Back-to-back Swedish wins see Elfyn take Championship lead

Dominant drive in the snow as Toyota complete another podium lockout.

Elfyn has stormed into the lead of the 2026 FIA World Rally Championship after sealing a convincing win at Rally Sweden, his first victory of the season and his second consecutive gold on the championship’s only pure winter rally, and his third Swedish success in total. That makes the Welshman one of the event’s most successful drivers from outside the Nordic countries, as he matches the number of victories achieved by team-mate Sébastien Ogier as well as Kenneth Eriksson and Tommi Mäkinen.

Just as in 2025, Elfyn’s victory came after an exciting battle with team-mate Takamoto Katsuta that went down to the final day. Elfyn had a strong opening day on Friday despite running second on the road, he took an early lead for most of the day but conceded it to Katsuta late on Friday after facing tough snowy conditions running second on the road.

He delivered a sterling drive on Saturday, regaining the lead after the opening stage and holding firm throughout the day as conditions changed and tyre management played a part on second pass. That allowed him to edge ahead of Katsuta and hold a lead of 13.3 seconds going into the final day.   but regained the initiative on Saturday and took a lead of 13.3 seconds into the last leg.

Elfyn and Katsuta claimed a stage win apiece from Sunday morning’s double pass of the Västervik stage but Evans did enough in the rally-ending Power Stage to seal victory by 14.3s.

He also pipped Katsuta by one second to top the Super Sunday classification and came second on the Power Stage, just 0.1s from the best time, to take a strong haul of 34 points and claim the championship lead.

He also lead home another podium lockout for Toyota Gazoo Racing and, 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 managed it in Monte Carlo and Sweden in 1984.

Conditions change significantly as Elfyn heads to the next round at Safari Rally Kenya on 12-15 March.