Sami Pajari won all seven Friday stages at the Rally Estonia and went to bed with a 14.7‑second lead over Oliver Solberg, the winner of this same event one year ago. The Finn had already warned beforehand that this rally and Finland are his two favourites on the calendar. "I enjoy the adrenaline and the high speed. Maybe I don't have many brain cells left, but I like it," he said before the start. On the gravel of Tartu, with his GR Yaris Rally1 working without fault, he turned that confidence into a clean sweep of stage wins — something no driver had achieved on an opening day since Kalle Rovanperä in the Canary Islands. This year's edition, which packs 301.80 timed kilometres into just 48 hours without the traditional Thursday start, compresses the action and leaves less room to correct mistakes. Anyone who loses the rhythm on Friday arrives on Saturday with the rope around their neck, and Pajari did precisely the opposite.

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Just 1.8 seconds separated Solberg from Adrien Fourmaux, who had the most consistent performance among the Hyundai drivers. The Swede, who won here in 2025, admitted that the day had been difficult and that the performance fell short of his expectations. Fourmaux had a scare on the second stage when a jump lodged grass in the front of his i20 N Rally1, but the incident had no consequences, and from there he strung together several top‑three times. Thierry Neuville, the 2024 champion, complained about the car's balance and finished fourth, 7.5 seconds behind his teammate. Sébastien Ogier, who had not driven the Estonian stages since 2021 and came off a win in Greece, finished fifth, 33.3 seconds behind Pajari.

Takamoto Katsuta's 100th WRC rally lasted six stages. A puncture on the left‑front wheel on the sixth stage cost him nearly a minute, and he withdrew before the seventh stage. The Japanese driver, who is second in the standings, eleven points behind Elfyn Evans, will have to open the road on Saturday on the rally's longest day, with nine stages and 149.60 timed kilometres. Mārtiņš Sesks, in the M‑Sport Ford Puma Rally1, left service two minutes late and received a 20‑second penalty, but still finished sixth. Esapekka Lappi, in his first rally since the Safari Rally Kenya in March, ran as high as ninth and climbed up the order with setup adjustments that allowed him to pass Josh McErlean and the championship leader on the sixth stage.

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Evans, who opened the road as the overall championship leader, had beaten Lappi on the fifth stage by six tenths but gave the position back on the next stage and finished ninth, 49.8 seconds behind Pajari. The Welshman arrived in Estonia with only an eleven‑point lead over Katsuta, after an Acropolis where keeping the lead was already a valuable result. Now he faces a second day on a rally that gives no respite: nine stages on Saturday, starting at 09:56 local time with Peipsiääre, that will test whether Pajari can sustain a pace that on Friday bordered on perfection. "I'll do my best. It's still a super long rally," he said before the break.

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WRC Overall (Friday) - Rally Estonia 2026

POS	#	driver/COdriver	team	brand	car	time
1	5	Sami PAJARI Marko SALMINEN	Toyota Gazoo Racing Wrt2	Toyota	Gr Yaris Rally1	49:43.5
2	99	Oliver SOLBERG Elliott EDMONDSON	Toyota Gazoo Racing Wrt	Toyota	Gr Yaris Rally1	+ 14.7
3	16	Adrien FOURMAUX Alexandre CORIA	Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team	Hyundai	I20 N Rally1	+ 16.5
4	11	Thierry NEUVILLE Martijn WYDAEGHE	Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team	Hyundai	I20 N Rally1	+ 24.0
5	1	Sébastien OGIER Vincent LANDAIS	Toyota Gazoo Racing Wrt	Toyota	Gr Yaris Rally1	+ 33.3
6	22	Mārtinš SESKS Renārs FRANCIS	M-sport Ford World Rally Team	Ford	Puma Rally1	+ 44.7
7	4	Esapekka LAPPI Enni MÄLKÖNEN	Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team	Hyundai	I20 N Rally1	+ 46.5
8	55	Joshua MCERLEAN Eoin TREACY	M-sport Ford World Rally Team	Ford	Puma Rally1	+ 46.6
9	33	Elfyn EVANS Scott MARTIN	Toyota Gazoo Racing Wrt	Toyota	Gr Yaris Rally1	+ 49.8
10	95	Jon ARMSTRONG Shane BYRNE	M-sport Ford World Rally Team	Ford	Puma Rally1	+ 1:04.3
11	18	Takamoto KATSUTA Aaron JOHNSTON	Toyota Gazoo Racing Wrt	Toyota	Gr Yaris Rally1	+ 11:32.5
12	23	Robert VIRVES Jakko VIILO	Toksport Wrt	Skoda	Fabia Rs	+ 2:44.8
13	21	Teemu SUNINEN Janni HUSSI	Teemu Suninen	Toyota	Gr Yaris	+ 2:47.3
14	20	Roope KORHONEN Anssi VIINIKKA	Rautio Motorsport	Toyota	Gr Yaris	+ 2:49.8
15	36	Jaspar VAHER Rait JANSEN	Toyota Gazoo Racing Wrt Ng	Toyota	Gr Yaris	+ 2:52.2
16	25	Emil LINDHOLM Gabriel MORALES	Toksport Wrt	Skoda	Fabia Rs	+ 2:52.6
17	37	Mikko HEIKKILÄ Kristian TEMONEN	Mikko Heikkilä	Skoda	Fabia Rs	+ 2:55.1
18	38	Patrick ENOK Silver SIMM	Printsport	Skoda	Fabia Rs	+ 2:58.1
19	42	Tuukka KAUPPINEN Sebastian VIRTANEN	Rautio Motorsport	Toyota	Gr Yaris	+ 2:59.6
20	35	Romet JÜRGENSON Siim OJA	M-sport Ford World Rally Team	Ford	Fiesta Mk Ii	+ 3:10.5
21	31	Mille JOHANSSON Johan GRÖNVALL	Mille Johansson	Skoda	Fabia Rs	+ 3:12.1
22	41	Joosep Ralf NÕGENE Aleks LESK	Joosep Ralf Nõgene	Toyota	Gr Yaris	+ 3:14.1
23	28	Lauri JOONA Antti LINNAKETO	Lauri Joona	Skoda	Fabia Rs	+ 3:18.1
24	40	Karl Martin VOLVER Annika SÕNA	Karl Martin Volver	Toyota	Gr Yaris	+ 3:19.2
25	24	Fau ZALDIVAR Marcelo DER OHANNESIAN	Fau Zaldivar	Skoda	Fabia Rs	+ 3:19.8
26	29	Yuki YAMAMOTO James FULTON	Printsport	Toyota	Gr Yaris	+ 3:29.4
27	26	Gus GREENSMITH Jonas ANDERSSON	Gus Greensmith	Toyota	Gr Yaris	+ 3:37.8
28	32	Giovanni TRENTIN Pietro Elia OMETTO	Mt Racing Srl	Skoda	Fabia Rs	+ 4:06.6
29	43	Takumi MATSUSHITA Pekka KELANDER	Toyota Gazoo Racing Wrt Ng	Toyota	Gr Yaris	+ 4:10.1
30	44	Shotaro GOTO Jussi LINDBERG	Toyota Gazoo Racing Wrt Ng	Toyota	Gr Yaris	+ 4:26.8
31	59	Urmo AAVA Silver KÜTT	Redgrey	Toyota	Gr Yaris	+ 4:35.1
32	30	Arthur PELAMOURGUES Bastien POUGET	Arthur Pelamourgues	Hyundai	I20 N	+ 5:29.9
33	46	Ugur SOYLU Mehmet YALÇIN	Gp Garage My Team	Skoda	Fabia Rs	+ 9:46.5
34	45	Johannes KEFERBÖCK Ilka MINOR	Johannes Keferböck	Toyota	Gr Yaris	+ 10:58.2
35	61	Luca HOELBLING Federico FIORINI	Luca Hoelbling	Skoda	Fabia Rs	+ 11:01.6
36	34	Bernhard TEN BRINKE Tom WOODBURN	Bernhard Ten Brinke	Toyota	Gr Yaris	+ 19:05.5
37	27	Jan SOLANS Rodrigo SANJUAN	Ph.ph	Skoda	Fabia Rs	+ 52:49.5
38	50	Tymek ABRAMOWSKI Jakub WRÓBEL	Tymek Abramowski	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	+ 6:29.4
39	54	Jarkko NIKARA Tomiya MAEKAWA	Toyota Gazoo Racing Wrt Ng	Renault	Clio Rally3	+ 7:07.6
40	49	Kanta YANAGUIDA Juho KOSKI-LAMMI	Toyota Gazoo Racing Wrt Ng	Renault	Clio Rally3	+ 7:12.6
41	57	Nicolas OTTO Hugo MAGALHÃES	Nicolas Otto	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	+ 9:22.6
42	62	Esmar-Arnold UNT Arro VAHTRA	Esmar-arnold Unt	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	+ 9:23.3
43	53	Kerem KAZAZ Corentin SILVESTRE	Team Petrol Ofisi	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	+ 10:59.8
44	58	André MARTÍNEZ Matias ARANGUREN	André Martínez	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	+ 12:25.3
45	60	Isak HATANMAA Ditte KAMMERSGAARD	Isak Hatanmaa	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	+ 15:31.1
46	63	Mika KARPPANEN Kati PERELÄINEN	Mika Karppanen	Renault	Clio Rally3	+ 24:01.2
47	51	Nataniel BRUUN Pablo OLMOS	Nataniel Bruun	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	+ 52:17.3
48	64	Travis PÄRS Allar HEINA	Allar Heina	Peugeot	208 Rally4	+ 13:31.5