Elfyn Evans wins the Arctic Lapland Rally

All eyes were already on the second round of the 2026 World Rally Championship last weekend. In Finland, for the Arctic Lapland Rally, several key players from the WRC They had arranged to meet there and were taking advantage of the opportunity to conduct a full-scale test session. The sole representative of the Rally1 drivers in the World Rally Championship, Elfyn Evans, accompanied by his trusted navigator Scott Martin, emerged victorious in their Toyota GR Yaris Rally1. Unsurprisingly, given they had the best car on the grid, they crossed the finish line nearly 4 minutes ahead of their runners-up Esapekka Lappi and Emmi Mälkönen, who were competing in Rally2 in a Škoda Fabia RS and also scoring points in the Finnish Championship, of which they are the reigning champions and were already leading the standings after winning the first round in January.

A great field of Rally2 competitors at the Arctic Lapland Rally

Like Lappi, other drivers will begin their international campaigns in Sweden and were present in Finland for this major dress rehearsal. Tukka Kauppinen completed the podium in a Toyota GR Yaris Rally2, the same car with which he will start the second round of the 2026 World Championship on February 12th. Several prestigious names also finished just behind them: Lauri Joona finished 4th, Mikko Heikkilä 5th, and Roope Korhonen 6th, the 2023 WRC3 World Champion having been caught out early in the stage. rally stuck in a snowbank and having lost considerable time that he struggled to recover. To this list of future contenders for the WRC2 world title will be added, in Sweden, Teemu Suninen, making his grand return to the international stage, the Australian Taylor Gill, and the Swede Mille Johansson in a Fiesta Rally2 entered by M-SportAbsent in Sweden, current championship leader Léo Rossel will therefore have to count the points from his sofa.

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