– Thierry Neuville secured victory in a dramatic finale at the Rally Portugal. This marked the first win of the season in the 2026 World Rally Championship (WRC) for the Belgian and his team Hyundai.
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The 2024 world champion fought for the lead throughout all 23 gravel stages. For a long time, it looked like a second place finish, until Toyota driver Sebastien Ogier suffered a right rear tire damage in the penultimate special stage.
After inheriting the lead, Neuville, together with his co-driver Martijn Wydaeghe, avoided a mistake like the one in the previous month in Croatia, where he had lost the win shortly before the end. In the end, he won with a lead of 16.3 seconds over Oliver Solberg in the Toyota. The final podium spot was secured by championship leader Elfyn Evans with a deficit of 29.1 seconds. (to the results)
The rally proved to be the toughest contest of the season so far, also due to the new schedule with 23 special stages over four days. There were a total of four different leaders.
Changing leadership and weather caprices
Initially, Solberg led the rally after the three stages on Thursday with a 3.4-second lead over Adrien Fourmaux. The Hyundai driver showed early on that the Korean brand was capable of challenging Toyota. However, the lead changed quickly as Solberg struggled to extract full pace from his GR Yaris on Friday.
Fourmaux took the lead and, despite missing best times on Friday morning, kept Toyota rivals Sami Pajari and Ogier at bay. However, in the eighth stage, a setback followed: Fourmaux hit with his Hyundai i20 N, went off the track, and lost almost half a minute due to two tire damages. At the same spot, Solberg also slid off the road but without tire damage.
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Ogier then took the lead and ended Friday with a 3.7-second advantage over Neuville. On Saturday morning, the onset of rain caused chaos. Solberg shone under the difficult conditions and briefly displaced Ogier from the lead by 0.5 seconds. Ogier promptly countered in the afternoon, while Solberg fell back due to a tire damage in stage 16 and a spin in stage 18.
The drama on Sunday
Especially in the wet 17th stage, Ogier demonstrated his class and was 11.2 seconds faster than the rest of the field. With a cushion of 21.9 seconds over Neuville, he went into the final Sunday.
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Showers on Sunday morning initially reduced Ogier’s lead to 14.3 seconds, but the Frenchman seemed to have the situation under control. However, a right rear tire damage in stage 22 cost him two minutes and all hopes of victory. Ogier eventually finished the rally in sixth overall.
Neuville, on the other hand, brought the victory home confidently and missed the win in the Powerstage by only 0.6 seconds against his teammate Fourmaux, who finished fourth overall. Solberg secured not only the podium but also the win in the Sunday classification ahead of Evans. In the championship, Evans extended his lead over Takamoto Katsuta to eleven points.
The other placements
Katsuta lacked the necessary speed throughout the weekend and finished fifth. The end was bitter for Pajari: The Finn was temporarily in second place and was heading for his fifth consecutive podium before a tire damage in the penultimate stage dropped him from third to seventh.
Hyundai veteran Dani Sordo finished eighth after a wrong tire choice on Friday. The best M-Sport driver was Martins Sesks in ninth place. The Ford team experienced an eventful weekend: Sesks suffered two tire damages on Friday, while his teammates Josh McErlean and Jon Armstrong fell far back due to technical defects, time penalties, and accidents. McErlean still reached the finish after a nighttime repair effort by his mechanics, albeit in the lower ranks.
The top 10 was completed by Teemu Suninen, who secured the win in the WRC2 classification after an intense duel with Jan Solans.
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The World Rally Championship (WRC) 2026 continues from May 28 to 31 on asphalt with the Rally Japan, which will be held for the first time in the new spring date.
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