Quotes:
Kaj Lindström (Sporting Director)
“It’s always a positive feeling for us to start Rally Finland as our team’s home event. There’s a great atmosphere like usual, especially in this first stage here in Jyväskylä. Just as in any super special like this, the most important thing is that all our cars got through it cleanly and will be ready for the real rally to begin tomorrow. Of course, it’s an important rally for us and our aim is to win, but we also know that it’s going to be a close fight with the other teams. I think all of our drivers are feeling good in their cars after the shakedown and this first stage and ready to push tomorrow morning.”

Kalle Rovanperä (Driver car 69)
“It’s always exciting to be starting Rally Finland. There were already a lot of fans in shakedown this morning, and Harju always has a crazy amount of people and a really nice atmosphere. When it’s damp like this we just want to get through and tomorrow the real fun starts. The conditions we have on our own test roads are actually quite different to what we can expect in the rally where the roads are generally harder, so shakedown was important to try and find grip and confidence in the car. If it keeps raining then road position will make almost no difference, so I’m expecting there to be small gaps between everybody and more cars in the fight than on previous rounds.”

Elfyn Evans (Driver car 33)
“There’s always a great atmosphere at Rally Finland: it’s a rallying nation through and through. As TGR-WRT drivers we enjoy great support and it’s always nice to go rallying in such conditions. It’s an important point in the season but the main aim is to really try to enjoy the event and do the best job we can. Compared to previous events, road cleaning shouldn’t be such an issue with the rain we’ve had this week, so we’re looking forward to a more straightforward fight with more even grip levels. The most important thing here is confidence but we’ve had some good preparation and the feeling was OK in shakedown as we worked through the last few setup options for the rally. With this first stage completed OK we’re ready for a big day tomorrow.”

Sébastien Ogier (Driver car 17)
“It’s a pleasure to be back here in Jyväskylä starting Rally Finland after a couple of years away. There’s always a lot of fans here, and for us as TGR-WRT drivers with the team being based here, it’s very special. We had a good test here on Monday and while shakedown was not hugely representative of the rally, we could confirm that the car is ready to go flat-out, and this first stage went fine for us. We hope the weather will not be too unpleasant with the rain that’s forecast. We want to give our best and try to have as many Toyotas on the podium as we can!”

Takamoto Katsuta (Driver car 18)
“It’s nice to see so many fans already in Harju this evening. This first stage is always quite a strange feeling for me, driving only a few hundred metres from my home, but I always feel comfortable and with big support from the local fans, I’m very motivated to push. It was nice to be back on these super high-speed roads and big jumps already in shakedown this morning. I felt good with the car with just some small adjustments. It’s going to be a flat-out weekend and it’s going to be fun.”

Sami Pajari (Driver car 5)
“This is a very special moment. It’s like a dream come true for me: my first time in the top category on my home rally. There’s always a nice atmosphere on the Harju stage, but with wet conditions and 500 horsepower and not so much experience, it wasn’t easy: it was a clean run but very safe. But I’m really looking forward to tomorrow. I’m very grateful to the team for this opportunity and also for providing a good amount of preparation. I’m feeling quite good after the testing we’ve done and I’m just trying to be relaxed, not think too much about the result and enjoy the ride.”

End of day one (Thursday):
1 Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1 HYBRID) 2m46.1s
2 Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnston (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1 HYBRID) +1.1s
3 Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja (Hyundai i20 N Rally1 HYBRID) +1.3s
4 Sébastien Ogier/Vincent Landais (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1 HYBRID) +1.4s
5 Kalle Rovanperä/Jonne Halttunen (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1 HYBRID) +1.7s
6 Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria (Ford Puma Rally1 HYBRID) +3.0s
7 Esapekka Lappi/Janne Ferm (Hyundai i20 N Rally1 HYBRID) +3.1s
8 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1 HYBRID) +3.2s
9 Sami Pajari/Enni Mälkönen (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1 HYBRID) +4.6s
10 Grégoire Munster/Louis Louka (Ford Puma Rally1 HYBRID) +8.2s
(Results as of 21:00 on Thursday, for the latest results please visit www.wrc.com)

What's next?
The action moves into the forests on Friday with a loop of four stages to the north-east of Jyväskylä – including classic tests Laukaa, Myhinpää and Ruuhimäki as well as the brand-new Saarikas – to be run twice either side of mid-day service before another shorter pass over Harju in the evening.