WRC
Preview: Secto Rally Finland 2026
Sébastien Ogier will reunite with eight-time title-winning co-driver Julien Ingrassia at Secto Rally Finland this week, adding another compelling storyline to the WRC’s fastest round.
Ingrassia answered a late call to replace Ogier’s regular partner Vincent Landais, who will miss this week’s Jyväskylä-based event due to personal reasons.
The French pair last competed together at FORUM8 ACI Rally Monza in November 2021, where victory secured their eighth world championship. Across a partnership spanning more than a decade, Ogier and Ingrassia claimed 54 WRC wins with four different manufacturers.
Their unexpected reunion comes at a critical point in the title race. Ogier lies fourth in the standings, 38 points behind Toyota Gazoo Racing team-mate Elfyn Evans, with five rallies remaining. The nine-time champion has won twice in Finland, triumphing alongside Ingrassia in 2013 before adding a second victory in 2024.
“I’m sorry that Vincent cannot be with us for Rally Finland due to personal reasons,” Ogier said. “Of course, we still want to push for the best result possible for us and for the team, so I’m pleased that my friend Julien accepted the call to sit next to me one more time.”
Ingrassia, who had originally been due to attend the rally as a Rally.TV pundit, added: “It is a great honour to get back in the car for this one rally to help Séb, Vincent and the team. It will be a big challenge but I’m looking forward to it.”
Their return headlines a remarkable Toyota line-up which currently occupies the top five positions in the drivers’ standings. All five of the manufacturer’s Rally1 drivers have won this season, with Sami Pajari becoming the latest to join the winners’ circle following a commanding breakthrough success at Delfi Rally Estonia.
Pajari arrives at his home event third in the championship, 33 points behind Evans, having won 12 of Estonia’s 18 stages. Victory this week would produce the 200th WRC win for a Finnish driver and continue Toyota’s extraordinary recent record on its home roads.
The Jyväskylä-based squad has won seven of the eight Rally Finland editions it has contested since returning to the WRC in 2017
Evans leads Takamoto Katsuta by 25 points but must again contend with opening the road on Friday. No driver starting first has won in Finland since Sébastien Loeb in 2011, although Evans has twice conquered the event, in 2021 and 2023.
“Rally Finland is one of my favourite events on the calendar,” Evans said. “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.
“I’m looking forward to it as always and hoping for some conditions that are more in our favour and enable us to be in the fight from the start of the weekend.”
Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team carries renewed confidence after Adrien Fourmaux and Thierry Neuville finished third and fourth respectively in Estonia. Both have previously stood on the Finland podium, while Esapekka Lappi returns to the scene of his maiden WRC victory in 2017. Starting sixth, seventh and eighth should also offer the i20 N Rally1 crews an advantage should the roads remain dry.
M-Sport Ford fields Jon Armstrong, Josh McErlean and Mārtiņš Sesks. Sesks and Armstrong finished seventh and ninth respectively in Estonia, while McErlean returns to an event where he placed seventh on his Rally1 debut last season.
The 75th running of Secto Rally Finland comprises 20 stages and 316.04 competitive kilometres. More than half of the route has changed from 2025, including the new Sydänmaa and Hoho tests on Friday and two passes of the 30.02km Himos-Jämsä stage forming Sunday’s decisive finale.
