Finns reach 200 WRC wins in 75th Rally Finland

France is the winningest country in World Rally Championship history, leading all nationalities with 216 total race wins and the two Sébastiens doing much of the work (Loeb with 80 and Ogier with 69). However, the staggering margin between the French and everyone else is tempered somewhat by Finland, the only other nation with triple-digit victories.

With Kalle Rovanperä away from the sport, Sami Pajari has carried the Finnish torch more than admirably. After a modest 2025, he finally broke through by scoring his first and second career WRC victories in back-to-back races at the Rally Estonia and on home soil at Rally Finland. Estonia was win #199 for Finnish drivers, and the latter—coming in the rally’s 75th anniversary—finally put the Nordic country at the 200 mark.

The United Kingdom ranks a very distant third with ‘only’ 53 wins, followed by Sweden’s 45 and a tie for fifth between Italy and Spain at 30. Earlier in 2026, Pajari’s Toyota Gazoo teammate Takamoto Katsuta helped Japan break its stalemate with Austria via his own two-race win streak that were also his maiden WRC victories; Japan, the only Asian country to win in the highest level of rallying, sits 12th all time with four victories courtesy of Katsuta and Kenjiro Shinozuka.

Ogier led early in Finland before rolling into the trees in SS17, ending his race. Pajari assumed the lead from there and never let go. He led a Toyota podium sweep ahead of Oliver Solberg by just 26.7 seconds and Elfyn Evans by 1:19.5.

Besides inserting himself into the title hunt, winning his home rally to secure his home country’s 200th WRC victory in said home rally’s 75th year is all the sweeter for Pajari.

“It was already a big thing to take the first win in Estonia but to win at home is always something special,” said Pajari. “Winning at home hasn’t always been easy for Finnish drivers but somehow after a crazy rally we have managed to make it happen. This one was tougher and more intense than Estonia; it was a really close fight with Seb and Elfyn and we were setting very similar times for most of the rally.

“To be a winner of the Thousand Lakes is incredible. Marko (Salminen) and I grew up watching legendary drivers win this rally and now we are on top of the podium too. It’s crazy.”

To celebrate the diamond anniversary, organizer AKK Sports pulled out all the stops. The first day on July 29 featured a parade through the city center of Jyväskylä followed by a free concert performed by rapper Etta.

The procession was led by a 1992 Saab 900i police car and a 1955 Ford F620 fire truck. Several cars from the rally’s history followed such as a 1965 Morris Mini Cooper S, Pertti Khara’s 1969 Isuzu Bellett 1600 GT, Toni Herrala’s 1970 Renault 8 Gordini, Timo Mäkinen’s 1973 Ford Escort RS, Timo Salonen’s 1981 Datsun Violet 160J and 1988 Mazda 323 GTX, Hannu Mikkola’s 1983 Audi Quattro A2, a 1984 Porsche 911 SC RS, Juha Kankkunen’s 1987 Lancia Delta HF, a 1995 Toyota Celica GT-Four ST205, and Tommi Mäkinen’s 1996 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution III. The 2026 competitors followed.

Both Mäkinens’ (no relation to each other) cars and Mikkola’s Audi won their respective editions.

Rovanperä, whose open-wheel career is on hold due to benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, also made a guest appearance in which he drove Jonne Halttunen’s Toyota Corolla GT AE86. TGR boss Jari-Matti Latvala, who contributed 18 wins to the Finns’ 200, won in WRC2.

“I’ve been dreaming that I could still do something like this since I stopped driving full-time in the WRC in 2019,” Latvala commented. “I know that my time in the top category has passed, but to be able to fight with some really fast young drivers in Rally2 machinery has been fantastic.”

AKK Sports released the following statement after the rally:

Secto Rally Finland’s 75th anniversary delivered everything you could hope for from Rally Finland – and perhaps, true to its slogan, a little bit more.

Throughout the competition week, Jyväskylä and the special stages across Central Finland welcomed huge numbers of rally fans from Finland and around the world. The city events attracted packed crowds, the forests came alive with spectators following every stage, and the atmosphere remained truly unique from start to finish.

From a sporting perspective, the rally was filled with dramatic twists and turns. The battle remained wide open until the final stages, with every day adding a new chapter to the story of this landmark anniversary edition.

In the end, the event reached a historic conclusion as Sami Pajari secured Finland’s 200th FIA World Rally Championship victory.

Glorious summer weather, world-class competition and tens of thousands of passionate rally fans created the perfect setting for an event that will be remembered for years to come. The anniversary edition also brought together the past and the present of rallying in spectacular fashion, with many of the sport’s greatest legends playing a prominent role throughout the week, meeting fans and celebrating one of the most prestigious events in the FIA World Rally Championship.

Unforgettable moments were also shared through the event’s VIP experiences, where guests enjoyed the World Rally Championship from the very heart of the action. From the unique atmosphere of the forest stages to the evening programme at Harju, the anniversary edition offered experiences that can only be found by attending Rally Finland in person.

The success of the event was the result of the combined efforts of thousands of people. AKK Sports Ltd. would like to thank the competitors, spectators, volunteers, partners, authorities, landowners and all local residents who once again made an unforgettable edition of Secto Rally Finland possible.

Thank you, rally fans. You made the 75th anniversary exactly what it deserved to be.

Hannu Mikkola’s 1983 Audi Quattro at the pre-race anniversary parade.
Credit: Jaanus Ree / Red Bull Content Pool

Long known as the “Rally of the Thousand Lakes” or “1000 Lakes Rally”, Rally Finland began in 1951 as the Jyväskylän Suurajot. As opposed to the current special stage format, the 1,700-km race used to be conducted in a regularity format where the winner was whoever racked up the fewest points. In the event of a tie, the driver whose time was the closest to the reference time won.

This tiebreaker would ultimately come in handy when Arvo Karlsson and Heikki Korppoo both finished with just one point each. Karlsson got the edge since his total time was 6:03 off the benchmark whereas Korppoo’s was 1:22:30.

“It can be said that most of the penalty points were awarded in the hillclimb and speed tests, where the more powerful cars had the advantage,” wrote local newspaper Keskisuomalainen. “Some drivers also received penalties in the time test. For example, Pentti Bärck from Jyväskylä got so many penalties that he fell from a likely fourth place to 17th.”

The race would be included in the inaugural World Rally Championship in 1973, where Mäkinen recorded the first of Finland’s 200 triumphs. His 24 wins are the second most by a Finn behind Marcus Grönholm’s 30.

1951 Jyväskylän Suurajot results

Class A

Finish	Overall	Number	Driver	Co-Driver	Vehicle	Points
1	1	4	Arvo Karlsson	Vilho Mattila	Austin A90 Atlantic	1 (6:03)
2	2	1	Heikki Korppoo	Jukka Pulkkinen	Packard	1 (1:22:30)
3	3	2	J. Lastunen	R. Jylhä	Chevrolet	43 (1:31:44)
4	4	26	Kaarlo V. Sukkinen	Ole Einar Lönnfors	Mercury	43 (2:22:14)
5	6	19	John Edvard Simonen	Marcus Lindberg	Rover	65
6	8	18	Eino Lairila	Olavi Luoma	Vauxhall	74
7	9	25	Vilho Hietanen	Esko Karppinen	Allard	79
8	10	13	Bengt Kukkasniemi	Antero Erätuli	Ford Pilot	88
9	11	24	Jämes Vincent	Ensio Laaksomaa	Chevrolet	89
10	12	14	Aimo Hänninen	Felix Starzevski	Mercedes-Benz 170S	93
11	13	20	Kai Rydman	Viljo K. Ruoho	Mercedes-Benz	98
12	14	23	Lars von Troil	Christian Eklundh	Citroën	99
13	15	22	Paavo Tarkiainen	Markku Tarkiainen	Mercedes-Benz	104
14	16	16	Sune Ahlgren	Erkki Lihjama	Plymouth	107 (16:30)
15	17	5	Vilho Ohmero	Mikko Ahmio	Chrysler	107 (19:32)
16	18	21	Reino Mattsson	Hugo Lähteenmäki	Mercedes-Benz	113
17	19	8	Pentti Bärck	Niilo Ruuskanen	Mercury	121
18	20	15	Mauri Kesävaara	Antti Uolevi Paavolainen	BMW	180
19	21	9	Olavi Martikainen	Väinö Nyström	Mercedes-Benz	197
20	22	7	Thor Stor	Lauri Päivinen	Mercedes-Benz	220
DNF	DNF	12	Lempi Dahlström	Heikki Soras	Mercury	DNF

Class B

Finish	Overall	Number	Driver	Co-Driver	Vehicle	Points
1	5	6	Aimo Aho	Siro Toivela	Peugeot 203	57
2	7	3	Seppo Rikkilä	Pentti Loivaranta	Peugeot 203	71
3	23	11	Heikki J. Puustinen	Aaro Savolainen	Fiat 1400	1,759
DNF	DNF	10	Olgert Rusetsky	Harry Willstedt	BMA	DNF
DNF	DNF	17	Tapani Lampila	Kaj Nuortila	Fiat 1100	DNF