Evans wins in Sweden and takes the lead in WRC 2025

Elfyn Evans won the 2025 Rally Sweden after an intense battle with Takamoto Katsuta. The victory allows the Toyota driver to take the lead in the World Rally Championship (WRC) and claim his tenth win in the series.

Evans leads a perfect weekend for Toyota

The 2025 Rally Sweden offered a close fight from the first stage to the final day on the icy roads of Umeå. Evans started Sunday with just a 3-second lead over Katsuta, who temporarily took the lead after winning the first pass through the Västervik stage. However, the Welshman quickly responded in the second pass, regaining the advantage by 3.7 seconds before sealing the victory in the Wolf Power Stage, securing the extra points awarded in the final special stage.

Katsuta finished second, securing a 1-2 finish for Toyota, while Thierry Neuville completed the podium for Hyundai after holding off his teammate Ott Tänak in the final stretch.

Neuville and Tänak fight for the podium

Thierry Neuville held on to third place with consistent driving, finishing 4.9 seconds ahead of Tänak. The Estonian delivered his best performance on Sunday after struggling with technical issues on Saturday that prevented him from fighting for higher positions.

Meanwhile, Kalle Rovanperä could not get into the podium battle. The two-time world champion struggled to find pace and settled for fifth, 16 seconds behind Tänak, with only one stage win throughout the rally.

Sesks leads the M-Sport group

Martins Sesks was the top driver for M-Sport Ford, finishing sixth overall. He was followed by Sami Pajari, who recovered from a puncture on Friday to finish seventh. Josh McErlean, who had been eighth until Sunday, dropped out of the fight after getting stuck in a snowbank, allowing Grégoire Munster to inherit that position.

In the WRC2 category, Oliver Solberg and Roope Korhonen completed the top 10 with solid performances throughout the event.

The next round of the championship will be the 2025 Safari Rally Kenya, from March 20 to 23, a historic and demanding event that will test the championship leaders.