

“Finishing on the podium at Rallye Monte-Carlo was great for both us and the team. Ending a notoriously challenging event like that is great for our motivation. When we left Monte, we knew we had a tough challenge coming in Sweden – and when you do well in round one, you have a tricker road position at round two. We did two days of testing on snow in December, and then another test in January, so we have had some experience with the car on snow and feel confident going to the event. We want to push and do our best to replicate our podium finish from last year, but we know it’s a big challenge being second on the road. We need to score as many points as possible at this rally, and we’ll see where we end up.”

Ott Tänak

“Monte was full of surprises this year and we struggled to adapt immediately to the new tyres in the changing conditions. This will still be a challenge in Sweden, but with no tyre choice we just need to focus on maximising our performance as quickly as possible. Road position plays a key role in Sweden, especially on the second loop of some stages, but aside from that, speed and performance are still the most important factors. We had a test day in December and another one after Monte-Carlo and so far it’s all been positive. There will be some big challenges, but we are feeling motivated ahead of the weekend – we are hoping to push for a strong result.”

Thierry Neuville

“Rally Sweden is a unique event that demands a lot from us as crews and the car. We need a good setup so we can feel as comfortable as possible – reactivity, precision and traction are crucial to finding success in Sweden. There is still more to test with the new tyres: learning how long the studs last and how much camber you can run are all things we still need to learn. The new stages this year also add to these challenges; with new pace notes and only two passes to learn them, it always makes it tougher. We want to take good points home from the event, and we are determined to be fighting for a podium finish. More important to us than winning is a clean points haul for the championship, and we want to maximise this on Sunday.”

 

M-Sport Ford WRT

Grégoire Munster

“I’m looking forward to driving on snow and ice again, it’s something that we’re not so used to and don’t do so often. Being able to do it with the Puma is really cool too. `We had the pre-event test earlier this week, where we learned a bit about how to work with the new tyres, and I think that’s going to be an interesting factor on this event.

“We are going to have a good starting position, after our result in Monte, so we will try to benefit from that on Friday and hopefully we will enjoy some good snow conditions. We had good pace in Monte-Carlo, and although this is a completely different surface, we hope to carry some of that momentum into Sweden.”

Josh McErlean

“Really excited for Rally Sweden! This event is always incredible, it’s such a special event with the unique challenge of competing on snow and ice. The grip these cars can generate with the studded tyres is something else. We learned a lot in Monte Carlo, and now the focus is on building momentum, taking another step, and building speed. I can’t wait to get back in the car and experience the thrill of flying through the forests at full speed.”

Mārtiņš Sesks

“I’m excited to be back in Rally1 with M-Sport and I’m grateful to have the opportunity to do half of the season this year with them, which gives us more chance to show our pace and maturity in the car.

“This will be our first rally of the season, and our first snow rally in the Rally1 car. It will be a good experience with a good learning curve for sure! Because we’re only doing half the season, we have less pressure on us long-term and we can just see rally by rally how we feel and how our pace is going to look. I’m excited to be driving on snow, I really enjoy driving in these conditions, using the snowbanks around the roads. It should be a fun weekend and I’m really looking forward to it.”

Jourdan Serderidis

“Rally Sweden is our first appearance in the WRC in 2025 and we are excited to drift on snow again! While Sweden is not where we have the most experience, we believe that this event should help us to tackle higher objectives in Kenya in March. I can’t wait to be back in the Puma together with our team-mates in Umeå.”

Romet Jürgenson

“It’s going to be a big step up in Sweden for both me and Siim, but we are ready for the challenge! WRC2 at the moment is a different league and it will definitely take some time to be able to establish ourselves. I will take my time and try to prove my worth once we are settled in properly. We have an exciting year ahead of us and can’t wait to get started!”

 

Oliver Solberg

“Last year was so close, it really hurt that we were within touching distance and not able to clinch it. That frustration from last season is only serving as a greater motivation for this year.

“Elliott [Edmondson, co-driver] and me are so determined to finish the job this year and that work starts next week.”

“I really feel at home in the snow,” said Oliver. “And Sweden is definitely one of the highlights, one of the favourites for the season. Like you can imagine, it’s a special feeling to compete at home in front of so many friends and family – and the fans are just amazing as well. But it’s the roads which make this one really special.

“I’m competing in the GR Yaris Rally2 for the first time in the full snow conditions, so this is something new. We will have completed our pre-event testing and, of course, we drove the Monte Carlo Rally last month. I was immediately impressed with the Yaris – it’s quite a different car from what I’ve driven before: more nimble and, with the three-cylinder engine, the delivery of power and torque is a little different. I love it.

“The priority is points next week and there’s no better way to score big points than to win WRC2 – so that’s what we’re aiming for.”

 

Summary

Well, here we go with a classic rally. The speed which the crews tackle the snow and ice roads. Road position will be key in this rally throughout Friday. It will be hard for Elfyn to finish on the podium but let’s wait and see.

Onto the final day then of this classic event and what would the final 50km’s give us? Overnight rain made the roads wet and then the clouds cleared which led to the roads freezing. There was also frost on the edge of the roads.

The different crews had to make their tyre choices as there would not be any tyre fitting zone before the end of the day. There was also the additional aspect that the power stage was only being run once.

First up then was SS16 Avançon / Notre-Dame-du-Laus 2 – 13.97 km and Seb was fastest from Elfyn and Kalle. Adrien could only manage the eighth fastest time and lost third place to his teammate Ott, now 4.5 behind the 2019 world champion. There was drama for Takamoto who went off the road and couldn’t get the car back on the road. Then Sami also went off at a bridge after losing control.

It all changed on the following stage, SS17 Digne-les-Bains / Chaudon-Norante 2 – 19.01 km with Adrien taking an amazing stage win by 4.5 seconds over Kalle and Elfyn. He’d narrowed the gap to Elfyn to just four seconds and also reduced the gap to Seb to just 22.2 from over 46 seconds. Also, to exit on this stage was Greg who’d hit some ice and hit the side of the mountain leading to damage which put him out for the rest of the day.

Onto the final stage then, SS18 La Bollène-Vésubie / Peïra-Cava [Power Stage] – 17.92 km and would the choice made by Elfyn and Seb to go with the studded tyres, or Adrien with the soft tyres and no studded tyres? Well, there was still quite a bit of snow and ice on the stage, particularly on the other side of the col du Turini. Well, the result showed that Seb and Elfyn took the right tyres to the stages as they set the pace with Adrien taking the third fastest time. Kalle was also on the pace and passed Ott for fourth overall.

Let’s take a look at the final finishing positions and hear from the drivers.

Final Overall Classification – Rallye Monte-Carlo

1	S. Ogier	V. Landais	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	3:19:06.1
2	E. Evans	S. Martin	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+18.5
3	A. Fourmaux	A. Coria	Hyundai i20 N Rally1	+26.0
4	K. Rovanperä	J. Halttunen	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+54.3
5	O. Tänak	M. Järveoja	Hyundai i20 N Rally1	+59.0
6	T. Neuville	M. Wydaeghe	Hyundai i20 N Rally1	+5:44.2
7	J. McErlean	E. Treacy	Ford Puma Rally1	+10:15.1
8	Y. Rossel	A. Dunand	Citroën C3	+10:26.8
9	N. Gryazin	K. Aleksandrov	Škoda Fabia RS	+11:40.7
10	E. Camilli	T. De La Haye	Hyundai i20 N Rally2	+13:14.6

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Sébastien Ogier

“It’s amazing to win this rally for the 10th time: it makes me incredibly happy and proud. This rally is the one that gave me the dream to be a rally driver, so if I could pick only one to win in a season, it would always be this one. This year it’s been a huge fight up until the very last stage. We had changing conditions, difficult tyre decisions and pressure right until the end so I’m glad we managed to keep it under control. We definitely had some moments but to win this rally I think you always need a bit of luck too. It’s a perfect start to the year for the team so we couldn’t ask for anything more.”

Elfyn Evans

“This was a typical Rallye Monte-Carlo, a bit more extreme than in recent years and it was a properly challenging weekend. I’m very happy to be here at the end with a decent haul of points. Today started off with some very tricky conditions, we made a change at the last moment to take four studded tyres and I wasn’t sure it was the right call. In the end it seems there wasn’t a lot between the two choices, and we had a pretty thrilling Power Stage to finish: we had a close moment a few corners from the end but thankfully we managed to get away with it.”

Kalle Rovanperä

“Rallye Monte-Carlo is always tough, and it was especially so this year. For me personally it was a pretty difficult weekend. We didn’t have the result that we wanted or the pace that we wanted but we have to be happy at the end to have got some pretty good points. Today was not a bad day for us: we just tried our best, kept consistent and it paid off. A big thanks to the team, now let’s see what we can do in Sweden.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“This morning in the first stage we knew that the conditions could be quite tricky, but we came to one right-hand corner that was frosty where we didn’t have that information in our pacenotes. We were quite slow going into the corner, but the car went wide and got stuck in a small ditch which we couldn’t get out of. Until then it had been quite a good rally, especially Saturday when the pace was good. It’s a pity but I just need to refocus on the next rally in Sweden and try to do a good job for the team there.”

Sami Pajari

“The approach for today was the same as before and we were not planning to push particularly hard. There was just one surprisingly icy braking point which just caught us out. It was an unfortunate end to our rally, as it been going according to plan until then. On Saturday especially we saw that the times were getting better, and the feeling was getting better and the confidence was rising. Everything felt under control so it’s a pity to end the rally like this, but we will try to learn from what happened and look forward to Sweden.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Adrien Fourmaux

“Monte-Carlo is always something special, and to have such a great start with Hyundai is really positive so I am really pleased with my weekend. We put a lot of pressure on Elfyn and Seb, but we couldn’t push it that little bit more with that much snow on the road as we didn’t want to risk too much. It’s a shame, but it’s a part of game – we have no regrets. Sweden will be good, for sure; we will be second on the road in the snow and the cold temperatures, but I am really looking forward to it.”

Ott Tänak

“It was quite an entertaining weekend but still lots of positives to take away. We got some good points and can be a bit happier with the road position going to round two. There were some things we couldn’t get right, but obviously the base was there. We will get it sorted and working, but it takes a bit of time. I am looking forward to Sweden, and we will be able to try the upgraded car for the first time so hopefully we will see an improved performance on that side as well.”

Thierry Neuville

“All in all, it was a challenging weekend for us. It went wrong from the braking in the hairpin on Friday, and then the combination of our road position and the conditions today that didn’t favour us. Today there was less ice than expected, and cars were going faster on slick tyres – it was a difficult Sunday. We can optimistic about what’s coming next in Sweden; we will have a better road position and hopefully a better rally because of it, but we still need to make the most of it.”

 

M-Sport Ford WRT

Josh McErlean

“Seventh overall at the Monte-Carlo Rally! What a way to kick off our Rally1 debut with the Ford Puma. It’s been a massive challenge with so many new elements – new car, new team, new co-driver, and Hankook tyres – but we kept our heads, did our own thing and learnt every step of the way. The conditions have been so demanding, but it’s been thoroughly enjoyable! Huge thanks to everyone who made this possible – we’re excited for our next event and to the snow of Sweden.

“It’s been an unforgettable experience, and I’m proud of what we achieved out there. The boys and girls at M-Sport have been phenomenal!”

Grégoire Munster

“I think there are quite a lot of positives to mention, I think generally we had some good pace and really improved day after day. We posted a fourth-fastest time on Thursday, two second-fastest on Friday and then our first stage win in the morning on Saturday. So, we’ve been consistently improving, and we’ve learned a lot as well. Thanks to the team for working late on Friday night to fix the car so we could go again on Saturday. It gave us a chance to grab some more experience which was super important, especially because we’re driving on the new tyres.

 

Oliver Solberg

“It’s been such a positive week. Apart from this silly moment on Thursday night, everything has gone really well. We’ve learned so much about the new car and straight away I want to say a big thanks to Elliott [Edmondson, co-driver] and the team – all the people at Printsport have been fantastic in making me feel at home with the Yaris.

“I said before the start that it was nice to be part of this Toyota family and competing with the GR Yaris and this is really what I feel from doing the first event.

“The car was quite different from what I was driving before, but we did a lot of testing which really helped me find a good feeling. The times we were able to set were really strong, it was nice to win a lot of stages and I really think we had the pace to win this one. It’s a little bit frustrating that we had this damage on Thursday night, but this is the game, this is the sport.”

“I have enjoyed driving this car in some really tricky conditions on the Monte this week,” continued Oliver. “The last day, over the classic Col de Turini stage, it was really tricky with the ice, dry Tarmac and some snow – it was impossible to find the perfect tyre choice – but we made the finish.

“Now, it’s time for the snow and time to go home and compete in Umeå. As you can imagine, this is one of my favourite rallies for the year and I can’t wait to take this Yaris to those roads.”

Summary

Well, what a great start to the new season for Toyota. Seb taking his tenth victory in this classic rally was amazing considering his moment when he went off the road and fell behind. What came after that was a masterclass in driving.

Elfyn also had a fantastic rally as expected and led as well, maintaining great pace to keep himself in the podium positions throughout the weekend. This is a great start to his title hopes for this season.

Finally, Adrien had a brilliant first event at Hyundai and utterly deserved his sixth ever podium in his career. Taking a stage win along the way shows how comfortable he has become with his new car. There is every chance he and Alex could take their first win this year.

2025 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers’ Standings 
After round 1

1	S. Ogier	33
2	E. Evans	26
3	A. Fourmaux	20
4	K. Rovanperä	18
5	O. Tänak	11
6	T. Neuville	9
7	J. McErlean	6
8	Y. Rossel	4
9	N. Gryazin	2
10	E. Camilli	1

2025 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers’ Standings
After round 1

1	Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team	60
2	Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team	36
3	M-Sport Ford World Rally Team	11

Onto the longest day then of the rally with 120km’s over six stages and a break in the middle for service. This day also featured the longest stage of the weekend with the 27km opening the day and the afternoon stages.

Greg and Louis returned to the action after having a problem on the road section following the final stage of yesterday which meant they’d not made it back to service. They would restart under the super rally rules.

First up then was SS10 La Motte-Chalancon / Saint-Nazaire 1 – 27 km and opening the road would be the place to be as Greg took his first ever stage win. He was sat on the road section watching the live coverage when the final car came through which of course was Seb. He was really close to Greg’s time and was second fastest whilst Kalle was third. Adrien and Elfyn set the same time as they continued to fight for second overall.

Next was SS11 Aucelon / Recoubeau-Jansac 1 – 15.48 km and Ott was fastest from Adrien and Elfyn. The Estonian had found some pace and was really quick in this one, moving to just three seconds of Kalle who was in fourth place. Meanwhile ahead of them both Adrien moved ahead of Elfyn and into second place.

The final stage before service SS12 La Bâtie-des-Fonts / Aspremont 1 – 17.85 km and Takamoto was fastest from Thierry and Seb. Elfyn lost a few more seconds to Adrien, the gap now 2.8 seconds. Ott was also looking to pass Kalle as he moved to within one second of the Finn.

After service came SS13 La Motte-Chalancon / Saint-Nazaire 2 – 27 km and Ott was fastest from Elfyn and Takamoto. The result of these quick times was that Elfyn was back ahead of Adrien and Ott moved ahead of Kalle. Seb was maintaining a very good pace and had a 18.4 second lead over his teammate.

Into SS14 Aucelon / Recoubeau-Jansac 2 – 15.48 km and Ott was fastest from Seb and Thierry. There was another swap between Adrien and Elfyn as the Frenchman moved back into second place. The gap was tiny though, just seven tenths separated them both. Meanwhile Ott was closing on them both and had the gap down to less than ten seconds.

The final stage then SS15 La Bâtie-des-Fonts / Aspremont 2 – 17.85 km and Ott was fastest again from Elfyn and Takamoto who’d had an excellent end to Saturday’s stages. Elfyn was back ahead of Adrien and Ott was now just 2.5 seconds from his teammate. The Estonian had had a brilliant day once he and his team had got the i20 into the sweet spot.

Let’s take a look at the top positions and hear from the drivers.

Classification after Saturday

1 S. Ogier V. Landais Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 2:42:48.2 2 E. Evans S. Martin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +20.3 3 A. Fourmaux A. Coria Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +24.6 4 O. Tänak M. Järveoja Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +27.1 5 K. Rovanperä J. Halttunen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +55.0 6 T. Katsuta A. Johnston Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +1:43.7 7 S. Pajari M. Salminen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +4:09.9 8 T. Neuville M. Wydaeghe Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +5:17.5 9 J. McErlean E. Treacy Ford Puma Rally1 +8:25.4 10 N. Gryazin K. Aleksandrov Škoda Fabia RS +8:33.0

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Sébastien Ogier

“Again, it was not an easy day. Some sections were fun to drive, and others were tricky, especially at the end of the day when it was getting dark and I had some little moments on the mud, so I’m glad to have this day behind me and that we could increase the gap a little bit. The gap is not a comfortable one but it’s still a positive one to take into the last day. Like usual it will be difficult until the end because the weather tonight looks unpredictable, so we need to make the right tyre choice and stay focused.”

Elfyn Evans

“Overall, I’m pretty happy with the day and we’re still in a pretty good position tonight. We had some very mixed conditions out there with a lot of pollution on the stages, and our performance was a bit mixed with it. We pushed when we felt good and maybe took a little bit too much caution at other times. I was pretty happy with the last stage of the day, to not lose too much time to Ott and to take back second from Adrien, and I’m looking forward to tomorrow: we don’t know fully what to expect, but we could be facing some quite difficult conditions.”

Kalle Rovanperä

“It was still quite a challenging day today. Some stages and some sections were pretty good and then we were just losing a bit too much time in other places. I was just not feeling completely confident, so it was still a difficult day. With the team we’re trying to change some small things and at least we still have tomorrow, when we can try something new and see how it’s going. We’ll try to do our best of course and hopefully get some extra points.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“It was a very good and positive day for me. Last night with the team we changed some things in the setup and today I felt a much better feeling with the car, so I was able to push more. I was able to go much quicker than yesterday and we set some good times, which was giving me better confidence. Tomorrow will be quite a big day and the weather could be very interesting. I will try to do my best to take some points.”

Sami Pajari

“Today we did a clear step forwards and I had a much nicer and more enjoyable feeling. We didn’t really change the plan, but the feeling was getting better and also the times were nicer, so that made it more enjoyable also. We can see that we just need some time and experience, and the times get better. From what we’re hearing, the conditions tomorrow could be even more challenging so it could be another different and difficult day ahead.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Adrien Fourmaux

“It’s been quite a rollercoaster at this Monte-Carlo. I was not so happy with my pace this afternoon; I was struggling to get the grip. Tomorrow is a big day; we have kept a reasonable gap to Elfyn but then Ott came back really strong this afternoon so we will see what happens. He had a really good pace today, so our focus will be understanding why this afternoon I didn’t have the same. Tomorrow will be a big challenge with the rain that is expected and the potential of black ice, so it’s going to be an interesting day.”

Ott Tänak

“It’s been a very positive afternoon. Finally, I found a good feeling in the car and immediately I had a good rhythm to actually enjoy myself. The gravel crew did a very good job in these very tricky conditions, particularly in the last one, that helped me find my confidence. This morning we found which way to go with the setup. I had no mileage with this tyre at all, so we didn’t know which direction to go, but we began to understand, and it started to work for me. I’m looking to keep a good rhythm and enjoy myself in the car tomorrow.”

Thierry Neuville

“We slightly touched the wall on stage 14, and I was bit surprised, we weren’t aware it was wet in that corner, but it was nothing major. I don’t know if the progress we made today is enough to maximise our day tomorrow, and the weather conditions could have a huge impact. We have to prepare as best as we can and make some changes to the setup because things are not feeling as they should. Maybe we change the gearbox and then see how things are in the morning – with Super Sunday and the Power Stage there is still an opportunity to bring some points home.”

Sunday

Sunday’s stages will see the crews tackle 50km’s over three stages. In an unusual move the power stage will only be run once.

Will Seb take a tenth win and what will happen as Elfyn, Adrien and Ott battle over the remaining podium positions?

After the first three stages on Thursday evening and 50km’s gave a top three of Thierry, Elfyn and Seb.

First up then was SS4 Saint-Maurice / Aubessagne 1 – 18.68 km and Kalle was fastest from Greg and Sami. Of course, the leaders were quite different with Elfyn moving into the overall lead from Thierry who was leading at the start of the day and Seb holding third. Four seconds covered the top three.

Sadly, SS5 Saint-Léger-les-Mélèzes / La Bâtie-Neuve 1 – 16.68 km was cancelled as there was a medical emergency with one of the spectators.

Next up then came SS6 La Bréole / Selonnet 1 – 18.31 km and with frost near the end of the stage it would be a very tricky end. However, three crews had trouble with moments in the stage. First was Thierry who went off the road at a right-hand hairpin. He’d broken the rear left suspension, and the tyre was dragging along the road. Next up Seb went wide on a left hander but didn’t lose too much time. However, Ott also had a moment as well and went off the road into a ditch on the right-hand side of the road. When he got to the end of the stage he discovered huge damage to the bodywork at the rear. There was a change to the standings behind Welshman Elfyn with Seb and Adrien both gaining a position each as they moved into second and third overall.

After the service break came SS7 Saint-Maurice / Aubessagne 2 – 18.68 km and Elfyn was fastest from Kalle and Thierry. Kalle gained two positions in this stage, moving ahead of Ott and Greg. It seemed that the two-time champion was finding some pace out there. There was 15.4 seconds covering the top three which remained Elfyn, Seb and Adrien.

Onto SS8 Saint-Léger-les-Mélèzes / La Bâtie-Neuve 2 – 16.68 km and there was a change in positions at the front. Elfyn who was leading by 7.9 seconds at the start of the stage emerged 6.8 behind Seb at the end. The reason for this lay in the halfway point of the stage, around 10km’s as the Welshman had a spin at the exit of a right-hander which was very slippery with ice and snow. He and Scott had to reverse to reposition the car leading to the time loss. The top three fastest were Seb, Adrien and Thierry.

The final stage then, SS9 La Bréole / Selonnet 2 – 18.31 km and Seb was fastest from Adrien and Elfyn. There was more drama for Thierry as he went off the road again at the same corner as earlier. One of his front tyres had failed and he could not stop the car again. Once returned around, he completed the stage in road mode.

Let’s take a look at the top positions and hear from the drivers.

Classification after Saturday

1 S. Ogier V. Landais Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 1:27:00.6 2 E. Evans S. Martin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +12.6 3 A. Fourmaux A. Coria Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +14.2 4 K. Rovanperä J. Halttunen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +38.5 5 O. Tänak M. Järveoja Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +47.3 6 T. Katsuta A. Johnston Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +1:37.7 7 S. Pajari M. Salminen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +3:32.9 8 T. Neuville M. Wydaeghe Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +3:58.6 9 Y. Rossel A. Dunand Citroën C3 +5:04.0 10 N. Gryazin K. Aleksandrov Škoda Fabia RS +5:25.4

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Sébastien Ogier

“It’s been a positive day, turning a 13s deficit into a 12s lead, but not everything has been perfect. I was struggling to find a rhythm in the morning and also in the first stage this afternoon, when I was not really driving close enough to the limit. I’m glad I managed to find that for the last two stages, and especially that I managed to win my home stage with a lot of family and friends watching. But we can’t relax yet, there’s still a long way to go and we have to continue in this way tomorrow.”

Elfyn Evans

“It’s been tricky again out there today. This morning, the first stage was evolving with every car, and the last one of the loop was hard to judge also with the sun coming out and melting the ice that had been marked in our pacenotes. We had a pretty decent start to the afternoon, then in the middle stage a bit of a spin on the one full icy corner that we had, which cost us the lead. We lost a bit more on the last one too but it’s still not a huge gap and there’s a long way to go.”

Kalle Rovanperä

“For us it’s been a clean day with no drama, but overall, we were just not quick enough. In the morning the conditions were tricky, but it was going OK. The pace seems to be good when we’re on the snow or studded tyres, but I still need to find some more pace for when the road is cleaner and we’re on the slick tyres. Tomorrow it seems like the roads will be a bit drier so hopefully I can find some more speed.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“This afternoon was much better for me than the morning, when I was struggling to follow the information that was in my pacenotes. The route note crews went through the stages very early in the morning when there was a lot of black ice and frost, some of which had melted by the time we did the stages, so I found it hard to know how much grip to expect. In the afternoon it was easier, just a bit muddy and a few icy corners. There’s still interesting days to come and I just want to stay calm.”

Sami Pajari

“It’s been a really tricky day. Some stages were really good and some split times really good. We were also trying some different tyre combinations just for the experience. I can see many places where I can improve, but my mindset is to be clean and build up the confidence and knowledge step-by-step and then increase our pace. In this sense everything is still going to plan even though I would like to be a bit quicker. Tomorrow the conditions could be easier for us but we need to see how it is in the morning.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Adrien Fourmaux

“It’s been a really good day. We didn’t make any mistakes with the tyres, we had really good pace and we made it to third in the provisional classification. There’s still a long rally ahead, but we are really pleased with what we have achieved so far. I think every driver wants to win here, although it is not my target, but we will keep this pace and see where we are. As a team today has been quite a shame, but it’s positive for us so we will see what happens. Tomorrow will be a new challenge, but we are confident that we can keep a good pace – nothing is impossible at Rallye Monte-Carlo.”

Ott Tänak

“It’s been a demanding day; lots of condition changes, even from first loop to second loop you don’t really recognise the conditions. We have seen more or less everything today – from dry tarmac to black ice. The contrast is huge between the grip levels we had on the same stage, so in the end we just had to go with the information we had, trust it and go for it. This afternoon was a bit of a struggle to get into the rhythm. Before the last stage we balanced some settings on the car, and after that it behaved a bit better. Now we need to get back into the faster rhythm. We need to see what’s coming tomorrow, and we are still not sure what is waiting for us.”

Thierry Neuville

“Today was a day to forget, I made a mistake this morning and misjudged the braking with these studded tyres. The target this afternoon was to see if we could gain back a bit of time this afternoon, maybe a position or two, and then unfortunately we had a puncture three kilometres into the same stage. We don’t know these tyres very well, but we decided to continue with the puncture and the tyre went in a braking zone. I am disappointed with the one mistake this morning, but a puncture can happen to anybody. We made some changes overnight for the day and I couldn’t find the confidence I needed all day. We’ll go back to the setup we used Thursday evening and see if we feel more comfortable.”

 

Saturday’s stages.

Saturday sees the longest day of action with 120km’s over six stages and the longest stage of the whole weekend is the first stage of the day. At 27km the crews will need to be ready for this. Who knows what it has in store!

The final day then of the rally and of the season. What would the day hold? Andreas would again open the road throughout the day.

First up was SS17 Nukata 1 – 20.23 km and Andreas made the best of the cleaner road conditions winning the stage from Elfyn and Thierry. However, there was huge drama as Ott and Martin came into the final kilometre of the stage and went wide on a right-hander. The result of this was that they crashed out from the lead of the rally. There were celebrations with the two Hyundai crews that had finished the stage. Of course, there didn’t seem to be much disappointment with the situation after the crash their teammates suffered as we saw in the

Next up was SS18 Lake Mikawako 1 – 13.98 km the first run of the later to run power stage. Thierry took the stage win from Andreas and Adrien. The Belgian came to the stop line and was of course delighted to have it confirmed that he’d taken the title. However, it was sad to not hear any acknowledgment of the situation with his teammate crashing out.

Onto SS19 Nukata 2 – 20.23 km and Thierry again was fastest from Seb and Andreas. The Belgian and Frenchman set an identical time on this one. Amazing! The top three remained Elfyn, Seb and Adrien.

The following stage was the third time during the weekend which the 2.15km stadium stage was run and as mentioned previously in my view is not rallying.

We came therefore to the final stage, SS21 Lake Mikawako 2[Power Stage] – 13.98 km. Andreas was the guy setting the rally1 pace and slid wide on a corner leading to some damage to the right-hand front bumper and the headlamp was gone as well. The stage result was making things interesting as the manufacturers championship was up for either Hyundai or Toyota to win. Ultimately Seb would be fastest from Thierry, Elfyn, Takamoto and Andreas. The points scored in the powerstage meant that Toyota would take the title. It was also great to see Elfyn and Scott take victory in this final round.

Let’s take a look at the final finishing positions and hear from the drivers.

Final Overall Classification – Rally Japan

1	E. Evans	S. Martin	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid	3:23:41.0
2	S. Ogier	V. Landais	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid	+1:27.3
3	A. Fourmaux	A. Coria	Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid	+1:55.5
4	T. Katsuta	A. Johnston	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid	+2:02.6
5	G. Munster	L. Louka	Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid	+3:11.5
6	T. Neuville	M. Wydaeghe	Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid	+6:54.1
7	N. Gryazin	K. Aleksandrov	Citroën C3	+10:04.3
8	S. Pajari	E. Mälkönen	Toyota GR Yaris	+11:50.8
9	H. Arai	S. Matsuo	Škoda Fabia	+13:24.3
10	G. Greensmith	J. Andersson	Škoda Fabia RS	+14:15.8

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Elfyn Evans

“It’s been a very exciting last day of Rally Japan and we’re delighted with the final result. It’s a very special event as a home rally for the team and I’m naturally very happy to win it again. With it I’m also really happy to contribute towards the manufacturers’ title: it means a lot for every member of the team and I’m proud to be a part of it. We maybe didn’t always have the performance we wanted during the whole weekend, but we kept trying until the end. I felt for Ott this morning as he had to push, and that opened up the opportunity for us, but it still wasn’t easy to bring it home and get the points we needed.”

Sébastien Ogier

“I think you could not have written a better finish to the season for us, with everything to play for on the final stage here in Japan. There was a lot of pressure, it was all or nothing in the Power Stage, and of course we are very delighted that we managed to produce this performance in this moment and clinch the title together with the team. Seeing the happy faces of everyone in the team, and of our chairman Morizo-san, is the best feeling and also good reward for all the effort that every team member has made during the season. It’s proof again of why we should never give up.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“It’s been a very tough season but at the end we were able to take back the manufacturers’ championship, and it’s such a great feeling. I had to be patient this weekend which has not been easy, but I managed to stay on the road and push in the Power Stage. The whole team did a fantastic job, and without their support I would not have been able to do it, so a huge thanks to them and to my team-mates. There were a lot of fans cheering for me this weekend. I’m sorry for them that it was not possible to take a podium myself this time, but thanks to them for their support as well.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“What a fantastic day. Words cannot describe how we are feeling. I think we deserved the title after such a challenging year. We had a lot more pressure than we would have liked coming to this final event, but we managed our weekend as best as we could with the problems we had. After the first stage and the titles were confirmed, we were able to relax a bit and push as hard as we could for the manufacturers’ fight. We went flat out with nothing to lose – we really wanted to bring home that crown for the team, as they really deserved it. Sadly, it wasn’t enough this time but everyone in the team should be incredibly proud of the work they have done this year.”

Andreas Mikkelsen

“After we decided to stop yesterday, we wanted to really prepare for today as best as possible. I think we did that well; we were very fast and fighting at the front, showing good speed and having a nice feeling in the car all day. I’m disappointed for the team as they really deserved the manufacturers’ title this year. Everyone has done such an amazing job, the car has been working well and very reliable all season, so it is tough to feel this title slip away from us. However, I am so happy for Thierry. I grew up with him and have raced him since we both started out in national rallying. Being good mates as well, I am really emotional seeing him clinch the title. I’m very proud of him.”

Ott Tänak

“It is difficult to describe what happened other than complete disaster. We weren’t expecting slippery conditions in the corner and as soon as we arrived, the front washed out. It was too far off the road to recover the car. While we are disappointed to end the season this way, we have to recognise what a great season this has been for Thierry. He has been very consistent, managing the pressure well, and he is a worthy champion.”

 

M-Sport Ford WRT

Adrien Fourmaux

“As we expected, it’s been a really challenging rally with really tricky conditions from the beginning. The conditions have been drying up all weekend, so where we have improved the pace we’ve been fighting for the podium.

“From Saturday morning it’s been a really nice fight with Takamoto Katsuta and Seb Ogier. It’s been really nice to end the season with another podium, my first one on Tarmac with the Ford Puma Rally1. It’s been a really great season for us, we always want more that’s for sure, but still we have some really nice positive results, so it’s been good for my comeback to Rally1.

“Thanks to everyone at M-Sport for the season, there’s been really great commitment from everybody, and we’ve had a great feeling from the start. Alex and I really appreciate the hard work from everyone.”

Grégoire Munster

“I’m just happy to get back-to-back top five results and finish the season on a positive note. I think our pace on Saturday was really positive with a second-fastest time and two third-fastest times. At some points we struggled with the set-up of the car, but we always reacted quite well and managed to find solutions, so there was a lot of good learning for me as a driver working with engineers.

“It was a good way to finish the year and I just want to thank all the team for their hard work all throughout the season and for their guidance, it has helped me perform and learn a lot as a driver.”

Summary

Well, what an incredible weekend in Japan for the finale of the championship. It had everything, drama for the championship leader, position changes for the top three and a final day drama which led to Toyota taking the manufacturers title.

It was great to see Elfyn and Scott take their ninth victory, just a bit of a sad way for this to happen with Ott and Martin crashing out. However, this is motorsport, and it is often the way things happen.

For Seb and Vincent after their puncture on Friday, they showed amazing pace to take many stage wins and a deserved second overall.

For Adrien and Alex, a fantastic third place was deservedly theirs, their fifth of this season as well. They have a bright future whether they remain at M-Sport or move elsewhere. My personal view is that they should stay at Malcolm’s team, and they could take a first victory there.

Finally, a few words for Thierry and Martijn. They have had a great season and undoubtedly deserve the championship. However, the manner of their celebrations following their teammates crashing out and the lack of words from Thierry at the end of the following stage to acknowledge this as well show a driver that is selfish and appears to only care for himself.

The second full day of the rally would see the crews tackle 103km’s over seven stages. Andreas and Torstein would restart and open the road, but then the Hyundai team would swap him around with Thierry so the championship leader could open the road.

First up then was SS10 Mt. Kasagi 1 – 16.47 km and Elfyn was fastest from Ott and Gregoire. Thierry was on the move, gaining two positions. His i20 was back working properly and he set the fifth best time.

Next up was SS11 Nenoue Kougen 1 – 11.60 km and Thierry set the best time from Seb and Takamoto. The Japanese star gained a position moving ahead of Adrien and into third overall. Thierry was also gaining positions, now into twelfth place and just around 22 seconds from the points paying positions. The recovery drive was going well this morning.

The final stage before the tyre fitting zone, SS12 Ena 1 – 22.79 km saw the stage interrupted meaning that the top two, Ott and Elfyn did not start the stage along with the WRC2 runners. They were given a notional time, the same as Seb who’d set the fastest time. There was drama for Takamoto who had a spin in the stage, and he dropped down to fifth. He was one of the driver to complete the stage earlier before the interruption.

After the short break came SS13 Mt. Kasagi 2 – 16.47 km and Ott was fastest from Seb and Takamoto. Adrien fell behind his fellow countryman Seb who passed him for third overall. Thierry was now in ninth overall and just three tenths of a second behind eighth placed Sami. Sadly, Elfyns’ pace had deserted him and after winning this stage earlier he could only manage the sixth best time. The Welshman reported understeer sapping his confidence in the corners.

Two proper stages remained the first being SS14 Nenoue Kougen 2 – 11.60 km and Thierry and Seb set an identical time on this one, with Takamoto third. Rally leader Ott was fourth in this one, but with his closest rival Elfyn sixth was still increasing his lead. Thierry was up another position and into eighth place.

The final proper stage then of Saturday’s action, SS15 Ena 2 – 22.79 km and Seb was fastest from Thierry and Adrien. The Frenchman’s pace allowed him to pull away from Takamoto. Meanwhile erstwhile championship leader Thierry had gained another position and was now seventh.

The final stage didn’t see any changes in position and at only 2.15km’s in a stadium is not really rallying anyway.

Let’s take a look at the standings and hear from the drivers.

Classification after Day Two

1 O. Tänak M. Järveoja Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid 2:39:48.0 2 E. Evans S. Martin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid +38.0 3 S. Ogier V. Landais Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid +2:10.9 4 A. Fourmaux A. Coria Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid +2:19.1 5 T. Katsuta A. Johnston Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid +2:25.2 6 G. Munster L. Louka Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid +3:07.1 7 T. Neuville M. Wydaeghe Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid +7:43.7 8 N. Gryazin K. Aleksandrov Citroën C3 +7:55.9 9 S. Pajari E. Mälkönen Toyota GR Yaris +9:21.2 10 H. Arai S. Matsuo Škoda Fabia +10:12.6

Hyundai Motorsport

Ott Tänak

“All the stages have been extremely demanding today, very slow in places and seemingly never-ending. At the same time, we’ve had changeable grip and a lot of surprises and some moments. While it’s been another tough day, we had something special in the second loop. Elfyn was definitely winding up this morning, but we were stronger this afternoon to end the day with things still in our favour. We’ve been on it all weekend so far and we will be again tomorrow: our main target is the manufacturers’ championship, and we want to achieve it. The Toyotas are very quick so we all need to give our best so we can hopefully bring it home.”

Thierry Neuville

“We’re satisfied that we’ve been able to catch seventh, which didn’t seem very realistic this morning. Of course, it could have been a much better weekend result, but I have faced many setbacks in my career, and I have learnt to stay calm and deal with the situation. I think we managed that very well today, considering we had everything to lose while others had a lot to gain. It could be a big day tomorrow, so we will cross our fingers and try to have a good night sleep, but there is still a fight, and we have to win some more points. Let’s see after a few stages tomorrow where we are and what we have to do.”

Andreas Mikkelsen

“After yesterday’s accident, we wanted to make sure that the car was working optimally after the repairs in service. We ran the morning loop to shakedown the car and ensure everything was working well. As we were happy with the performance and the speed this morning, we decided together with the team to withdraw from the afternoon loop in preparation for a big push tomorrow. There was nothing to be gained today but we have a big opportunity on Sunday to support the team in the manufacturers’ championship fight.”

 

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Elfyn Evans

“We made a pretty strong start this morning when the conditions were not easy, and we were hoping to keep the pressure on in the afternoon. Unfortunately, it didn’t turn out that way. The feeling was not so bad in the car but we were struggling just a little bit in the slower speed sections and that was resulting in quite a big time loss. Things were OK in the faster places but there weren’t so many of them. So, we’re looking with the team tonight to understand it and try to put it right for tomorrow, when we need to give a final push and do what we can.”

Sébastien Ogier

“It’s been a positive day for us. We were the fastest over the day with three stage wins, and we got back to the podium places to bank good points for the team, so I think there was not much more we could do. Of course, I would have loved even more but our chances in the manufacturers’ championship are still alive up until the last day of the season, and we need to give it everything. We just have to push for the maximum points from Sunday and hope for some luck on our side, and in rallying you never know what can happen.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“It’s good to reach the end of today: this was one of the main targets for me. There were some difficulties during the day – I had a spin in the last stage of the morning and lost a few seconds there – but I felt some good feelings from the car as well, so I was able to set some good times. Overall, everything was OK. Tomorrow is going to be a very important day for the team as well, so I just need to try and find even better feeling and focus on that.”

Sunday

The final day will see the crews tackle 70km’s over five stages, including the overused 2.15km stadium stage.