[2][3] The event was based in Jyväskylä in Central Finland and consisted of twenty-three special stages totalling 317.26 km (197.14 mi) in competitive kilometres.

Following Citroën's sacking of Kris Meeke,[10][11] the team promoted Mads Østberg and Torstein Eriksen to replace him and his co-driver Paul Nagle as lead drivers.

[12] Ott Tänak, driving a Yaris, took a 0.7-second lead over championship leader Thierry Neuville, while defending world champion Sébastien Ogier was 0.1 second further behind.

Andreas Mikkelsen was in fourth place in another Hyundai i20, another slender 0.1 second behind, while defending rally winner Esapekka Lappi was in fifth.

Shakedown top two Mads Østberg and Craig Breen tied in sixth, followed by local Finn Jari-Matti Latvala.

Ott Tänak, who stormed away with a 39-second over Mads Østberg, Jari-Matti Latvala, who closed the gap the Norwegian to only 5.4 seconds, and Esapekka Lappi, who climbed up four places after his effort, took all eight stage victories of the day to make Toyota a 1-3-4 finish.

Hayden Paddon, who led Hyundai in fifth place, manage to stay ahead of local Finn Teemu Suninen despite brake problems and high tyre wear.

Championship leader Thierry Neuville, who failed to make up yesterday's lost time, completed the leaderboard in tenth place.

Ott Tänak took his second rally victory of the season with a Power Stage win in Finland to gain a maximum thirty points after a master-class performance.