Finnish driver Sami Pajari of Toyota caused a major surprise by winning the Rally Estonia on Sunday, while championship leader Elfyn Evans of Britain (Toyota) strengthened his lead at the expense of Frenchman Sébastien Ogier.

Similar to Swede Oliver Solberg, who surprisingly won the 2025 edition, the rally saw an unexpected champion; Pajari, the 2024 WRC2 champion, achieved his first victory in the premier class of the world championship.

The Finnish driver won 12 of the 18 special stages, including the first nine, before managing his lead steadily to finish the rally 19 seconds ahead of Solberg.

With this victory, the 24-year-old Pajari moved up to third in the overall championship standings, establishing himself as a serious title contender.

This achievement crowned a remarkable season for the driver ranked fifth in Toyota's lineup, having previously stood on the podium five times in the first eight rounds, with one runner-up finish and four third-place finishes.

Pajari said after celebrating his victory on the roof of his Yaris: 'It's an amazing feeling. I still can't process what happened. I am very grateful to Toyota and to everyone who supported me, even in difficult times. I knew this win was close, and now it's happened. It's incredible.'

Despite having to open the road on Friday, Evans finished the rally in sixth place and extended his championship lead, benefiting from the retirement of Japanese driver Takamoto Katsuta, increasing the gap to 25 points.

The Welshman said: 'Things went well today although some sections were tough. It was a complicated week because opening the road on the first day made it hard to recover positions later, but that's part of the game.'

For his part, Ogier limited the damage in a rally he had not contested for years, but he lost an extra point to Evans, who now leads him by 38 points in the overall standings.

The Frenchman said: 'I lacked a bit of experience here after five years away. It wasn't a bad week. We did what we could. We enjoyed it a lot, but we could have performed better. At least we came away with some points.'

Ogier (42), if he wants to continue his dream of a tenth world title, will need a better result in two weeks at Rally Finland, which features fast roads similar to Rally Estonia.

In a battle away from the title fight, Frenchman Adrien Fourmaux outperformed his Hyundai teammate Thierry Neuville of Belgium to take third place, securing his 11th career podium in the World Rally Championship.