Evans Leads Toyota Domination After SS2 in Sweden 2026

WRC, Sportrik Media – Elfyn Evans moved into the overall lead of Rally Sweden 2026 after setting the benchmark time on SS2 Bygdsiljum 1, spearheading a dominant display from Toyota Gazoo Racing.

Evans topped the 27.55-kilometre stage to take control of the rally, beating team-mate Takamoto Katsuta by 5.9 seconds. Sami Pajari was a further second behind the Welshman. Toyota looked set for a clean top-four sweep, but Oliver Solberg lost time after stalling his car at a corner.

Solberg dropped approximately five seconds due to the stall and finished 9.4 seconds off Evans’ stage-winning pace. The incident relegated him to second overall despite arriving into Friday as rally leader. He admitted loose snow in the racing line made it difficult to commit fully.

“There was loose snow everywhere on the line and I didn’t have the confidence to take too many risks. We lost about five seconds when the engine stalled, but I don’t know what happened,” Solberg explained.

Toyota now holds the top four positions overall, with Katsuta third and Pajari fourth. Thierry Neuville is the leading Hyundai Motorsport driver in fifth, followed by returning Rally1 competitor Esapekka Lappi. Lappi acknowledged he was unable to push harder without taking excessive risks.

“I did what I could with my current pace. I couldn’t push any more because the risk was too high,” Lappi said.

For M-Sport Ford, Martins Sesks endured a costly start to the day after suffering two punctures on the opening stage, one reportedly occurring on a straight. In WRC2, Roope Korhonen moved into the class lead ahead of Lauri Joona and Teemu Suninen, while Mikko Heikkila went off and became stuck in a snowbank.

Friday remains the longest day of the rally with six further stages and 124.88 competitive kilometres still to run, ensuring that the overall picture at Rally Sweden 2026 remains far from settled.