Elfyn Evans secured his fifth WRC victory of his career at Rally Finland today, ahead of Hyundai’s Ott Tänak and Craig Breen.
Evans started the day with a 9.1 second lead over Tänak. In the opening Laukaa stage, the gap was reduced by four tenths of a second as Tänak won the stage with an average speed of 130.5 km/h.
Evans reacted immediately in the following Ruuhimäki stage with a stage win. The Welshman clocked a 5:25.5, 3.5 seconds faster than Tänak, which increased the gap to 12.2 seconds overall with two stages remaining.
A re-run of Laukaa and Ruuhimäki remained for Evans to take his first victory in Finland. In the penultimate stage of Laukaa, Evans took another stage win, this time by just 2 tenths of a second. The Toyota driver matched an incredible average speed of 133.0 km/h in the stage, the highest stage average of the weekend.
With one stage to go, the gap between Evans and Tänak was up to 12.4 seconds. Craig Breen was still in third, 35.5 seconds behind the leader.
Big final push for Evans
Evans won the Power Stage with a 1.7 second margin over Tänak to take the maximum 30 points in Finland. Lappi was third fastest in the Power Stage ahead of Katsuta and Breen. Ogier suffered engine issues and was down on power in the final stage. The championship leader ended sixth in the Power Stage.
In the overall standings, Evans took victory by 14.1 seconds in the end. Hyundai never scored a podium finish in Finland before and claim P2 and P3 with Tänak and Breen to take the first podium places for the team.
Esapekka Lappi ends the rally in fourth overall on his return to the top level of the sport. Sébastien Ogier was in no man’s land after his penalty yesterday evening and ends in fifth. M-Sport drivers Gus Greensmith and Adrien Fourmaux conclude the rally in sixth and seventh respectively.
Teemu Suninen claimed eighth overall and the WRC2 win on home soil, ahead of Mads Østberg. WRC3-winner in Finland, Emil Lindholm, rounds off the top 10.
Evans closes in on Ogier in championship battle
Evans’ victory in Finland and his Power Stage win means the Welshman takes the maximum 30 points in Finland. Championship leader Sébastien Ogier takes 10 points away from Finland with fifth and no Power Stage points. Evans closed the gap in the championsip battle by 20 points and is now 24 points behind Ogier with two rallies to go.
Ogier and Evans are now in the only realistic championship contenders left. Thierry Neuville stays third in the championship with 130 points. Points wise, the Belgian can still equals Ogier’s 190 points, but he’ll have to win take 30 points (win + Power Stage win) on both remaining rallies while Ogier has to score 0 points from both rallies. Meaning it’s practically game over for Neuville in terms of championship hopes.
In the battle for third in the championship, it’s very close between Neuville, Rovanperä and Tänak. Neuville now has 130 points, Rovanperä 129 and Tänak 128. Craig Breen moves up to sixth in the championship standings with his third podium finish in a row.
Toyota extend their lead in the Manufacturer’s championship by 4 points in Finland. The Japanese-Finnish team now has a total of 411 points, 31 points more than Hyundai.
The championship heads to Salou (Spain) next for the penultimate round of the 2021 WRC season. This year, Rally Catalunya will be an all-asphalt rally on 14-17 October.
WRC Rally Finland 2021 Results
| # | Drivers | Car | Time / Diff. to 1st |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Evans / Martin | Toyota Yaris WRC | 2:19:13.7 |
| 2. | Tänak / Järveoja | Hyundai i20 Coupé WRC | +14.1 |
| 3. | Breen / Nagle | Hyundai i20 Coupé WRC | +42.2 |
| 4. | Lappi / Ferm | Toyota Yaris WRC | +58.8 |
| 5. | Ogier / Ingrassia | Toyota Yaris WRC | +2:54.4 |
| 6. | Greensmith / Patterson | Ford Fiesta WRC | +5:02.3 |
| 7. | Fourmaux / Coria | Ford Fiesta WRC | +6:22.9 |
| 8. | Suninen / Markkula | Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 | +9:52.1 |
| 9. | Østberg / Eriksen | Citroen C3 Rally2 | +10:07.8 |
| 10. | Lindholm / Hämäläinen | Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo | +10:52.8 |
WRC Drivers’ Championship standings 2021 after Round 10/12 [Top 10]
| # | Driver | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Sébastien Ogier | 190 |
| 2. | Elfyn Evans | 166 |
| 3. | Thierry Neuville | 130 |
| 4. | Kalle Rovanperä | 129 |
| 5. | Ott Tänak | 128 |
| 6. | Craig Breen | 76 |
| 7. | Takamoto Katsuta | 68 |
| 8. | Gus Greensmith | 52 |
| 9. | Dani Sordo | 43 |
| 10. | Adrien Fourmaux | 42 |
WRC Manufacturers’ Championship standings after Round 10/12
| # | Manufacturer | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT | 411 |
| 2. | Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT | 380 |
| 3. | M-Sport Ford WRT | 172 |
| 4. | Hyundai 2C Compétition | 44 |
Photo: Red Bull Content Pool