Thierry Neuville, the current leader in the World Rally Championship points standings, seized victory in the opening stage from Takamoto Katsuta, establishing an early lead in Rally Finland.
Neuville, driving last among the Rally1 contenders on the Harju super special stage in Jyvaskyla, managed to edge out Toyota’s Katsuta by 1.1 seconds on the mixed surface course.
This stage time came after a tough shakedown on Thursday morning at the renowned gravel rally for the Belgian driver.
“It’s a strong start, but the real competition kicks off tomorrow,” Neuville remarked.
“We are looking ahead; it was a challenging shakedown this morning and we encountered some issues with the car.”
Ott Tanak from Hyundai clocked in third, trailing by 0.2 seconds, while Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier, who is participating in his first rally in Finland since 2021, secured the fourth-fastest time. The reigning world champion, Kalle Rovanpera, completed the top five.
“This stage is always tricky to commence the rally, and it felt narrower in areas – I was just eager to finish it; we’re through, and the real rally begins tomorrow,” Rovanpera expressed.
Kalle Rovanperä, Jonne Halttunen, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
Adrien Fourmaux led the M-Sport-Ford team, finishing sixth (+3.0s), just ahead of Hyundai’s Esapekka Lappi (+3.1s), who narrowly avoided hitting a tyre wall with the right rear of his i20 N. Elfyn Evans from Toyota placed eighth (+3.2s), followed by Rally1 rookie Sami Pajari in ninth (+4.6s).
“It’s a very special moment, and there’s always a great atmosphere here on the Harju stage, but I can’t say how much I enjoyed it given the conditions, 500 horsepower and all, but we’re looking forward to tomorrow,” Pajari shared.
M-Sport’s Gregoire Munster rounded out the top 10 (+8.2s).
In the WRC2 category, title contender Oliver Solberg set the pace with a time 1.1 seconds quicker than Estonia’s Georg Linnamae, while Toyota WRC team principal Jari-Matti Latvala, making a rare appearance, finished third (+2.1s) in a Rally2-spec GR Yaris.
“It’s a bit strange; I was taking it easy, didn’t warm my tyres enough at the start, and was overly cautious initially, but the second run was decent,” Solberg commented.
The rally continues on Friday, with crews facing nine gravel stages ahead.
