The World Rally Championship returns to its spiritual home on July 30 for Rally Finland, and the pressure on Toyota Gazoo Racing has rarely been higher. Round 10 unfolds on the fast gravel roads around Jyvaskyla, where the team is based just three kilometres from the service park and has won seven of the eight editions it has contested — including a clean sweep of the top five positions a year ago.
That kind of dominance now cuts both ways. All five of Toyota's drivers have won a rally in 2026, and the quintet occupies the top five places in the drivers' standings, separated by just 47 points with five rounds remaining. Elfyn Evans leads the way, 25 points clear, and arrives as a two-time Finland winner from 2021 and 2023.
The freshest storyline belongs to Sami Pajari, who became the 17th Finn to win a WRC round when he led Rally Estonia from start to finish last week. The maiden victory lifted the 24-year-old to third in the championship, 33 points off the lead, and he has had little time to dwell on it.
"To win Rally Estonia was something really, really amazing, and a feeling that is still sinking in," Pajari said. "There was not much time to celebrate or relax, as two days after the rally we were already testing for Rally Finland."
He knows the expectation at home will be immense. "Rally Finland is of course one of those ones everyone wants to win and I think there will be quite many people around expecting us to win in there because we won one week ago in Estonia," he told DirtFish. "I know that it's not going to be easy but, at the same time, I have nothing to lose really. Of course, I will do my best once again. We saw that last week we can win these rallies."
Team principal Jari-Matti Latvala, who will again contest his home event in a Rally2 car, is relishing the depth at his disposal. "It's remarkable that all five of our drivers have now won rallies this season, and they all still have chances in the championship," Latvala said. "They're also all capable of winning Rally Finland, our team's home event, and I think we can expect a tight fight."
For Evans, the appeal of the event is simple. "Rally Finland is one of my favourite events on the calendar. It's an amazing sensation to drive these Rally1 cars on those roads, and in terms of pure driving thrills, nothing else beats it during the season," the Welshman said.
Nine-time world champion Sebastien Ogier, another two-time winner here, was more wary. "Finland is one of the homes of rallying and one of the most enjoyable rallies to drive. It's also one of the most challenging to win, especially against fast drivers from the north of Europe," he said. Takamoto Katsuta, second last year, called it "like a second home rally for me" after learning his craft in Jyvaskyla.
Hyundai intends to spoil the home party. Adrien Fourmaux and Alexandre Coria delivered the marque's 150th WRC podium in Estonia, and sporting director Andrew Wheatley believes the i20 N Rally1 can fight at the front again. "Despite the home advantage for Toyota, our performance in Estonia showed that we have the outright pace to challenge for the podium," Wheatley said. He warned the weather could be decisive: "If the stages are wet, it can give an advantage to the earlier cars on the road. On the high-speed stages, this can create a significant puncture risk, as many of the obstacles are blind."
The 75th anniversary edition runs 20 stages over 316.04 competitive kilometres, opening with the traditional Harju super special in central Jyvaskyla on Thursday evening before three days in the forests decide who leaves Finland with the championship lead.
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*Originally published on [Motorsports Global](https://motorsports.global/article/rally-finland-toyotas-big-five-chase-home-glory-hyundai-lurks). Visit for full coverage.*