Rally of Finland, Day 3: Pajari takes the lead, but a big scare for Ogier

After winning the Rally of Estonia, Sami Pajari is now the number 1 candidate to achieve his second consecutive victory (as well as the second in his career) in his beloved Finland. A leadership obtained today not only thanks to excellent performances, but also by taking advantage of two accidents involving other drivers fighting for the win: that of Elfyn Evans, who for this reason lost precious seconds, and especially the more brutal one of Sébastien Ogier. For reasons yet to be clarified, the Frenchman, who at that moment was leading the standings, lost control of his Toyota at high speed during the penultimate stage, which was canceled due to the incident. Taken to the hospital for checks along with his co-driver Julien Ingrassia, both, according to the team’s statement, are fortunately conscious.

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SS11-SS14: Pajari takes advantage of Evans’ misstep

Contrary to yesterday afternoon, the third day of the Finnish rally started without heavy rain, with Evans taking advantage of the favorable conditions to start off on the right foot; in an attempt to reduce the gap from the leader Ogier, the Welshman set the best time already in the first stage ahead of Pajari and the French driver himself, with the latter two overtaking him in SS12. However, the Toyota driver did not give up in SS13, finishing behind the home hero Pajari, but the first real twist occurred in the final morning stage. In addition to the accidents of Korhonen and Sesks, both unharmed but unable to continue due to vehicle damage, Evans lost control in a left-hand corner, with the car rolling over multiple times and landing on all four wheels in a ditch. Helped by several spectators to get back on track without retiring, Evans still lost almost two minutes to Ogier, slipping to 5th place overall, with second place passing into Pajari’s hands ahead of Solberg.

SS15-SS18: major accident for Ogier

Supported by the home crowd, Pajari set the best time in SS15 just ahead of Evans, reducing the gap to Ogier to 20 seconds. However, the nine-time world champion returned to set the best performance in the next stage, but the second episode that caused much fear occurred in SS17: shortly after the slight puncture to the front left wheel of Neuville’s Hyundai, the penultimate special stage of the rally was canceled due to the violent accident involving Ogier at high speed. Following initial aid, Toyota officially announced a few minutes after the incident that the Frenchman and his co-driver Julien Ingrassia fortunately exited the car conscious and without needing assistance, but were still taken to the hospital for checks. Consequently, when the Rally of Finland seemed to be in their hands, Pajari jumped to the top of the standings, having set the third-best time in the last special stage behind Solberg and Evans, who thanks to the performance rose to third place overall.

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Rally of Finland 2026, standings after SS18 (Top-10)