Elfyn Evans fended off a determined charge from Toyota GAZOO Racing team-mate Takamoto Katsuta on Sunday to secure victory at Rally Sweden and move into the FIA World Rally Championship lead.
After four days of intense action on Umeå’s frozen stages, Evans delivered when it mattered most – shutting the door on Katsuta in a dramatic final-day shootout to claim his 10th career WRC win by 3.8sec, the smallest winning margin in Rally Sweden history.
Starting Sunday with a razor-thin 3.0sec advantage, the Welshman briefly lost the lead as Katsuta came out firing, producing a 7.5sec stage win on Västervik’s opening run. But Evans and co-driver Scott Martin were quick to respond.
“It’s been an amazing weekend. We led for a lot of the rally but the margins were always tight and it was never really comfortable,” said Evans. “This morning I got caught napping a bit in the first stage by Taka, who really made me fight for it, and thankfully we managed to turn it around and unlock good pace on the next stage. I’m very happy with the end result and to have won the Power Stage as well. It’s been a very good start to the season for us and we couldn’t really have dreamed of much better.”
They fought back in style on the repeated run that followed, setting the benchmark time to reclaim control by 3.7sec before hammering home their advantage with a commanding drive through the rally-ending Wolf Power Stage – sealing victory as Katsuta held off Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville, who finished 11.9sec back from the top spot in third.
The result moved Evans to the top of the FIA World Rally Championship standings with a lead of 28 points after two of 14 rounds, building on his runner-up finish at the season-opening Rallye Monte-Carlo last month.
Katsuta and his co-driver Aaron Johnston drove a superb rally in contention for a first WRC victory. “It’s been a really nice fight with Elfyn and with the Hyundai drivers not far behind us as well. It’s been a really intense battle for the whole rally and there was some pressure throughout but I enjoyed it a lot,” said Katsuta. “At the end, I’m happy to have done a good job for the team, to bring the car to the finish and score some good points. Well done to the team for this result and hats off to Elfyn, who did an amazing drive on the penultimate stage. Next time I will be ready to push more to try and take that victory.”
Neuville, the reigning champion, had to work hard to secure the final podium spot, fending off resurgent team-mate Ott Tänak by just 4.9sec. Tänak, hindered by an engine mapping issue on his i20 N Rally1 on Saturday, was back to form for Super Sunday and third only to Evans and Katsuta in outright pace across the final day.
Two-time WRC champion Kalle Rovanperä endured a frustrating weekend, struggling to find his usual rhythm. The Toyota star claimed just one stage win across the rally’s 18 tests and ultimately trailed Tänak by 16.0sec as he settled for fifth place.
Mārtiņš Sesks delivered a solid performance on his WRC return, securing sixth place as M-Sport Ford’s top finisher. The Latvian ended the rally 17.6sec ahead of Toyota’s Sami Pajari, while Josh McErlean – who had been running eighth – slid down the order after getting his Puma Rally1 stuck in a snowbank on the first stage of the day.
Grégoire Munster inherited eighth from team-mate McErlean as WRC2 frontrunners Oliver Solberg and Roope Korhonen completed the top 10.
Toyota Team Principal Jari-Matti Latvala was delighted with his team’s performance. “This has been an incredibly close Rally Sweden and it’s been a nerve-wracking final day for us, watching two of our drivers fighting for the win. I’m really proud of both Elfyn and Takamoto for the way that they fought, and for how strong they have been mentally,” he said. “There were only a few seconds between the top drivers for the whole rally, and to fight like this for three days is remarkable. For our team to have scored the maximum 120 points from the first two rallies, we literally cannot have asked for a better start to the season and we are looking forward to Safari Rally Kenya.”
Following its 95th WRC win, Toyota has moved into second place in the all-time list of most successful manufacturers in the series. With two one-two finishes and maximum points from the first two rounds, TGR-WRT leads the manufacturers’ standings by 48 points.
The FIA World Rally Championship heads to Africa next for the legendary Safari Rally Kenya, round three of the season, from 20 – 23 March.
2025 Rally Sweden Results
- E Evans / S Martin GBR Toyota GR Yaris 2h 33m 39.2s
- T Katsuta / A Johnston JPN Toyota GR Yaris +3.8s
- T Neuville / M Wydaeghe BEL Hyundai i20 N +11.9s
- O Tänak / M Järveoja EST Hyundai i20 N +16.8s
- K Rovanperä / J Halttunen FIN Toyota GR Yaris +32.8s
- M Sesks / R Francis LVA Ford Puma +2m 9.4s
Drivers’ Championship Standings (After Round 2 of 14)
- E Evans 61pts
- S Ogier 33pts
- K Rovanperä 31pts
Manufacturers’ Championship Standings (After Round 2 of 14)
- Toyota GAZOO Racing WRT 120pts
- Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT 72pts
- M-Sport Ford WRT 25pts
