Evans tightens WRC Rally Japan grip after a closing Solberg crashes out

Elfyn Evans will take a 17.8s lead into the final day of WRC Rally Japan after a dramatic Saturday which saw Toyota Gazoo Racing teammate Oliver Solberg crash out of victory contention.

Evans (above) began the longest leg of the 2026 FIA World Rally Championship’s final all-asphalt rally with a 15.7s advantage over Solberg, only for the Swede to apply pressure across the morning loop of stages and reduce the lead to just 10.6s by the midday regroup.

But Solberg’s challenge ended on the afternoon’s opening stage, 12.0-mile Mt. Kasagi 2, when he slid wide at a left-hander and struck a tree with the right-rear of his Toyota GR Yaris Rally1, causing terminal suspension damage.

His retirement promoted 2025 Rally Japan winner Sebastien Ogier to second, with Sami Pajari and local hero Takamoto Katsuta making it a factory GR Yaris quartet at the top of the overall leaderboard after Saturday’s eight stages and 74.7 competitive miles.

Rally leader Evans admitted he lost time passing Solberg’s stricken car on the afternoon opener, but he remained composed across a punishing afternoon where rising temperatures and accelerated tire wear became increasingly difficult to manage.

The Welshman brushed off his enforced time loss and got his rhythm back on the second pass of the 13.15 Ena stage, going 3.1s faster than Ogier, before adding another stage win through 10.22 twisting miles of Obara 2 to rebuild his lead to 20.0s. Two runs through the short, leg-closing Fujioka super special trimmed that gap slightly before the overnight halt.

“No way [is it under control],” said Evans after his Ena stage win. “There’s far too much driving [still] to do. It can always be better, clearly.”

Indeed, the WRC points leader’s second blast through the final, 1.98-mile Fujioka super special wasn’t without drama. He ran wide at a left-hander and came wincingly close to a guardrail, but escaped without damage to his Yaris.

“There wasn’t a lot of room to spare there,” he said. “Obviously we need to carry on the same way, that’s all. Big day tomorrow.”

Solberg had been the story of the morning. He won Obara 1, lost time to Evans on Ena 1, then hit back on Mt. Kasagi 1 to cut the lead to 10.6s. But that pace came at a cost. Solberg’s promoted teammate, Ogier, suggested his level of risk had been perhaps too high – a claim disputed by Solberg – but the nine-time and reigning WRC champ was still frustrated not to be closer to Evans after another day of searching for feeling.

“It’s not what we were hoping,” said Ogier at the finish. “We came here to fight for the win and we’re not fighting. We had a similar rally to Elfyn, except for that one stage [losing time on Isegami’s Tunnel 1 on Friday’s opening leg]. It was tough, and after that I never had the pace to fight back.”

Sebastien Ogier inherited second after Toyota teammate Oliver Solberg crashed out, but was disappointed not to be fighting for the win. Red Bull Content Pool

Pajari strengthened his hold on third with an impressive afternoon run. The 24-year-old Finn was fastest on Ena 2 and through both passes of the Fujioka super special, ending the day 44.4s from Evans and 26.9s clear of Katsuta.

“I’m very pleased with the afternoon loop in general,” said Pajari. “I was hoping to find more pace and that’s exactly what we did. Taking a couple of stage wins, from that side it’s really OK.”

Katsuta also enjoyed a much stronger Saturday after his frustrating opening day dashed any hopes of a home victory to add to his two 2026 wins in Kenya and Croatia. The Japanese driver moved ahead of Thierry Neuville’s Hyundai in the morning and continued to edge closer to Pajari during the afternoon, although he admitted a podium push would require extra risk.

“I’m the same person, the same car,” said Katsuta. “Just a reset, that’s all.”

Adrien Fourmaux ended the day fifth, best placed of the factory Hyundai i20 N Rally1 trio, albeit 2m05.2s from the lead. Teammate Neuville dropped to sixth after struggling with car balance and an intermittent e-brake problem through the day.

Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville is best of the non-Toyota rest, albeit more than two minutes off the lead in his i20 N Rally1. Red Bull Content Pool

Hayden Paddon completed the day seventh in the third Hyundai, ahead of M-Sport Ford’s Jon Armstrong, who reported improved confidence in his Puma Rally1 as the day progressed.

In WRC2, the second tier of international rallying, Nikolay Gryazin will take a slender lead into the final day after Alejandro Cachon brought the gap down to just 5.7s during the afternoon loop.

The pair have been locked in a close battle since Friday morning and again traded momentum across the rally’s longest day, with Lancia Ypsilon HF driver Gryazin building an advantage before Cachon responded late on to keep the fight alive.

Gryazin started Saturday 8.3s behind Cachon, but immediately reduced the gap on the Obara 1 opener, despite damaging a front-right wheel and reporting heavy vibration. Cachon, meanwhile, was struggling with understeer in his GR Yaris Rally2.

The Bulgarian kept pressing through Ena 1, where he moved back into the class lead, then extended his advantage across both passes of the Mt. Kasagi test. By the end of the second Mt. Kasagi pass, the gap had grown to 11.6s.

Cachon, last year’s WRC2 winner in Japan, refused to let the lead drift further away. After completing running repairs to rear-end damage, the Spaniard raised his pace over the final part of the day and was quickest on three of the last four stages to set up a final-leg showdown.

Lancia’s Nikolay Gryazin headed to the overnight halt with a slim 5.7s lead in the WRC2 class. Red Bull Content Pool

Sunday’s closing features six stages and 46.02 competitive miles, including two passes each of Nukata, the Kuragaike super special and Lake Mikawako. The second run through the latter is the rally-ending, bonus points-paying Wolf Power Stage.

WRC Rally Japan, positions after Saturday/Leg Two, SS14
1 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) 2h32m05.6s
2 Sebastien Ogier/Vincent Landais (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +17.8s
3 Sami Pajari/Marko Salminen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +44.4s
4 Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnston (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +1m11.3s
5 Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +2m05.2s
6 Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +2m17.0s
7 Hayden Paddon/John Kennard (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +3m41.8s
8 Jon Armstrong/Shane Byrne (Ford Puma Rally1) +4m33.7s
9 Nikolay Gryazin/Konstantin Aleksandrov (Lancia Ypsilon HF Rally2 – WRC2 leader) +7m17.7s
10 Alejandro Cachon/Borja Rosada (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 – WRC2) +7m23.4s

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