Evans Rolls, Ogier Maintains Lead at Rally Finland

Pulse Sports Team 11:47 - 01 August 2026

World Rally Championship leader Elfyn Evans lost two minutes after rolling his car just two corners from the end of the final Saturday morning stage at Rally Finland. Meanwhile, Martins Sesks crashed out of the race.

Evans had been running second overall, chasing his Toyota teammate and world title rival, Sébastien Ogier.

At the start of the day, Ogier held a 16.3-second lead over Evans, but after the first three stages on Saturday morning, the Welshman had narrowed the gap to 11.6 seconds.

However, at the very end of the 14th special stage, 'Leustu', Evans misjudged a left-hand corner and rolled his car off the road. The car landed back on its wheels, but in his attempt to rejoin the track, Evans drove into a ditch and required assistance from spectators to get free and continue.

As a result of the incident, he plummeted to fifth place in the overall standings.

"One corner just closed up more than I expected, with a ditch on the outside. I had it noted in my pace notes, but I was just too brave," Evans explained. "We lost a lot of time getting out, that's the bad part."

Following the mishap, Ogier now leads the rally by 22.7 seconds over Sami Pajari.

"We're on the limit all the time," Ogier commented. "My plan this morning was exactly that – I knew they would push hard, and I wanted this battle to happen because that's what's fun. But I always try to keep a small margin, and so far, the plan is working."

Meanwhile, Sesks held fifth position before the 14th stage, successfully fending off Adrien Fourmaux behind him. However, the M-Sport driver went off line on a fast right-hand corner early in the stage and retired after a spectacular crash.

The drama saw Fourmaux climb two spots to fourth, while Oliver Solberg now sits in third, putting him in a strong podium contention.

There was also drama in the WRC2 category, where Roope Korhonen rolled and retired from second place in the 13th stage. This allowed Robert Virves to take the lead by 34.2 seconds over Teemu Suninen.