WRC Rally Estonia: Sami Pajari undefeated lead after opening day
17th July 2026Toyota’s Sami Pajari has dominated the opening day of the World Rally Championship’s Rally Estonia, winning all of Friday’s stages.
Feature image credit: Jaanus Ree // Red Bull Content Pool
Toyota’s Finnish driver, Pajari, has taken the overnight lead of Rally Estonia on day one of three. The Finnish driver was the joint fastest in shakedown, starting the day off in strong form before continuing it for the actual event, taking back-to-back stage wins in the first three stages.
However, this form did not slow down as the afternoon wore on, with Pajari continuing to rack up stage wins, completing the day with an unbeaten run of seven stage wins.
It means the Toyota driver takes the overnight lead, a 14.7-second lead over Estonia’s most recent rally winner, and Pajari’s teammate, Oliver Solberg.
Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux rounded out the top three positions after the opening day, trailing Pajari by 16.5 seconds, whilst remaining 7.5 seconds ahead of his teammate, Theirru Neuville.
M-Sport Ford’s Martins Sesks will have a night of what-ifs as the Latvian finishes the day down in sixth, having picked up a 20-second penalty for leaving service two minutes late. Without it, he could’ve been running fifth, 0.7 seconds off the back of Neuville.
However, with his penalty, he remains sixth behind Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier but ahead of Hyundai’s Esapekka Lappi, who returns to the fold for this event, in seventh. Sesks finds himself now 44.7 seconds off the pace.
His penalty came after the Latvian ran off the road during shakedown this morning, damaging his car and prompting a rush of repairs from his mechanics.
Having opened the road, due to his championship-leading position, Toyota’s Elfyn Evans finished the day in ninth. Whilst his closest championship contender, Takamoto Katsuta, became the first retirement of the rally on the road section before SS7. Katsuta will be left to clean the road on Saturday
Day 1 results:
- Sami Pajari, Toyota – 49m 43.5s
- Oliver Solberg, Toyota +14.7s
- Adrien Fourmaux, Hyundai +16.5s
- Thierry Neuville, Hyundai +24s
- Sebastien Ogier, Toyota +33.3s
- Martins Sesks, M-Sport Ford +44.7s
- Esapekka Lappi, Hyundai +46.5s
- Joshua McErlean, M-Sport Ford +46.6s
- Elfyn Evans, Toyota +49.8s
- Jon Armstrong, M-Sport Ford +1m 4.3s
Read more WRC here:
- Drivers awarded speeding fines ahead of Rally Estonia
- Solberg looking forward to returning to Rally Estonia after first WRC win
- 2026 Rally Estonia: Full WRC stage guide and times
- Rally Estonia: latest weather forecast ahead of WRC event
- Entry List: All Rally1 contenders for Rally Estonia
- Elfyn Evans disappointed with Acropolis Rally Greece result
- Sebastien Ogier wins Acropolis Rally Greece as Neuville suffers puncture
- Neuville remains leader of Acropolis Rally Greece as the fight tightens
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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.
