WRC Canary Islands: Katsuta takes early lead after…

World Rally Championship leader Takamoto Katsuta has grabbed the early lead at Rally Islas Canarias after winning a hotly contested stadium super special stage.

The 50th edition of the Spanish asphalt rally kicked off with an all-new fan friendly super special stage, held inside the 32,000 Gran Canaria football stadium, which saw crews go head-to-head across three loops of a tricky 1.89km course.

Katsuta was matched against Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux and it was the Toyota driver that dispatched the Frenchman by 1.4sec. The time was enough for Katsuta to win the stage and take an early lead, eclipsing the benchmark previously set by Toyota team-mate Sami Pajari by 0.4sec.

“There are lots of people in the stadium, I appreciate so many people coming to see our sport. Not a proper stage, but still the show is important for the sport,” said Katsuta.

Sami Pajari, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT2 (Photo by: Toyota Racing)

Pajari had set the pace after beating home hero Spain’s Dani Sordo, making his first Rally1 start since Greece 2024.

"It's quite a special stage for the fans. A bit of a shame because this car is not meant to drive that slow,” said Pajari. “But there are three days of proper action coming and I'm looking forward to that. It's a special feeling to race against Dani on this stage."

Adrien Fourmaux, Alexandre Coria, Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1 (Photo by: Hyundai)

Sordo was unable to beat WRC2 contender Roberto Daprà, who managed to haul his Rally2 Skoda ahead of several faster Rally1 crews. The Italian was only 0.8sec slower than Katsuta, but crucially 0.2s faster than Sordo.

“We have a perfect setup for this stage. The hit [landing] was huge on the jumps and both of our backs are almost destroyed. I love these kind of stages and hope nobody is faster than me," said Dapra.

M-Sport-Ford’s Josh McErlean managed to edge Toyota’s Oliver Solberg by 0.8s in their heat to slot into fifth overall [+1.2s], while Solberg had to settle for 10th overall [+2.0s].

Reigning world champion and part-timer Sebastien Ogier and Fourmaux posted identical times across the test in separate duels to tie for sixth overall [+1.4s].

Jon Armstrong, Shane Byrne, M-Sport Ford World Rally Team Ford Puma Rally1 (Photo by: M-Sport)

Incredibly, the run of identical times continued as Toyota’s Elfyn Evans and Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville couldn’t be separated as the pair shared eighth overall [+1.9s] after their duel.

Crews will tackle six asphalt stages tomorrow before a second blast through the Gran Canaria super special, comprising 108 competitive kilometres.