Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin win the Rally Sweden

The duo of Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 #33 came very close to achieving the perfect weekend near Umeå. Winner of the rally and in Super Sunday, Elfyn Evans lost by only seven hundredths of a second to Thierry Neuville, who wins the Power Stage and therefore deprives the Welshman of an impressive 35 points out of a possible 35.

After taking the lead in the rally on Saturday from his teammate Takamoto Katsuta, Evans maintained a solid pace on Sunday, finishing 14,3 seconds ahead of the Japanese driver, an advantage that increased by a full second compared to Saturday evening. Katsuta will have regrets about his Saturday, where a lack of grip in the morning cost him valuable seconds. At the rally's finish, the 32-year-old driver didn't mince words when it came to the tire manufacturer. WRC.

« I'm really unhappy; these things can't happen at this level, in the World Championship. We were simply unlucky with our tires. Hankook is working on it, and I hope it will be better next time. he indicated, implying that he and his co-driver Aaron Johnston were victims of a "bad tire" issue early Saturday morning.

Championship leader heading into his home round, Oliver Solberg had to settle for fourth place behind Sami Pajari. The Swede paid the price for a messy Friday, where he was opening the road and made several mistakes. However, he limited the damage compared to Evans, who leaves Umeå leading the championship.

While Toyota is laughing at the end of this rally, it's more like a sour face for... HyundaiThe Korean brand was never in the game, and Adrien fourmaux is the manufacturer's first representative, fifth, 38,7 seconds behind Solberg. Esapekka Lappi secured a solid sixth place in his first rally of the year, ahead of Thierry Neuville, who bounced back with the five points from the Power Stage.

In WRC2, the Finns unsurprisingly dominated the rally, with Roope Korhonen securing his second victory in the category, ahead of Teemu Suninen, who returned from a long absence. He hadn't driven since the 2024 Rally Finland. Lauri Joona finished third, completing an all-Finnish podium.

The WRC now sets its sights on the Rally Kenya, from March 12th to 15th, the first gravel rally of the season!

WRC – Rally Sweden
The Power Stage ranking

WRC – Rally Sweden
The general classification

WRC – Rally Sweden
Super Sunday standings

ALSO READ > Relive the Power Stage of the Swedish Rally with live text commentary