The tenth event of the 2026 season officially started this morning, with the drivers tackling the first stages of one of the most famous rallies in the entire history of the WRC, characterized by very fast gravel roads and spectacular jumps that have always captivated the public and photographers, although this edition does not include the beloved Ouninpohja stage. The first Finnish day was actually very short, but enough for Adrien Fourmaux to send his challenge signal to the rivals ahead of this weekend, one of the final ones of this world championship.
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Report of the first day
Just like the Super Sunday scheduled for Sunday, only two stages took place today as well: the shakedown and SS1. While in the inaugural one Takamoto Katsuta set the best times ahead of Fourmaux and Solberg, with the world championship leader Evans and the winner of the last Estonia rally Sami Pajari (one of the many home heroes) respectively in fourth and fifth position, in the first real fight for the lead of the standings Fourmaux finished ahead of everyone. At Harju, a course just under 3 km, the Frenchman stopped the clock at 2:06.7, with a one-second advantage over the other Hyundai of Thierry Neuville. On the ‘podium’, in third place, the first of the Toyotas with Elfyn Evans, the world leader ahead of Sébastien Ogier, who returned to this rally with his historic co-driver Julien Ingrassia.
Rally Finland 2026, standings after SS1 (Top-10)
| POS. | DRIVER | CAR | TIME/GAP |
| 1 | Adrien Fourmaux | Toyota | 2:06.7 |
| 2 | Thierry Neuville | Toyota | +1.1 |
| 3 | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | +1.2 |
| 4 | Sébastien Ogier | Toyota | +1.2 |
| 5 | Takamoto Katsuta | Toyota | +1.8 |
| 6 | Sami Pajari | Toyota | +1.9 |
| 7 | Oliver Solberg | Toyota | +2.9 |
| 8 | Esapekka Lappi | Hyundai | +3.0 |
| 9 | Jon Armstrong | Ford | +3.3 |
| 10 | Robert Virves | Skoda (WRC2) | +4.1 |
