SNOW MASTER EVANS LEADS 1-2-3-4 FINISH FOR TGR-WTR

On Sunday, February 15th, the final day of the 2026 FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) Round 2, Rally Sweden, Day 4, was held mainly in the northern Swedish city of Umeå, and the Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (GR YARIS Rally1 No. 33) of the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team (TGR-WRT), with whom ENDLESS is a brake parts supply partner, won. Takamoto Katsuta and Aaron Johnston (No.18) finished second, Sami Pajari and Marko Salminen (No.5), who are entered by TGR-WRT2, were third, and Oliver Solberg and Elliott Edmondson (car number 99) were fourth overall, giving TGR-WRT a 1-2-3-4 finish.

Day 4, the final day of Rally Sweden, consisted of three stages totaling 61.13km. The rally continued under clear skies on the final day, but the opening SS16 started just after 7:30am, with temperatures at around -22°C, making the final day a battle in extremely cold winter conditions.

Evans took the lead on Day 3 and recorded the best time on SS16. On this stage, TGR -WRT drivers dominated the top four with Katsuta 2nd, Solberg 3rd and Pajari 4th. In SS17, a repeat stage of SS16, Katsuta took the fastest time, Pajari 2nd, Evans 3^rd and Solberg 4th, giving the team another 1-2-3-4 time result.

Then, on the final Power Stage, SS18, Evans recorded the second fastest time, Katsuta third, Solberg fourth, and Pajari tenth.

There was no change in the overall rankings of the top four, with Evans maintaining his lead by 14.3 seconds over second-place Katsuta, achieving his first win of the season. Evans was second fastest on the Power Stage, just 0.1 seconds behind the leader, and also earned a bonus point for finishing first on Super Sunday, overtaking Solberg to take the lead in the Drivers’ Championship.

Katsuta, finished second overall as he did last year, moved up to third in the Drivers’ Championship with third in the Power Stage and second in Super Sunday. Although he missed out the first victory, it was Katsuta’s eighth career podium finish. Pajari finished third overall, his first time on the podium since last year’s Rally Japan, and his fourth finish in Super Sunday puts him in seventh in the drivers’ Championship. Solberg, who finished fourth overall, was fourth on the Power Stage and third on Super Sunday, dropping him to second in the Drivers’ Championship, 13 points behind Evans.

Following a 1-2-3 finish at last month’s Rallye Monte-Carlo, this is the first time that a manufacturer has filled the podium places on consecutive rounds of the WRC since Citroën did so in 2010. The feat was last achieved on the opening two events of a season when Audi did so in Monte Carlo and Sweden in 1984.

Endless brake parts provided stable performance even in Sweden’s extremely cold conditions, contributing to the team’s consecutive victories.

The next legendary Safari Rally Kenya – the only African round of the WRC – hosts round three on March 12-15. Since returning to the calendar in 2021, the event continues to provide gruelling conditions on rough and rocky roads as well as high speeds across open plains.

Please read the details on the team’s official web site:

https://toyotagazooracing.com/wrc/