WRC Finland 2026: Sebastien Ogier Wins SS5

Sebastien Ogier set another fastest time at WRC Finland 2026 by winning SS5 Hoho, strengthening his position at the top of the overall standings before the midday service.

Ogier beat Oliver Solberg by 0.9 seconds on the new 9.5-kilometre special stage. Adrien Fourmaux finished only 0.5 seconds behind Ogier and moved into second overall, while Sami Pajari slipped to third, eight seconds behind the leader.

“I pushed really hard and a couple of times I was right on the edge of the ditch. But you have to drive with quite a lot of risk on every stage here,” Ogier said.

Read AlsoWRC Finland 2026: Thierry Neuville Loses Victory Hopes

Pajari also produced strong pace and briefly held the best Toyota benchmark before Ogier went faster. “We tried to push, and a couple of times we were properly sideways. Even though it’s a short stage, this is probably one of the most demanding stages of the rally,” Pajari said.

Friday’s morning loop became increasingly difficult for Hyundai Motorsport. After Esapekka Lappi retired on SS4, Thierry Neuville ran wide on SS5 and struck a rock on the outside, damaging the front of his car.

Neuville managed to reach the finish but lost almost two minutes. “The pace note was too fast. There was a rock on the outside that we hit. I think we’ll still make it back to service,” he said.

Elfyn Evans also had a scare after running deep into a ditch in a slippery braking zone but escaped without hitting anything. Solberg, meanwhile, delivered one of his strongest runs despite reporting extremely low grip at the start of the stage.

WRC Finland 2026 continues on Friday afternoon with five more special stages, as Ogier leads Fourmaux and Pajari while Hyundai attempts to recover from a difficult morning loop.