Sébastien Ogier secured his third World Rally Championship win of the season following a dramatic turn of events in Rally Finland, where long-time leader Kalle Rovanperä rolled out, forfeiting the chance at a home victory.
The eight-time world champion, along with co-driver Vincent Landais, demonstrated commendable performance amid the challenging and unpredictable weather conditions throughout the rally, ultimately clinching his 61st career win with a margin of 40.1 seconds over championship leader Thierry Neuville from Hyundai, while M-Sport Ford’s Adrien Fourmaux finished third, 1 minute and 14.1 seconds behind Ogier.
Ogier briefly took the lead after the second stage on Friday, but it was Rovanperä, a two-time world champion, who dominated the event with aspirations of becoming the first Finnish driver to win since Jari-Matti Latvala in 2015.
Rovanperä reclaimed the lead from Ogier by the third stage, only to lose it to his teammate Elfyn Evans in the subsequent stage amidst tough wet conditions. However, Rovanperä regained control on stage five, leading by a mere 0.2 seconds.
Once in front, Rovanperä pressed on, establishing an eight-second lead over Evans with Ogier trailing by 0.6 seconds at the conclusion of Friday. Rovanperä continued to excel on Saturday, winning five of the six stages, including two runs of the iconic Ouninpohja stage, which returned after a seven-year absence, during which Rovanperä set a new stage record, breaking Kris Meeke’s previous time by an impressive 23.9 seconds.
A driveshaft failure and a lengthy lunchtime repair that incurred a 2-minute and 40-second penalty eliminated Evans from contention for victory and the Saturday points positions. This allowed Ogier, who chose a conservative strategy, to climb into second place, 44.2 seconds behind the commanding Rovanperä, who earned 18 points for finishing first on Saturday, with Ogier and Neuville receiving 15 and 10 points, respectively.
Kalle Rovanperä, Jonne Halttunen, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
Photo by: Toyota Racing
However, the rally took a dramatic turn on Sunday. Rovanperä, who had increased his lead over Ogier to 45.8 seconds after winning the first two morning stages, encountered misfortune on the penultimate stage when he clipped a rock, causing his GR Yaris to roll and ending his rally. This marked the second consecutive year that Rovanperä lost the lead at Rally Finland due to a roll.
The incident unfolded shortly after Evans had crashed on the opening corner of the same stage, leaving him scoreless in the WRC standings after failing to secure a top-10 finish on Saturday.
This cleared the path for Ogier to glide through the final stage and seize victory, propelling the part-time driver to second place in the championship standings, trailing Neuville by 27 points.
Neuville secured second place following a challenging rally that started with him gaining an early lead by winning the first stage. However, he dropped positions after overshooting a junction in stage three, losing 13 seconds, and struggled with the handling of his i20 N during both Friday and Saturday.
Nonetheless, Neuville expanded his championship lead after earning 15 points from Saturday, benefiting from Rovanperä’s exit while rivals Evans and Ott Tänak finished without points. Tänak’s participation ended on stage three when he lost control, rolled, and collided with a tree, temporarily halting the stage. His co-driver Martin Järveoja was taken to the hospital, where he stayed overnight before being released.
M-Sport’s Fourmaux, despite facing challenges with his car, managed to drive wisely and secure third place, marking his fourth podium finish of the season.
Thierry Neuville, Martijn Wydaeghe, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
Fourmaux placed ahead of the impressive Sami Pajari, who achieved a commendable fourth place [+1m54.5s] on his Rally1 debut with a fifth Toyota GR Yaris.
Pajari faced a setback in stage two due to a car damage incident but bounced back to finish Friday with his first WRC stage win in just nine attempts, triumphing on the Ruuhimaki stage. His performance continued to impress as he narrowly missed out on top honors in Ouninpohja against Rovanperä and Ogier.
Oliver Solberg secured a notable WRC2 victory, finishing an impressive fifth overall [+ 8m15.5s] ahead of Jari-Matti Latvala, who made a special one-off appearance in WRC2.
Takamoto Katsuta from Toyota reached fourth place before clipping a tree on Friday, which tore off his GR Yaris’s right rear wheel. Nevertheless, he managed to return to competition and won the Power Stage on Sunday.
Hyundai’s Esapekka Lappi climbed to fourth but faced a similar fate as he careened out of a rut and into trees, yet excelled in the Super Sunday standings.
M-Sport’s Gregoire Munster rejoined the rally on Sunday after rolling out of seventh place on Saturday.
