Taylor Gill and Daniel Brkic return to the FIA World Rally Championship this week, with the Australian pairing set to contest Rally Finland aboard a Toyota GR Yaris Rally2.

After claiming back-to-back Junior WRC podium finishes in Finland – victory in 2024 and second place in 2025 – the iconic event has remained a priority in Gill and Brkic’s 2026 campaign.

With financial backing secured, the duo will once again take on one of the strongest fields in world rallying.

“Being on the entry list at Rally Finland for the third year running is a surreal thing – it still feels too good to be true,” Gill said amidst event preparations this week.

“It was always a part of the plan [to do Finland], but when we’re dealing with the sort of money that a WRC round costs, it was always going to be decided on an event-by-event basis, and we’re so grateful to our personal sponsors and supporters for getting this one over the line.”

Now based in the Finnish village of Vääksy while competing in Europe, Gill has become well acquainted with the country’s famous roads.

Even so, he acknowledges he’ll still be giving away valuable experience to many of his rivals, including seven Finnish drivers in the WRC2 field and Toyota Gazoo Racing team principal and 13-time WRC rally winner Jari-Matti Latvala.

While several competitors have contested Rally Finland close to 10 times, Gill believes thorough preparation can help offset that disadvantage.

“We’ve taken a liking to the Finnish stages over the past two years in the Fiesta Rally3, so we take confidence from that, but tackling it in a faster Rally2 car will be a whole new ball game – we’ll have to step up.

“Yes, we’re lacking in experience, but at the end of the day we all have to write our pace notes and commit to them in the rally, and Dan and I are confident that our approach can give us the best chance to produce a good result.”

With one of the deepest WRC2 fields of the season assembled, Gill is keeping his expectations measured despite aiming for another strong result.

“Having expectations at Rally Finland is tricky, especially in a WRC2 field of this calibre,” Gill added.

“Ideally, we want to be in and around the top five, but there’s arguably 15 or more drivers who could find themselves there.

“We’ll be having a push for sure. The goal for this year has been to prove ourselves, and when we’re competing in a high-quality field like this, it’s a great chance to show what we’ve got.

“We’ll need to bring our ‘A’ game, but the competition is the reason we go rallying, and I can’t wait to get into the battle.”

Gill and Brkic will start Rally Finland as the 13th Rally2 crew on the road, tackling 316 competitive kilometres across the famous gravel event.

The rally marks the Australians’ third FIA World Rally Championship appearance of 2026 following encouraging outings in Sweden and Croatia earlier this season.