Rovanperä wins Rally Finland and Toyota achieves historical 1-2-3-4-5

Kalle Rovanperä claimed his first home victory by winning Rally Finland 2025, leading a historic Toyota sweep that occupied the top five positions. The local driver set a new record as the fastest winner in WRC history, with an average speed of 129.95 km/h during the four-day competition in Jyväskylä.

The achievement by Toyota Gazoo Racing represents only the second time in World Rally Championship history that a manufacturer has taken the top five positions. The last occurrence was in 1990 when Lancia accomplished it at Rally Portugal, an event where Juha Kankkunen finished third as a driver and now serves as deputy team principal for the Japanese squad.

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Toyota had previously achieved top-four sweeps on two occasions, both at the Safari Rally Kenya (1993 and 2022), becoming the only manufacturer to accomplish such a result at the same event in different editions. The Finland result elevates this historic precedent to unprecedented levels.

Rovanperä ends eight-year wait

Finland waited eight years for a local winner at its home rally. Rovanperä took the lead from Friday's opening stage and maintained control throughout the weekend. The 24-year-old built a 36.1-second advantage that he managed to the finish, crossing the line 39.2 seconds ahead of teammate Takamoto Katsuta.

"It's an incredible feeling to win Rally Finland. It's been a long time, but with so much fan support every year, I'm super happy to win in front of them," Rovanperä declared. "This year everyone did crazy amounts of work to make it happen. Jonne and everyone on the team have been fantastic and we were pushing all weekend."

Saturday proved crucial when Hyundai's main contenders Thierry Neuville and Adrien Fourmaux suffered identical tire punctures that eliminated them from victory contention. This allowed Rovanperä to enter Sunday's finale with enough margin to manage his lead through two runs of the legendary Ouninpohja stage.

Tight championship battle

Elfyn Evans used his fourth place to reclaim the drivers' championship lead. The Welshman now has 176 points, just three more than Rovanperä who climbed to second with 173 points. Sébastien Ogier remains in contention with 163 points, tied with Ott Tänak in fourth.

"It's a really nice result for the team to have all five cars in the top five positions," Evans commented. "On my side I'm a bit disappointed with how the final day turned out. It was a spectacular format and we had a really good first pass through Ouninpohja. The Power Stage didn't go so brilliantly."

The final classification was decided by minimal margins between second and fourth positions. Katsuta held second by just 5.9 seconds over Ogier, who withstood Evans' pressure by only 3.0 seconds to complete the podium.

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Team statements

The result gains greater significance considering Toyota has its European base near Jyväskylä, where it specifically develops the GR Yaris Rally1 for fast, compact gravel roads with jumps and consistent rhythm - characteristics that perfectly define Rally Finland.

Akio Toyoda, TGR-WRT chairman, celebrated the historic result: "Congratulations to all crews for this 1-2-3-4-5 result! Including Jari-Matti's second place in WRC2 class, and the GR Yaris Rally2 victory, we could repay the people of our hometown Jyväskylä with this fantastic result."

Juha Kankkunen, deputy team principal, highlighted the rarity of the achievement: "This is an incredible result for us. The last time any team achieved this was 35 years ago, when I was competing and finished third. It was great to see Kalle back at his normal speed and able to win his home rally."

Sami Pajari completed the Japanese quintet in fifth place, scoring three stage wins in his best performance with a Rally1 car at his home event. "It's just unbelievable to be part of this result for Toyota," expressed the young Finnish driver.

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Next stop in South America

The WRC now moves to South America for the inaugural Rally Paraguay, scheduled for August 28-31 in Encarnación. It will be the first of two consecutive South American gravel events, followed by Rally Chile two weeks later.

With eight wins in nine rallies this season, Toyota Gazoo Racing extends its manufacturers' championship lead to 87 points over Hyundai Shell Mobis, consolidating its leadership position with five rounds remaining in the 2025 season.