Quotes:
Akio Toyoda (TGR-WRT Chairman)
“Elfyn, Scott, congratulations on becoming the snow rally champions for two years in a row!
Elfyn took the victory, with Takamoto in second. I wanted Elfyn to score lots of points from the early stages of the season, and at the same time I wanted Takamoto to reach the top step of the podium soon… I watched the rally with the same feelings as last year.
But this year’s Sweden had a big difference from last year in a way: the performance of the young drivers. Thanks to Sami in third and Oliver in fourth, we achieved the 1-2-3-4 finish.
I’m sure Oliver wanted to get onto the podium at his home rally in Sweden as well. He may be feeling disappointed, but I believe that experiencing the kind of adversities that come from being a top driver such as opening the road will surely help him for the future.
For Sami, I think he reset himself after the frustration in Monte Carlo and came to this rally determined. This podium must have given him a lot of confidence.
And Takamoto, even if he may no longer be fairly called a ‘youngster’, I really wish that he comes back even stronger for the next rally, savouring both the joy and the frustration of this second-place finish.
Even for a team that has its home in Finland, rallying in such severe cold must have been very tough for all. I would like to thank everyone for the hard work. The next event is in Kenya in a month, and that will be an incredible change in temperature. I believe Jari-Matti and Juha will take good care of the team and I hope everybody in the team stays healthy and safe.”
Jari-Matti Latvala (Team Principal)
“We’re really happy with this 1-2-3-4 result and it’s amazing to see the performance level that we’ve had in these first two rounds of the season. After Rallye Monte-Carlo, we had been expecting to face a stronger challenge here in Sweden. Still, our drivers were able to fight closely with each other and still bring the cars home without any big mistakes. Elfyn is driving at such an amazing and consistent level right now, and he’s really becoming a master of this event. Taka also really enjoys this event and was driving very well. Even if there was some frustration for him, it’s a great result for him too. We’re also delighted by Sami’s drive. He started the event under pressure and slightly cautious, but once he could see things were going well, the confidence improved and the smile had come back. And for Oliver, these are strong points and a good comeback after a challenging start to the rally.”
Elfyn Evans (Driver car 33)
“It’s been a great weekend for us and the whole team here in Sweden. The car has been amazing to drive, so a big thanks to the team. It’s an incredible feeling to drive on these fast stages in such nice winter conditions, and when you feel good in the car, it’s always a pleasure. We didn’t have a huge margin coming into the final day, and with so many points available on Sundays, we had to push until the end but we can be very happy with what we came away with. It’s been a great start to the year, but it’s still early days and we need to keep working hard.”
Oliver Solberg (Driver car 99)
“Of course I was hoping for more from my home rally but I think I underestimated how difficult it would be on Friday. My mistake maybe cost a podium and put me on the back foot for the rest of the weekend, but fourth is probably the best I deserve. There’s been a lot of learning in my first proper snow rally with this car and my first time starting first on the road. I tried my best and scored some decent points. The support has been amazing and I’ve really enjoyed myself in the car. A big thanks to the team: they’ve done a great job and this 1-2-3-4 is a fantastic result.”
Takamoto Katsuta (Driver car 18)
“This is a great result for the team and I’m very happy to be part of it, so a huge thanks to the team for all their hard work. Everything was working well with the car and I was enjoying it a lot. Big congratulations to Elfyn: he was so strong here again this year and deserves this win. Hopefully next time I have a chance to fight for victory I can push harder. It’s always enjoyable to be in the fight, especially on this kind of high-speed rally when it’s so intense and you’re fighting over tenths of a second. Kenya is another rally that seems to suit me, so I’ll look forward to that.”
Sami Pajari (Driver car 5)
“This is an amazing result for us and for the team. I want to say a big thank you to the team and to everybody who was giving us such great support after Rallye Monte-Carlo didn’t go to plan. This time we were back on the pace and I’m of course really happy to be back on the podium. I really enjoyed the driving this week with this car in these conditions. It’s nice to be back on the level where I think we should be and where we were at the end of last year. Now we just need to keep pushing for even better results in the future.”
PROVISIONAL FINAL CLASSIFICATION, RALLY SWEDEN
1 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1) 2h35m53.1s
2 Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnston (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1) +14.3s
3 Sami Pajari/Marko Salminen (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1) +46.0s
4 Oliver Solberg/Elliott Edmondson (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1) +1m11.6s
5 Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +1m50.3s
6 Esapekka Lappi/Enni Mälkönen (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +1m53.2s
7 Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +3m45.9s
8 Jon Armstrong/Shane Byrne (Ford Puma Rally1) +4m05.5s
9 Josh McErlean/Eoin Treacy (Ford Puma Rally1) +6m05.4s
10 Roope Korhonen/Anssi Viinikka (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) +10m36.2s
(Results as of 14:00 on Sunday, for the latest results please visit www.wrc.com)
2026 FIA World Rally Championship for drivers after round 2:
1 Elfyn Evans 60 points
2 Oliver Solberg 47
3 Takamoto Katsuta 30
4 Adrien Fourmaux 28
5 Thierry Neuville 21
6 Sébastien Ogier 18
7 Sami Pajari 17
8 Esapekka Lappi 9
9 Léo Rossel 8
10 Yohan Rossel 6
2026 FIA World Rally Championship for manufacturers after round 2:
1 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team 117 points
2 Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team 66
3 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRT2 18
4 M-Sport Ford World Rally Team 14
What’s next?
The legendary Safari Rally Kenya – the only African round of the WRC – hosts round three on March 12-15. Since returning to the calendar in 2021, the event continues to provide gruelling conditions on rough and rocky roads as well as high speeds across open plains.
