Pajari leads WRC Croatia Rally after crashes halt Toyota teammates Evans and Solberg

Sami Pajari leads the Croatia Rally after a bruising Friday opening leg turned the FIA World Rally Championship’s first pure asphalt event of the season on its head and left two of the pre-rally favorites on the sidelines.

The Toyota Gazoo Racing driver completed the day’s eight special stages in the Istria region 13.7s clear of Hyundai Motorsport’s Thierry Neuville, with Safari Rally Kenya winner Takamoto Katsuta third, just nine-tenths further back in the second of the factory Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 fleet.

But the gaps between the three early podium contenders told only part of the story after a day of crashes, punctures and constantly changing grip on roads making their WRC debut.

WRC points leader Elfyn Evans, running first on the road in his GR Yaris, had looked firmly in control through the opening two stages. The Welshman made the most of the cleaner surface to set fastest time on both and build a 15.8s advantage over teammate Pajari as those behind battled an increasing amount of dirt and loose stones dragged onto the racing line by aggressive cutting.

That advantage disappeared spectacularly on the third stage when Evans went off the road on the 14.78-mile Beram-Cerovlje after carrying too much speed into a right-hander. Although both he and co-driver Scott Martin were unhurt, the incident ended what had been an almost perfect start.

“We’ve been caught out, basically,” Evans said later. “The corner was a bit tighter than expected and we were way too fast and we went off into the trees, unfortunately. It is very disappointing. Obviously, it was a strong start and things were going well, but yeah, it didn’t end so well.”

Evans wasn’t the only Toyota driver to hit trouble. Oliver Solberg’s rally lasted barely three miles before the Swede spun and beached his GR Yaris on the opening stage after clipping a bank. It was a bitter blow on his first dry asphalt start in the car.

“I had a little bit of understeer and we just tapped the rear with a rock face,” explained Solberg, who’d arrived in Croatia just eight points behind Evans in the WRC title chase. “It’s a shame. I live and breathe this every day; it’s all I know in life. When it doesn’t go to plan, it’s tough.”

Pajari was the man who capitalized best. The 24-year-old Finn was never the outright star of the morning, but he kept his composure as others unraveled and moved into the lead before posting a fastest time on the morning’s fourth and final stage. From there he resisted pressure from both Neuville and Katsuta through the afternoon to secure his first overnight lead in the WRC.

“The competition is so tough that you need to push,” said Pajari, who’s finished on the podium in his last two WRC starts, but is still seeking his first overall win. “I was enjoying the afternoon a lot, although the morning was not straightforward. It is only one day done. It has been a pleasure to drive.”

Neuville looked increasingly threatening as the day wore on. Unhappy with the balance of his Hyundai i20 N Rally1 for much of the morning, the 2024 WRC champ nevertheless stayed in touch before a strong afternoon charge brought back-to-back stage wins on the second runs through 8.56-mile Lake Butoniga-Motovun and Beram–Cerovlje. He headed into the day’s final stage, a second pass of the 7.3-mile Ucka test, just 6.3s behind Pajari, but dropped time and had to settle for second overnight.

“We are in a good position,” said Neuville after the final stage. “We had a good day, and it’s a day we’ve been [wanting] for a long time. It’s a small step forward, but a big step for us.”

After a tough start to 2026, Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville finally had a good day in his i20 N Rally1, sitting second overall.

Katsuta, meanwhile, delivered another measured and mature performance. The Japanese driver backed off on the opening stage after passing Solberg’s stricken car and then steadily built speed as the day progressed. He remained firmly in the lead fight throughout and ended Friday just 14.6s from the top of the leaderboard.

Behind the leading trio, Hayden Paddon in the second of the factory Hyundais sits fourth overall on his Croatia Rally debut. The New Zealander was rarely fully comfortable on the slippery, cut-up roads, but kept out of trouble while others faltered, finishing 1m15.0s off the lead.

Adrien Fourmaux recovered to fifth after a costly front-right puncture on the second ruined his hopes of challenging near the front. The Frenchman dropped more than a minute in that incident, then spent the rest of the leg clawing back time in the third of the factory i20 N Rally1s.

M-Sport Ford’s Josh McErlean had looked set for a solid result before a puncture on the day’s penultimate stage cost him heavily. He fell away from the Rally1 fight and slipped outside the top five by day’s end, while teammate Jon Armstrong was another to suffer heartbreak. After an eye-catching start that briefly put him third overall in his Puma Rally1, the Northern Irishman lost time with a puncture and then retired on the last stage of the morning loop after running wide and hitting a bank.

In WRC2, the second tier of international rallying, Lancia duo Yohan Rossel and Nikolay Gryazin hold a commanding lead over their class rivals in only the second WRC start for the factory Ypsilon HF Rally2s.

Rossel took four stage wins to Gryazin’s two and leads his teammate by 22.1s. Alejandro Cachon completed the day in third, a further 19.9s back in his Toyota GR Yaris Rally2.

After skipping Sweden and Kenya, Croatia marks the Lancia duo’s return. They quickly set about displaying their asphalt credentials, appearing unphased by the dirty and broken asphalt roads while avoiding the tire issues that impacted some of their rivals.

Yohan Rossel (above) heads teammate Nikolay Gryazin in a WRC2 1-2 for the factory Lancia Ypsilon HFs.

Saturday’s second leg is being touted by many drivers as the toughest day of the rally, with its eight stages add up to 72.05 competitive miles of narrow, technical roads and ever-changing surfaces.    

WRC Croatia Rally, positions after Friday/Leg One, SS8
1 Sami Pajari/Marko Salminen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) 1h12m18.5s
2 Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +13.7s
3 Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnston (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +14.6s
4 Hayden Paddon/John Kennard (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +1m15.0s
5 Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +1m54.6s
6 Yohan Rossel/Arnaud Dunand (Lancia Ypsilon HF – WRC2 leader) +2m45.9s
7 Nikolay Gryazin/Konstantin Aleksandrov (Lancia Ypsilon HF – WRC2) +3m08.0s
8 Alejandro Cachon/Borja Rozada (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 – WRC2) +3m27.9s
9 Leo Rossel/Guillaume Mercoiret (Citroen C3 – WRC2) +3m35.1s
10 Roope Korhonen/Anssi Viinikka (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 – WRC2) +3m47.0s

Catch WRC action from all rounds of the 2026 FIA World Rally Championship on RACER Network and the RACER+ App.

Tune in on Monday, April 13 at 9.00pm ET for full highlights from Rally Croatia. It’s the WRC’s first all-asphalt round of the season, so get set for high-speed action on the coastal roads and mountain passes around host city Rijeka.

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