Elfyn Evans tops opening day of Rally Japan ahead of Oliver Solberg
29th May 2026Toyota’s championship leader, Elfyn Evans heads off the first day of the World Rally Championship’s Rally Japan ahead of Oliver Solberg and Sebastien Ogier.
Feature image credit: Jaanus Ree // Red Bull Content Pool
After the opening six stages of Rally Japan, the Welshman is the rally leader as he heads a provisional Toyota 1-2-3-4 after the first full day of the event. Solberg and Ogier trailed behind, in second and third, respectively, following the #33 Toyota by a minimum of 15.7 seconds.
For the most part of the day, Solberg and Evans traded stage wins, with the latter taking the edge after SS6 with three stage wins to his name, whilst two were secured by Solberg.
It left Toyota’s fourth-placed driver Sami Pajari to round out the day with his first stage victory of the event on SS6.
Takamoto Katsuta claimed Friday as ‘one of the worst days’ he’s had in his career so far. The home hero has endured a troublesome first day on home soil, gaining a puncture on SS1 and going off-road on SS3.
The Japanese driver found himself down in sixth, one minute and three seconds off the lead.
Thierry Neuville currently sits as the leading Hyundai between Pajari and Katsuta, in fifth, whilst teammates Adrien Fourmaux and Hayden Paddon finished seventh and eighth.
This left Jon Armstrong as the final Rally1 driver, driving for the M-Sport Ford squad, in ninth, ahead of WRC2 driver, Alejandro Cachon, who was 10th overall.
Armstrong’s teammate, Joshua McErlean, found himself in 15th place overall after losing time to change a puncture, over two minutes away from Armstrong, but five minutes off the lead.
Who finished where on the first day of Rally Japan?
- Elfyn Evans
- Oliver Solberg, Toyota +15.7s
- Sebastien Ogier, Toyota +17.1s
- Sami Pajari, Toyota +41.5s
- Thierry Neuville, Hyundai +58.2s
- Takamoto Katsuta, Toyota +1m 3.8s
- Adrien Fourmaux, Hyundai +1m 16.3s
- Hayden Paddon, Hyundai +2m 17s
- Jon Armstrong, M-Sport Ford +2m 40.9s
- Alejandro Cachon, WRC2 +3m 26.6s
Outside the top 10
McErlean, 15th, behind by 5 minutes 3.3 seconds.
Read more WRC here:
- Takamoto Katsuta looking forward to different Rally Japan conditions
- Thierry Neuville expecting ‘difficult’ weekend in Rally Japan after securing first 2026 win
- Ogier lays down the gauntlet in Rally Japan shakedown
- Sebastien Ogier fastest first pass in WRC Rally Japan Shakedown
- Rally Japan 2026: Full WRC weekend weather forecast
- WRC 2026 Rally Japan: The full WRC stage guide and times
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
