Fired-up Solberg extends WRC Rally Chile lead as podium fight intensifies

Oliver Solberg will take a 19.1s lead into Sunday’s Rally Chile finale after a hard-charging run through Saturday’s final stage left his rivals standing.

Behind the flying Solberg (above), the battle for the remaining podium places intensified, with his Toyota teammate and FIA World Rally Championship points leader

Elfyn Evans barely clinging on to second place.

Solberg began the WRC’s longest day 10.1s clear of fellow GR Yaris Rally1 driver Evans, but faced sustained pressure as nine-time and reigning WRC champ Sebastien Ogier produced a formidable charge in another of Toyota Gazoo Racing’s factory fleet. The Frenchman won four of Saturday’s six stages and at one point moving to within touching distance of second place.

But when the 17.59-mile Maria las Cruces 2 test brought a punishing 86.5-mile day to its conclusion, Solberg delivered his riposte to his teammate’s charge. The Swede was fastest by 3.7s over Evans and 4.7s over Ogier, almost doubling his advantage and leaving himself four stages away from a third career WRC victory.

“That is the key. Every time, every year. You have to wait with your tires to the end then go flat out,” said a stoked Solberg at the finish. “We have a small gap which is very nice. I will do my very best on Sunday.”

Victory would add another major chapter to Solberg’s rapid rise at rallying’s highest level. His breakthrough WRC win came on his Toyota Rally1 debut in Estonia last season, before he opened 2026 with victory on the Monte Carlo Rally. He’s also tasted success twice previously in Chile at world rallying’s second-tier level, WRC2.

Ogier was the morning’s dominant force, winning the 9.72-mile Pelun 1 and 15.93-mile Lota 1 tests as Solberg struggled with the loose surface and the balance of his GR Yaris. The defending WRC champ continued his attack after the midday service, again topping both Pelun and Lota to put increasing pressure on Evans’ second place.

After the day’s penultimate stage, just three-tenths separated Evans and Ogier in the fight for the runner-up spot, while Solberg’s lead had grown to 15.4s, despite his early handling issues.

Evans responded when he needed to on the final stage. Despite admitting he hadn’t been satisfied with his afternoon, the championship leader beat Ogier by 1.0s to preserve second place by 1.3s overnight – a small, but perhaps significant gap.

“It was a clean drive,” Evans said. “We benefited from new tires, but the damage was done in the previous two stages. I can’t be fully satisfied with the afternoon. We hoped to be faster. We keep going.”

Elfyn Evans (above) lost ground to Toyota teammate and rally leader Oliver Solberg. But bigger picture, it could still be a decent weekend for his WRC title aspirations.

Ogier, who started Saturday fourth and 19.7s from the lead, ends it third and only 20.4s behind Solberg.

“It is fine,” was his succinct assessment. “It is going to be a nice Sunday.”

Adrien Fourmaux remains firmly in the podium fight, although gambling on choosing three soft tires for the final stage backfired and dropped his Hyundai i20 N Rally1 some 10.7s behind Ogier in fourth.

Like so often this season, Adrien Fourmaux is leading the Hyundai charge. The Frenchman sits best of the non-Toyotas in fourth overall.

Sami Pajari, meanwhile, heads into Sunday in a lonely fifth position, 1m5.5s from the lead in his factory GR Yaris Rally1. After winning the previous three rallies in Estonia, Finland and Paraguay, the 24-year-old Finn struggled throughout Saturday to find the pace and confidence he wanted.

“Not so many stories to tell from today,” he admitted. “We are not quite on the pace where we would like to be. There is a lot of discussion about road position playing a big role, but still at the end of the day the pace is not what we wanted. Hopefully we can be quicker in Super Sunday.”

Pajari’s position gives Sunday particular significance for the WRC drivers’ championship. Evans arrived in Chile 20 points ahead of Pajari, with Solberg a further 21 behind. If the current overall order were to remain unchanged, the base rally points would increase Evans’ advantage over Pajari to 27 points, while Solberg would close to just six points behind Pajari for second in the championship – although that’s before Sunday and Wolf Power Stage bonus points are added to the mix.

Toyota also stands on the brink of another WRC manufacturers’ world title. The Japanese marque arrived in Chile with a 173-point lead over Hyundai and requiring only seven points from the rally to make the championship mathematically secure. With Evans and Ogier currently second and third, Toyota is firmly on course to complete the job on Sunday.

Behind Pajari, Esapekka Lappi holds sixth for Hyundai ahead of M-Sport Ford’s Josh McErlean in the sole remaining Puma Rally1.

Josh McErlean is last M-Sport Ford Puma standing, albeit a distant seventh overall, more than five minutes from the lead.

Thierry Neuville in the third of the factory Hyundais will not restart on Sunday following his high-speed roll on Saturday morning, while Jon Armstrong was also forced out of the leg after rolling his Puma Rally1 onto its side on the day’s second stage.

In WRC2, Saturday brought contrasting fortunes for Lancia as overnight leader Nikolay Gryazin bowed out early, while teammate Yohan Rossel produced his most dominant day of the 2026 season.

Bulgarian Gryazin’s hopes of a second class victory of the year lasted just 6 miles into Saturday’s opening stage when he rolled heavily, with flames subsequently appearing beneath the hood of his Ypsilon HF.

Gryazin and co-driver Konstantin Aleksandrov were able to extinguish the fire, but the incident brought an abrupt end to their day. That opened the door for Rossel, who immediately seized his opportunity. The Frenchman was 12.5s faster than any other WRC2 crew through the opening Pelun test, vaulting from third into the class lead with a 6.7s advantage over championship leader Robert Virves’ Skoda Fabia RS.

That set the tone for a commanding performance as Rossel won all six of Saturday’s stages and reached the overnight halt with a 58.0s cushion over Virves.

After Lancia teammate Nikolay Gryazin rolled out, Yohan Rossel dominated the day in WRC2, winning every stage to build a near-minute’s lead.

Sunday brings 44.24 competitive miles across four stages, with two runs each through the new 16.67-mile Carampangue test and 5.46-mile BioBio. The second pass through the latter will be the rally-ending, bonus points-paying Wolf Power Stage.

WRC Rally Chile, positions after Saturday/Leg Two, SS12
1

1. Oliver Solberg/Elliott Edmondson (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) 2h17m09.5s

2. 2 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +19.1s

3. 3 Sebastien Ogier/Vincent Landais (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +20.4s
4. 
4 Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +31.1s
5. 
5 Sami Pajari/Marko Salminen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +1m15.5s

6. 6 Esapekka Lappi/Enni Malkonen (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +4m10.1s

7. 7 Josh McErlean/Eoin Treacy (Ford Puma Rally1) +5m18.2s
8. 
8 Yohan Rossel/Arnaud Dunand (Lancia Ypsilon HF – WRC2 leader) +6m54.6s

9. 9 Robert Virves/Jakko Viilo (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2) +7m52.6s
10. 
10 Gus Greensmith/Jonas Andersson (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 – WRC2) +8m20.7s

• Catch WRC action from all rounds of the 2026 FIA World Rally Championship on RACER Network and the RACER+ App. Tune in on Monday, Sept. 14 at 9.00pm ET for full highlights from Rally Chile.

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