Oliver Solberg claimed a second World Rally Championship victory of 2026 after winning a wild Rally Chile, as Toyota clinched a record-equalling 10th manufacturers’ title.
Solberg and co-driver Elliott Edmondson delivered a mature display to lead through 15 of the 16 rough gravel stages to claim a first win since the Monte Carlo season opener in January.
The Toyota pair came under severe pressure throughout the rally with the top four separated by only 20 seconds at times. In the end, Solberg took the win by 16.6s from nine-time world champion Sebastien Ogier, who inherited the position after championship leader Elfyn Evans suffered a penultimate stage puncture.
Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux secured the final spot on the podium as Evans was left to settle for fifth behind nearest title rival Sami Pajari. Solberg’s victory helped Toyota seal a 10th WRC manufacturers’ title to draw level with Lancia.
“It has been an unbelievable weekend. It has been an up and down year but the team always supported and believed. Finally a little bit of luck on my side and I can focus on my job and do my thing. This weekend was a perfect weekend,” said Solberg, who is now 21 points behind championship leader Evans with two rounds remaining.
Overnight rain played into the hands of those at the top of the road order on Friday morning. As a result, Solberg, starting third on the road, and points leader Evans benefited from the muddy conditions to move to the top of the leaderboard as their rivals struggled.
Oliver Solberg’s win helped Toyota clinch the title
Photo by: Toyota Racing
Solberg claimed the opening stage before Evans snatched the lead by 0.4s after winning stage two. However, it was Solberg, who headed to the first midday service with a 2.3s lead over Evans, and by the end of Friday that advantage had grown to 10.1s, with Fourmaux in third, 1.7s ahead of Ogier.
Crews had feared Saturday’s dry stages due to the high puncture risk, but the leading contenders emerged through the six tests largely unscathed. Rally1 crews did have the advantage of an extra eight tyres and a tyre exchange point during the loop, introduced by the FIA to reduce the risk of tyre failures.
The pace at the front was intense with Solberg and Evans posting identical overall times across the morning loop as Solberg maintained his 10.1s lead.
The battle for third raged as Fourmaux and Ogier swapped positions three times across the day. A soft tyre gamble for Fourmaux paid off in the morning loop, but he was unable to repeat the feat in afternoon.
A stunning run to win stage nine moved Solberg into a 19.1s lead over Evans, who managed to hold off a charging Ogier. Four stage wins from six tests for Ogier heaped pressure on Evans as the gap between the pair came down to 1.3s at the end of Saturday. Fourmaux headed into Sunday’s final four stages 13.7s adrift of the lead and 10.7s behind third-placed Ogier.
Sunday began with Evans setting the pace by winning stage 13, the first run through the brand new 26.82km Carampangue stage. The Welshman grabbed an early lead in the Super Sunday standings and pulled 5.4s clear of the chasing Ogier, while reducing Solberg’s lead to 13.2s.
A puncture derailed Elfyn Evans’ hopes
Photo by: Toyota Racing
However, Evans’ title hopes suffered a blow on the second pass through the test as a puncture forced a wheel change, dropping the Toyota driver from second to fifth.
Solberg also suffered a puncture towards the end of the previous 8.78km BioBio stage, but was able to hold onto the lead before going on to claim a much needed win for his title hopes. The Swede’s haul of 34 points after winning the Power Stage and finishing second in the Super Sunday standings.
While Ogier claimed a record-equalling 120th podium, and Fourmaux completed the rostrum, Pajari emerged as the biggest beneficiary of Evans’ puncture by finishing fourth ahead of his title rival. The Finn was unable to replicate the speed that took him to wins in previous three rounds in Estonia, Finland and Paraguay that left him in a lonely fifth for the majority of the rally.
Pajari is now 17 points behind Evans in the title race after the latter salvaged a bonus four points after finishing second on the Power Stage.
Hyundai’s Esapekka Lappi came home in sixth after struggling to find any speed or confidence behind the wheel of what could be his final Rally1 outing.
M-Sport-Ford’s Josh McErlean survived a brush with a bank and a tree on Sunday on his way to finishing seventh. McErlean fared better than team-mate Jon Armstrong, who was left frustrated after rolling out of sixth in stage eight.
Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville retired from the rally on Saturday after suffering a high speed roll in stage seven. Luckily, both driver and co-diver Martijn Wydaeghe were unscathed. Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta endured another tough rally after retiring on the opening stage, having beached his GR Yaris.
Lancia’s Yohan Rossel took the WRC2 win from Robert Virves, who claimed the WRC2 Challengers title ,while Ali Turkkan claimed the Junior WRC crown.
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– The Autosport.com Team
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