– Oliver Solberg (Toyota) brought his lead at the Rally Chile to the finish on Sunday, securing his second victory in the World Rally Championship (WRC). The first win was achieved by the son of former world champion Petter Solberg at this year’s season opener in Monte Carlo. Now, at the third-to-last event of the season, he has added a second win.
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Solberg’s final lead after the three daily stages in Chile is 16.6 seconds. “It was an incredible weekend after a year of ups and downs. But the team always believed in me and supported me. And now we finally had some luck again. The weekend was just perfect,” Solberg cheers.
Solberg’s closest pursuer, and thus second place, was in the end no longer teammate Elfyn Evans, but Sebastien Ogier, another of his Toyota teammates. The nine-time world champion gradually worked his way forward during the rally.
Tire damage for Elfyn Evans – Sebastien Ogier inherits 2nd place
For Ogier, the Rally Chile was the 213th WRC start of his career. This ties him with record holder Jari-Matti Latvala in this regard. That he finished second is mainly thanks to a tire damage that occurred to Evans on the penultimate special stage (SS15).
On the first stage of Sunday (SS13), Evans had set the best time and had closed the gap to leader Solberg to 13.2 seconds. The best time on SS14 then went to Solberg, increasing his lead again. On SS15, where Evans suffered his tire damage and subsequently had to change a wheel, Ogier was the fastest. On the Powerstage (SS16), Solberg again set the best time.
The third podium place alongside winner Oliver Solberg and second-placed Sebastien Ogier was taken by Adrien Fourmaux (Hyundai). Fourth place went to Sami Pajari, who missed the podium this time by a minute after three consecutive wins recently.
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Elfyn Evans defends the championship lead
Unlucky Elfyn Evans slipped from second to fifth place in the final results of Rally Chile due to his late tire damage and wheel change. Nevertheless, Evans still leads the 2026 WRC drivers’ standings. In the WRC manufacturers’ championship, everything is already decided. Toyota clinched the world title early on Sunday.
Esapekka Lappi (Hyundai) ultimately finished 6th in the rally, Joshua McErlean (M-Sport-Ford) 7th. Their respective teammates, and also one of the Toyota drivers, were less fortunate in Chile.
Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) had to retire early after a rollover on Saturday. Takamoto Katsuta (Toyota) had an off on Friday but drove again on Saturday and Sunday with a repaired car. The same applies to Jon Armstrong (M-Sport-Ford), who also rolled on Saturday like Neuville. Compared to the Hyundai, the Ford Puma was significantly less damaged, which is why Armstrong drove again on Sunday. However, neither he nor Katsuta scored any significant points.
In the WRC2 classification, the Rally Chile was won by Yohan Rossel (Lancia). In the points standings of the WRC2 drivers in the 2026 season, Robert Virves (Skoda) still leads, having finished second in the class this time.
The next stop on the 2026 WRC calendar is the Rally Italy on Sardinia on the first weekend of October. It is planned as the penultimate event of the season, but it is not yet finally decided whether the season finale in November in Saudi Arabia will actually take place as planned.
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