Last-gasp Solberg error gives Evans WRC title in dramatic Rally Sardinia finale

With just two corners of the final, bonus points-paying Wolf Power Stage on Rally Italy Sardinia to go, Oliver Solberg had done enough to snatch a first FIA World Rally Championship drivers’ title from Toyota teammate and long-time points leader Elfyn Evans.

But when the Swede’s GR Yaris 1 bucked out of the ruts and careened through the roadside silt and bushes (see video, below), losing crucial championship-securing seconds as he scrambled to rejoin the stage and point his car at the finish line, it was a shocked and disbelieving Evans being hoisted onto the shoulders of his Toyota Gazoo Racing team.

In an all-Toyota, three-way title shootout, Evans and co-driver Scott Martin headed to Sardinia’s rough and dusty WRC finale with a 21-point lead over Solberg and a 17-point margin over Sami Pajari.

With a maximum of 35 points on offer, including 10 from Sunday’s final leg, it seemed like a clean, measured run from Evans (main image) would be enough to seal the deal. But a relentless and error-free Solberg piled on the pressure, taking the rally lead through Saturday’s second leg as Evans, facing looser surface conditions by way of his earlier running position, languished in fifth.

Heading in to the four-stage finale, Evans’ tentative lead was down to six points, and Solberg knew that outscoring his teammate by six points on Sunday – with five on offer from the overall Sunday classification and five from the Wolf Power Stage – would be enough to take his first title on countback.

Fastest time on the opening, 14.73-mile Osilo-Tergu 1 test, followed by top-five finishes on 4.41-mile Sassari-Argenteria 1 and Osilo-Tergu 2, kept Solberg on target.

With the championship in his grasp as Elfyn Evans struggled, Oliver Solberg did everything required of him – until two corners from the end of the final stage...

Evans entered the final Wolf Power Stage – a second pass of Sassari-Argenteria – knowing his championship battle with Solberg had effectively become a straight fight. That scenario had been created on the preceding Osilo-Tergu 2, where the Welshman suffered a front-right puncture and stopped to change the wheel. It was his second costly penultimate-stage puncture in as many rallies after a similar setback in Chile.

With any hope of points from Sunday’s overall classification gone, Evans and Solberg arrived at the final stage separated by the smallest of margins in the title race. Whoever was quickest out of the pair of GR Yaris Rally1s, regardless of what happened around them, would be a first-time WRC champ. As simple, and as complex, as that.

Evans completed his run first, but felt he’d over-driven the stage and that, despite the rutted, sandy conditions getting worse for every car through, it was Solberg’s to lose.

Last car on the stage, Solberg attacked, bucking in and out of the ruts, and was 1.9s ahead of the Welshman’s time with little more than a half mile remaining.

But just those couple hundred yards from the finish, and seemingly with the title in the bag, Solberg slid wide on a medium-speed left-hander and went off into the sand and bushes. He recovered and completed the stage to secure his third WRC win of the season, but the time lost was enough to confirm Evans and Martin as world champions.

“I don’t think it’s quite sunk in yet,” admitted Evans, who’d resigned himself to a record-breaking sixth WRC runner-up finish before Solberg’s late drama. “I mean, I was quite sure that it was over. I didn't drive the best stage. I threw everything at it, but it wasn't clean. I feel sorry for Oliver as well – he did an incredible weekend, and I'm sorry for him to lose it so close to the finish there.

“Obviously, I have a lot of people to thank for backing me for all the years, and to Scotty, obviously, for an incredible job."

Elfyn Evans (center) watches in disbelief as Oliver Solberg goes off on the final stage, handing the WRC title to the Welshman and co-driver Scott Martin (left).

The success ends a catalog of title near-misses for Evans, who’d twice previously arrived at the WRC’s season finale leading the standings.

His 2026 campaign again demanded resilience. Evans led the championship for much of the year, but saw his advantage eroded during the second half of the season as his points lead put him first car on the road and playing road sweeper for those behind for an excruciating string of events.

Road-cleaning duties then left him on the back foot through much of the Sardinia finale, but he and Martin kept themselves in contention until the championship finally swung their way.

Evans becomes the first British driver to win the WRC title since Richard Burns in 2001. It’s a first drivers’ title for Wales and the third for the UK, following Colin McRae in 1995 and Burns’s ’01 success.

Martin is the fifth British co-driver to win a WRC title, and the third Welshman.

In an all-Toyota Sardinia podium, a dejected Solberg won the rally by 57.6s from nine-time and outgoing WRC champ Sebastien Ogier, with Pajari in third after never truly engaging in the title battle.

Adrien Fourmaux was fourth in his factory Hyundai i20 N Rally, ahead of Evans, while Takamoto Katsuta’s GR Yaris Rally1 and M-Sport Ford’s Jon Armstrong completed the leading Rally1 finishers in the last event for the current breed of top-tier machinery.

On a weekend that was all about Toyota’s intra-team title battle, Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux was best of the rest in fourth overall in Sardinia.

In WRC2, the second tier of international rallying, Roope Korhonen survived a remarkable final-day charge from newly crowned champion Robert Virves to win the class by just 0.7s.

Korhonen began Sunday with a 19.6s advantage over fellow GR Yaris Rally2 driver Gus Greensmith and appeared firmly in control. Virves, meanwhile, started the final day fifth and 1m56.5s adrift following a puncture-hit opening two days for the Estonian.

What followed was a stunning recovery, with the Skoda Fabia RS-equipped Virves immediately taking 23.0s out of Korhonen on the first Osilo-Tergu test and gaining another 7.5s on Sassari-Argentiera 1.

Korhonen still held a seemingly comfortable 1m26.0s advantage over Virves with two stages remaining, but that margin almost disappeared on the second pass through Osilo-Tergu. Virves completed it in 16m45.9s, while Korhonen lost 119.2s to his rival following a puncture.

That reduced the gap between them to just 6.8s ahead of the closing Wolf Power Stage, where Virves attacked again, stopping the clocks at 5m18.9s.

Korhonen needed to remain within 6.8s, and did just enough. His 5m25.0s effort conceded 6.1s, leaving the Finn ahead by only seven tenths at the finish.

WRC Rally Italy Sardinia, final positions after Sunday/Leg Three, SS17
1 Oliver Solberg/Elliott Edmondson (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) 3h24m57.0s
2 Sebastien Ogier/Vincent Landais (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +57.6s
3 Sami Pajari/Marko Salminen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +1m37.4s
4 Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +2m38.6s
5 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +4m48.1s
6 Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnston (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +6m02.4s
7 Jon Armstrong/Shane Byrne (Ford Puma Rally1) +7m32.2s
8 Roope Korhonen/Anssi Viinikka (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 – WRC2 winner) +12m10.4s
9 Robert Virves/Jakko Viilo (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2) +12m11.1s
10 Gus Greensmith/Jonas Andersson (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 – WRC2) +13m02.2s 

WRC Drivers’ Championship after 13 of 13 rounds
1 Evans 243 points (2026 champion)
2 Solberg 238
3 Pajari 237
4 Ogier 189
5 Fourmaux 183
6 Takamoto Katsuta 175   

WRC Manufacturers’ Championship after 13 of 13 rounds
1 Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT 662 points (2026 champions)   
2 Hyundai Word Rally Team 440 
3 Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT2 251
4 M-Sport Ford 168 

• 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.  

• RACER Network is also your home for the WRC Magazine show, with new episodes landing on the Thursday before every WRC event. 

• Join R92, RACER’s ultimate all-access membership, for just $99 for one year and get 24/7 motorsports streaming on the RACER+ app, unlimited digital access to the RACER archive, and exclusive member perks. CLICK HERE and join now for the ultimate motorsports fan experience.