Will Rally Portugal gravel put WRC pacesetters on the back foot?

The FIA World Rally Championship's early-season pacesetters face a very different kind of test this week as Rally Portugal threatens to turn their strong positions in the points battle into a disadvantage.

After five rounds, Toyota Gazoo Racing drivers Elfyn Evans (above, during shakedown), Takamoto Katsuta and Sami Pajari occupy the top three places in the WRC drivers’ standings. But on Portugal’s sandy gravel roads, running early can mean sweeping away loose surface gravel for those behind. With starting order determined by championship positions, that gives the GR Yaris Rally1-driving trio added headaches when round six gets under way.

Based in Matosinhos, Rally Portugal marks the first European gravel rally of the 2026 season and brings the WRC back to one of its classic fixtures. Across 23 stages and 214.3 competitive miles, crews will face a demanding mix of soft surfaces, rough second passes, rocks and ruts through famous stages including Arganil, Amarante and the spectacular jumps of Fafe.

Evans is back on top of the points after finishing second on the asphalt of the Canary Islands Rally, where he also claimed maximum points on Super Sunday. The Welshman won in Portugal in 2021, but has reached the podium only once since then and – like this year – has often been forced to deal with a difficult road position on the opening gravel stages.

Katsuta starts just two points behind his teammate after losing the championship lead in the Canary Islands. The Japanese driver has twice finished fourth in Portugal, but the rally has also delivered frustration in recent seasons, including mechanical failure in ’23 and suspension damage on Amarante in ’24.

Pajari, meanwhile, has been one of the stories of the season so far. The Rally1 sophomore claimed his fourth consecutive podium last time out and has more top-three finishes than any other driver this year, but Portugal will ask a different question of the 24-year-old Finn as he starts from near the front of the field.

Toyota’s strongest victory threat, however, may come from slightly further back. Nine-time and reigning WRC champ Sebastien Ogier returns to Portugal fresh from his first win of the season in the Canary Islands, and with a record unmatched by anyone on this event. The Frenchman claimed his maiden WRC victory here in 2010 and has since become Rally Portugal’s most successful driver with seven wins from 15 starts.

Seven-time Portugal winner Sebastien Ogier starts an advantageous sixth on the road in his Toyota GR Yaris Rally1.

Oliver Solberg completes Toyota’s five-car Rally1 fleet and also has reason to see Portugal as a chance to get back on track with his title aspirations. He was locked in a close fight with Ogier in the Canary Islands before crashing out on the penultimate stage, extending a run of retirements that’s stalled his early-season momentum. Portugal has brought mixed fortunes in the past, but he won the WRC2 class last year.

For Hyundai Motorsport, the event offers an important chance to reset after being outpaced by Toyota on the high-grip asphalt of the Canary Islands. Adrien Fourmaux was the team’s leading finisher last time out and was fighting near the front in Portugal last year before breaking his i20 N Rally1’s suspension on Arganil.

Hyundai’s other full-season entry, Thierry Neuville, is a former Portugal winner and has finished inside the top five on every Rally1 era edition of the event, while part-timer Dani Sordo brings vast experience on roads where he has finished on the podium seven times. The Spaniard made his Rally1 return in the Canary Islands and now switches to an event where his consistency has long been one of his strengths.

Neuville gave Hyundai an encouraging start to its Portuguese weekend by setting the pace in Wednesday afternoon’s shakedown at Baltar. The Belgian posted a best time of 3m51.2s on his third run through the 3.55-mile gravel test, edging Toyota’s Pajari by just three-tenths of a second.

Fourmaux completed the top three, just 0.5s behind Neuville, while M-Sport Ford’s Martins Sesks made an eye-catching start to the second round of his part-time campaign by going fourth.

M-Sport Ford has clear targets as its young Rally1 lineup returns to gravel in a trio of Puma Rally1s. Josh McErlean was the team’s top finisher in the Canary Islands, and comes back to Portugal having scored his best top-class result here last season. Jon Armstrong has previous experience of the event from Junior WRC, where he showed strong pace in 2022 before retiring from the lead, while Sesks has demonstrated he has the speed on loose surfaces to pull off a big result.

In WRC2, the second tier of international rallying, WRC returnee Lancia is looking for its first win on gravel and its third-straight class win after back-to-back asphalt wins for Yohan Rossel in the Ypsilon HF Rally2.

The car’s experience on gravel remains limited. Lancia has tested the Ypsilon privately on loose surfaces and entered Rossel and teammate Nikolay Gryazin in the gravel-based Rally Citta di Foligno in Italy in March. Gryazin finished second, while Rossel was running sixth before retiring after the final stage.

Lancia faces tough opposition in Portugal, with Roope Korhonen, Teemu Suninen and Gus Greensmith among the Toyota GR Yaris Rally2-equipped gravel aces and Robert Virves and Andreas Mikkelsen leading the Skoda Fabia RS contingent in a deep WRC2 field.

Yohan Rossel is looking to give Lancia a WRC2 gravel victory to add to his back-to-back class wins on asphalt.

Competitive action began today (Thursday) with 9.37-mile Agueda-Sever and 12.58-mile Sever-Albergaria before the crews head to the 1.2-mile Figueira da Foz super special to complete the opening leg. Friday includes seven more stages, with nine on Saturday and four in Sunday’s closing leg, including the 6.95-mile Fafe 2 test as the rally-closing, bonus points-paying Wolf Power Stage.

Catch WRC action from all rounds of the 2026 FIA World Rally Championship on RACER Network and the RACER+ App.

Next up, the latest WRC Magazine Show episode, setting the scene for Rally Portugal, premieres Thursday, May 7 at 10.30pm ET on the RACER Network.

And tune in on Monday, May 11 at 9.00pm ET for full highlights from Rally Portugal.Bundle and save to get 6 print issues of RACER Magazine, unlimited digital access to the RACER archive, and 24/7 motorsports streaming on the RACER+ App for just $129.99 for one year. CLICK HERE and subscribe now for the ultimate motorsports fan experience.