Ogier wins WRC Canary Islands Rally as a charging Solberg crashes out

Sebastien Ogier held his nerve through a dramatic final day at the Canary Islands Rally to claim his first WRC win of the season after Toyota teammate Oliver Solberg crashed out of an ultra-close victory fight on the penultimate stage.

Ogier and co-driver Vincent Landais brought their GR Yaris Rally1 (above) to the finish in Las Palmas 19.9s clear of Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin, with Sami Pajari and Marko Salminen completing an all-Toyota podium after three days on Gran Canaria’s fast, smooth and, at times, unforgiving asphalt.

The result also delivered a major landmark for Toyota Gazoo Racing, which locked out the top four places and reached 300 podium finishes in the FIA World Rally Championship.

For much of Sunday morning, however, Ogier looked set for a final-stage showdown with Solberg. The 24-year-old Swede began the day just 3.8s behind the nine-time and reigning WRC champ and immediately went on the attack in greasy, foggy conditions on the 16.11-mile Ingenio-Telde-Valsequillo 1 test.

Solberg was fastest on that opening stage by 0.6s, then took another second from Ogier on the 8.25 miles of Santa Lucia-Aguimes 1 to reduce the gap to just 2.2s with only the second pass of both stages remaining.

But the fight ended abruptly on the second blast through Ingenio-Telde-Valsequillo. Solberg went off 9.1 miles into the stage and struck a guardrail, leaving his GR Yaris too badly damaged to continue. He and co-driver Elliott Edmondson were unharmed.

“The first pass this morning was quite wet and now it was much drier,” Solberg explained. “I was too optimistic with this right-hander that had a jump and we went into the (guardrail), unfortunately.”

The DNF continues a run of poor results for Solberg, who led the championship after winning the season-opening Monte Carlo Rally, but has now crashed out of the last two, all-asphalt rounds.

Ogier admitted the ending was not the one he wanted, but the Frenchman had done enough across the weekend to add another win – his 68th – and another different event to his list of WRC victories.

“It is not the way we wanted to see it go,” he said. “Oliver was doing a great job up until that point. Rallying is tough. Being fast is important, but being at the end even more. I never panicked when I saw him pushing and I kept my rhythm.”

Sebastien Ogier and co-driver Vincent Landais headed an all-Toyota podium and another top-four sweep on the Canary Islands asphalt.

Ogier elected to miss the previous asphalt round in Croatia and had skipped the snow and ice of Sweden in February, too. But the win in his third start of the season moves him to sixth in the overall standings. It also strengthens Toyota Gazoo Racing’s lock on the WRC manufacturers’ points, although Solberg’s retirement ended the Japanese marque’s hopes of an historic top-five sweep. Instead, it had to console itself with a repeat of last season’s top-four lockout on the Spanish island territory.

“It’s a shame we could not all finish together and bring this show up to the end,” said Ogier. “But on our side, I think we did what we had to do and I am pretty happy to win a new rally on the list. We had a great car to drive again and it was good fun, so well done to all the team.”

Evans inherited second after Solberg’s retirement and made the most of the opportunity. The Welshman was fastest on the rally-ending, bonus points-paying Wolf Power Stage – the second run through Santa Lucia-Aguimes – and also topped the Super Sunday classification, a haul that moves him back to the head of the drivers’ championship by two points over teammate Takamoto Katsuta.

“It’s been a solid weekend after a poor start,” said Evans. “Unfortunately, that put us a bit out of the fight for the win, so mixed feelings. But congrats to Seb, he’s driven an exceptional weekend.”

Elfyn Evans hadn’t figured in the lead fight, but inherited second – and regained the WRC points lead – after Toyota teammate Oliver Solberg’s DNF. Red Bull Content Pool

Second-season Toyota Rally1 driver Pajari continued his impressive run of form by securing a fourth consecutive podium, while Katsuta completed Toyota’s top-four sweep. The Japanese driver, winner of the previous two rounds in Kenya and Croatia, admitted he hadn’t been satisfied with his own performance, but still leaves Gran Canaria just two points back from Evans.

Adrien Fourmaux was Hyundai’s leading finisher in fifth despite a 10-second jump-start penalty on the final stage. Thierry Neuville finished sixth after another difficult weekend in the i20 N Rally1, while Spain’s Dani Sordo brought the third Hyundai home seventh on his return to Rally1 competition after leading the trio on Friday’s opening leg.

Josh McErlean completed a clean rally in eighth for M-Sport Ford, albeit 5m45.4s off the winner’s time, while teammate Jon Armstrong finished 11th after an eventful weekend of incidents and mechanical glitches aboard his Puma Rally1.

In WRC2, the second tier of international rallying, Yohan Rossel claimed back-to-back WRC2 victories on the Canary Islands and delivered WRC returnee Lancia a second successive class win after a composed drive on Gran Canaria’s asphalt.

The Frenchman and co-driver Arnaud Dunand led the category from Friday and reached the finish 25.1s clear of Alejandro Cachon’s Toyota GR Yaris, with Eric Camilli’s Skoda Fabia RS completing the podium after a late transmission issue for Rossel’s younger brother, Leo.

The older Rossel had controlled the class throughout in his Lancia Ypsilon HF Rally2, building a useful advantage on Friday before managing changing conditions across Saturday and Sunday. Greasy roads, fog and mixed tire choices made the final morning especially difficult, but he avoided mistakes to secure another important victory.

“It’s a nice feeling, to be honest,” said Rossel, who now leads the WRC2 standings, equal on points with his Citroen C3-driving sibling. “Thanks to all my team, they did a great job. No mistake about the setting, about the tire choice, every time on the good way. Now it’s time to go on gravel and win again also.”

Yohan Rossel completed a dominant WRC2 showing to deliver WRC returnee Lancia a second consecutive class win. Red Bull Content Pool

After consecutive all-asphalt rounds, the championship resumes on gravel next month at Rally Portugal. One of the WRC’s classic events, the sixth round of the 14-rally season takes place May 10-14.

WRC Canary Islands Rally, final positions after Sunday/Leg Three, SS18
1 Sebastien Ogier/Vincent Landais (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) 2h43m18.9s
2 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +19.9s
3 Sami Pajari/Marko Salminen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +1m40.8s
4 Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnston (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +1m51.2s
5 Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +3m29.5s
6 Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +3m41.0s
7 Dani Sordo/Candido Carrera (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +3m57.7s
8 Josh McErlean/Eoin Treacy (Ford Puma Rally1) +5m45.4s
9 Yohan Rossel/Arnaud Dunand (Lancia Ypsilon HF Rally2 – WRC2 winner) +7m24.3s
10 Alejandro Cachon/Borja Rozada (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 – WRC2) +7m49.4s

WRC Drivers’ Championship after 5 of 14 rounds
1 Evans 101 points
2 Katsuta 99
3 Pajari 72
4 Oliver Solberg 68 
5 Fourmaux 59
6 Ogier 58  

WRC Manufacturers’ Championship after 5 of 14 rounds
1 Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT 265 points   
2 Hyundai Word Rally Team 167 
3 Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT2 75
4  M-Sport Ford 63 

• Catch WRC action from all rounds of the 2026 FIA World Rally Championship on RACER Network and the RACER+ App.
• Tune in on Monday, April 27 at 9.00pm ET for full highlights from the Canary Island Rally. It’s the WRC’s second all-asphalt round of the season, so get set for race track-style action on the fast, wide mountain roads around capital city Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
• And for the latest happenings from the world rally scene, check out the WRC Magazine Show. New episodes air on the RACER Network on the Thursday before each WRC round.
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