Top 4 of Arctic Lapland Rally are separated by mere 20 seconds as Elfyn Evans makes the fans rejoice with his Rally1 Toyota
The second event of the Finnish Rally Championship, Arctic Lapland Rally, began on Friday. The harsh conditions did not halter Elfyn Evans, who pushed his Rally1 Yaris through the arctic forest much to the rejoice of the fans. In FRC1, Esapekka Lappi leads with top 4 within just 20 seconds.
Opening the route was Elfyn Evans with the Toyota Gazoo Racing Rally1 Yaris. The Englishman was the fastest car on the stages as expected, and to the delight of the fans. Evans is competing in Class 7 however, making him ineligible for the overall win.
FRC1 under Lappi’s command – Top 4 within 20 seconds
The battle for the overall win began on the traditional Aittajärvi special stage. The margins were small as expected, with the first mistake happening to Roope Korhonen, who slid wide on SS2 hitting a gate post and getting stuck momentarily in the snow losing about 45 seconds.
As the day progressed, the Top 4 created a gap. Esapekka Lappi, Lauri Joona, Mikko Heikkilä, and Tuukka Kauppinen were in a league of their own. On the penultimate stage of the day Lappi attacked and forced the gap to Joona up to 12,7 seconds. Joona responded at the short super special stage of Mäntyvaara by cutting 2 seconds of Lappi’s margin ensuring a Skoda 1-2. Heikkilä, who spent most of his day slightly trailing the lead duo in third, had significant issues with his extra high beams. The flickering lights on the last two stages meant that Kauppinen got past Heikkilä up to third whilst being the fastest Toyota Rally2 driver. The fight at the top end of the timing sheets was tight, with the top four drivers all within just 20 seconds.
-I’m quite happy overall, and there are no problems with the car. I could push a bit though, in this event and for the next one too. Let’s see how the feeling is tomorrow, Lappi said after the day.
-The feeling in the cabin is good, and the stopwatch liked it too. It’s a flat-out day tomorrow, Joona said at the SS6 finish.
-We had some unexpected events today, but overall, it was quite an okay day. The drive was getting better and we are cleanly through. We’re in a good position to increase the pace, which we have the reserve to do so, Kauppinen said after Mäntyvaara.
-The lights were flickering all the time in the last two stages. I’m not a lights expert, but it sure is annoying when you can’t see properly. I have to find some more pace, but there’s still a long way to go, Heikkilä said at the finish interview.
-We got a good rhythm for the afternoon. We didn’t plan for the stuff that happened on SS2 and it’s slightly annoying, Korhonen summed up at the finish.
Behind the winning battle, Aittajärvi 2 proved to be the decisive stage. Anssi Rytkönen, who had been driving an uplifting event, ended his rally in the snowbanks. Close calls were also seen by Estonia’s Patrick Enok and Japan’s Takumi Matsushita, both being able to continue. Korhonen was the beneficiary, as the Rautio Motorsport driver elevated himself up to fifth by the end of the day, followed by the best non-Finnish driver, Estonia’s Jaspar Vaher on his competitive Arctic Lapland Rally debut.
Ogata in control of FRC2 with Hirvonen holding a steady lead in FRC3
FRC2 category witnessed a battle between the Japanese Toyota WRC Challenge Program candidates. Rio Ogata and Kanta Yanaguida exchanged the lead several times until Yanaguida dropped down to fourth due to technical issues. Ogata held the lead to the evening service, followed by Jarkko Nikara and Pekka Keski-Korsu.
In the FRC3 category, Roope Hirvonen found himself with a lead of over 4 minutes come the end of the day. Hirvonen’s closest rivals, the points leader Vili Hakala and Lauri Halonen, both found the unforgiving snowbanks of the Arctic Lapland Rally with the former suffering technical issues throughout Friday. Hakala managed to continue, Halonen retired from Friday.
Friday belonged to Holopainen in FRC4
In the FRC4 category, Aaron Holopainen took the early lead on SS1 and did not look back. Holopainen’s closest rival, Matias Nevalainen, is 12 seconds behind the 17-year-old. In the FRC5 category, experience shined as Jarkko Nikara controlled the category in his Toyota GR Yaris.
The action continues on Saturday, 31st of January, starting at 9:13 local time with SS7 – Veittivaara. Saturday contains two possibly decisive stages, SS9 – Murtotunturi and SS12 – Sarriojärvi, along four others totaling 121,75 special stage kilometers. The rally ends at the Lordi Square in Rovaniemi at 18:13. The rally is livestreamed via Flyingfinn.tv streaming service.
Results SS6/12: 61. Arctic Lapland Rally
Overall
1. Elfyn Evans (GBR) 48:08,5
2. Esapekka Lappi +1:47,5
3. Lauri Joona +1:58,2
4. Tuukka Kauppinen +2:04,6
5. Mikko Heikkilä +2:06,7
FRC1
1. Esapekka Lappi 49:56,0
2. Lauri Joona +10,7
3. Tuukka Kauppinen +17,1
4. Mikko Heikkilä +19,2
5. Roope Korhonen +43,9
FRC2
1. Rio Ogata (JPN) 53:54,5
2. Jarkko Nikara +45,1
3. Pekka Keski-Korsu +1:19,8
4. Kanta Yanaguida (JPN) +1:27,0
5. Tuomas Skantz +3:46,1
FRC3
1. Roope Hirvonen 57:55,7
2. Tuomas Huikuri +4:31,0
3. Jesse Laukkanen +13:30,8
FRC4
1. Aaron Holopainen 1:01:53,2
2. Matias Nevalainen +12,0
3. Miska Tuomisto +53,7
4. Rasmus Pentti +1:59,3
5. Asseri Lindroos +4:25,5
FRC5
1. Jarkko Hosike 1:01:56,1
2. Yrjö Martti +1:27,2
Itinerary
Saturday 31.1.2026
09:13 SS7 Veittivaara / Lapland Safaris (27,94 km)
10:46 SS8 Jyrhämäjärvi (22,34 km)
12:49 SS9 Murtotunturi / Taiga LKV (24,01 km)
14:07 SS10 Hanhikoski / Santa's Hotels (14,87 km)
15:30 SS11 Kemijärvi / Q-Factory (2,27 km)
15:58 SS12 Sarriojärvi / CapitalBox (31,67) km
17:48 FINISH Koskikatu
18:18 PODIUM Lordi Square
Photo: Taneli Niinimäki / AKK
