Solberg’s Saturday Sardinia charge leaves WRC title battle on a knife-edge

Oliver Solberg knew it had to be win or bust if he was to steal the 2026 FIA World Rally Championship from Toyota teammate and long-time points leader Elfyn Evans. So far, it’s edging toward “win” as the Swede’s Saturday charge gives him a 33.6s Rally Italy Sardinia lead to leave Sunday’s final outcome on a knife-edge.

Solberg began the day third overall in his GR Yaris Rally1, 12.3s behind overnight leader Thierry Neuville’s Hyundai, but produced a superb morning charge before keeping things measured and mistake free during an incident-packed afternoon. That put him in position to claim both the rally victory and, depending on how Sunday’s four-stage shootout pans out, a first WRC drivers’ title.

Championship leader Evans ends Saturday fifth overall, while the third of the factory Toyota drivers in title contention, Sami Pajari, sits third on the overnight leaderboard.

As things stand, Evans remains ahead with 240 points, six clear of Solberg on 234, with Pajari on 228. A maximum of 10 additional points are on offer on Sunday – five from the Super Sunday classification and five from the rally-closing Wolf Power Stage.

Solberg transformed the rally during the morning, winning the second and third stages – the rough and sandy 15.43-mile Coiluna-Loelle 1 and 8-mile Solorche 1 tests – to overturn Neuville’s advantage and reach the midday halt 2.7s ahead of the Belgian.

The complexion changed again immediately after service when Neuville crashed just 0.6 miles into 15-mile Lerno-Sa Conchedda-Monti di Ala 2 with damage to the rear of his i20 N Rally1. His retirement promoted Sebastien Ogier’s GR Yaris Rally1 to second and left Solberg with more than a half-minute in hand in a Toyota 1-2.

Solberg then switched from attack to preservation – a relative term, given what he knows he still has to do – on the increasingly punishing gravel roads.

“I just tried to do my thing and enjoy it and have fun,” he said after the leg-ending Solorche 2 test. “This afternoon I was a bit more careful, but I enjoyed it in there. So far, we are doing a great job, so we’ll keep doing it and see what happens.”

Ogier emerged as Solberg’s nearest challenger and trails by 33.6s after winning the afternoon loop’s first two stages. The nine-time and outgoing WRC champ remains realistic about his prospects, but warned that Sunday’s rough roads leave nothing guaranteed. One thing’s for certain: he won’t be cutting his title-chasing teammate any slack.

“There are still some long stages to go tomorrow with rough sections, so nothing is done,” said the Frenchman. “Beating Oliver will be difficult, but we will see.”

Behind Ogier, Pajari survived a demanding day to hold third, 1m39.9s from the lead. The 24-year-old Finn remains mathematically in the championship fight, although his task is now significantly more complicated. With the current rally positions, even a maximum Sunday bonus haul would not be enough to overhaul teammate Evans without a further change in the overall classification.

The task could have been tougher still for chasers Solberg and Pajari, had the final stage of the day not provided another important championship swing. Adrien Fourmaux, whose hopes of a first WRC event victory had already been damaged by a puncture on his Hyundai on Saturday morning, suffered a second tire failure on the penultimate stage, Coiluna-Loelle 2, and dropped behind Pajari and Evans.

Adrien Fourmaux is best of the non-Toyotas in fourth. The Hyundai i20 N Rally1 driver has been fast, but tire failures have blunted his podium chances. Red Bull Content Pool

But Fourmaux responded by winning the final test, beating Solberg by 1.8s and reclaiming fourth place – just 6.4s ahead of Evans. That moved Evans back to fifth and reduced his provisional championship advantage over Solberg to six points.

“Of course, now we have to try and change the strategy a bit. I don’t think it will be straightforward tomorrow,” said five-time WRC runner-up Evans of his first-time title chances. “Today has been a tough day to try and hang in there with Oliver going so fast at the front. We have a long way to go. We have a tough day tomorrow. It’s still wide open.”

Elfyn Evans still holds a slim championship lead as things stand, but Sunday’s bonus points and Oliver Solberg’s momentum means sealing the deal won’t be easy. Red Bull Content Pool

If the current overall positions remain unchanged through Sunday, Evans would collect 10 points and Solberg 25. Solberg would then need to outscore Evans by six points across Sunday’s two bonus classifications to draw level in the championship – a tie which, with victory in Sardinia, would favor him on countback through rally wins.

Fourmaux remains fourth on the leaderboard, ahead of Evans, while Takamoto Katsuta in the fifth of the factory Toyotas climbed to sixth after a difficult start to the rally.

Jon Armstrong holds seventh in the best of the M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1s, with teammate Josh McErlean eighth after battling to the finish despite damage and rising water temperature following an off on the penultimate stage.

In WRC2, the second tier of international rallying, Roope Korhonen will carry a 19.6s lead into the final day after wresting control of the category from Gus Greensmith during Saturday’s six stages.

Just 2.2s had separated the GR Yaris Rally2-driving duo overnight, but Korhonen wasted little time in switching the positions. The Finn took 4.6s out of Greensmith on Saturday’s opener, enough to move ahead by 2.4s before extending that advantage significantly on Coiluna-Loelle 1.

Greensmith responded on Solorche 1, clawing back 6.1s, but Korhonen still returned to service with an 8.9s advantage.

The battle remained close when action resumed. Korhonen edged Greensmith by 1.5sec on the afternoon opener before gaining another 4.4s across the rough second pass of Coiluna-Loelle.

A further 4.8s on Saturday’s final Solorche 2 test increased his overnight cushion to 19.6s, leaving four stages between Korhonen and his first WRC2 victory since Rally Sweden in February.

Roope Korhonen had started Saturday’s leg behind fellow GR Yaris Rally2 driver Gus Greensmith, but soon took control of the WRC2 class. Red Bull Content Pool

Sunday’s four-stage final leg begins with the 14.73-mile Osilo-Tergu 1 test before crews tackle the 4.41 miles of Sassari-Argentiera 1. Both stages are repeated, with the second run through Sassari-Argentiera forming the season-ending – and potentially WRC drivers’ title-deciding – Wolf Power Stage.

WRC Rally Italy Sardinia, positions after Saturday/Leg Two, SS13
1 Oliver Solberg/Elliott Edmondson (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) 2h42m33.2s
2 Sebastien Ogier/Vincent Landais (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +33.6s
3 Sami Pajari/Marko Salminen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +1m39.9s
4 Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +2m32.0s
5 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +2m38.4s
6 Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnston (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +5m43.9s
7 Jon Armstrong/Shane Byrne (Ford Puma Rally1) +6m01.2s
8 Josh McErlean/Eoin Treacy (Ford Puma Rally1) +8m12.0s
9 Roope Korhonen/Anssi Viinikka (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 – WRC2 leader)
10 Gus Greensmith/Jonas Andersson (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 – WRC2) +8m42.6s

• Catch WRC action from all rounds of the 2026 FIA World Rally Championship on RACER Network and the RACER+ App. Tune in on Monday, Oct. 5 at 9.00pm ET for full highlights from Rally Italy Sardinia.  
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