Elfyn Evans Crowned the 2026 WRC Champion as Solberg Crashes Two Corners From Glory
Elfyn Evans is crowned the 2026 WRC Champion, and he got there because Oliver Solberg went off the road two corners from the end of the final Power Stage in Sardinia.
Evans and co-driver Scott Martin finished the season on 243 points, five clear of Solberg and six clear of Sami Pajari, after a three-way Toyota title fight that went all the way to the last stage of the year. Chris and I recorded this episode the day after the finish, while we were both still trying to process it. This guide covers what we said, alongside the full Rally1 results and the final championship standings.
What happened on the final stage in Sardinia?
Before the Wolf Power Stage started I thought it was done. Solberg had been brilliant all weekend, and I assumed he only had to stay ahead of Evans over the last few kilometres. Evans had spent the rally opening the road and holding sixth. A puncture four kilometres into the penultimate stage then dropped him out of the Super Sunday points, which left him starting the final stage with a single point in hand. Whoever was quicker on that stage would be champion.
Solberg was ahead of Evans by 1.9 seconds with little more than a kilometre to go. Then he went off, two corners from the finish, in what Chris described as pure sand with deep ruts after a day of cars running through it. The mistake cost him around nine seconds, which was exactly enough. I pushed my chair away from my desk and held my head in my hands for what felt like a minute and a half. I have not had that reaction to a rally in a long time. Chris pointed out that Solberg only has one speed, flat out, and it nearly won him the title in his first full year at the top level.
Rally Italia Sardegna 2026 results: the Rally1 crews
Solberg's win in Sardinia was his third of the season after Monte Carlo and Rally Chile. Behind him it was an all-Toyota podium, with Sebastien Ogier second and Pajari third. Adrien Fourmaux took fourth for Hyundai after a puncture on Saturday had cost him any chance of fighting for the lead, and Evans finished fifth, which was all he needed. Thierry Neuville won the Power Stage after a crash earlier in the rally ended his weekend.
Pos | Crew | Car | Gap to winner | Points scored |
1 | Oliver Solberg / Elliott Edmondson | Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 | 3:24:57.0 | 29 |
2 | Sebastien Ogier / Vincent Landais | Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 | +57.6s | 18 |
3 | Sami Pajari / Marko Salminen | Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 | +1:37.4 | 24 |
4 | Adrien Fourmaux / Alexandre Coria | Hyundai i20 N Rally1 | +2:38.6 | 16 |
5 | Elfyn Evans / Scott Martin | Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 | +4:48.1 | 13 |
6 | Takamoto Katsuta / Aaron Johnston | Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 | +6:02.4 | 12 |
7 | Jon Armstrong / Shane Byrne | Ford Puma Rally1 | +7:32.2 | 6 |
15 | Thierry Neuville / Martijn Wydaeghe | Hyundai i20 N Rally1 | +30:44.0 | 5 |
18 | Mārtiņš Sesks / Renārs Francis | Ford Puma Rally1 | +37:01.4 | 0 |
22 | Josh McErlean / Eoin Treacy | Ford Puma Rally1 | +47:28.5 | 0 |
Points scored include the Super Sunday and Wolf Power Stage bonus points. Super Sunday points went to Pajari, Solberg, Fourmaux, Katsuta and Ogier, while Neuville, Pajari, Evans, Katsuta and Fourmaux took the Power Stage points. Neuville, Sesks and McErlean are shown in the positions they were classified in after trouble earlier in the rally.
Final 2026 WRC drivers' championship standings
Those few seconds on the last stage decided everything below. Evans won only two rallies all year, Sweden and Japan, against three each for Solberg and Pajari. He still came out on top because he scored consistently from start to finish. Toyota had already clinched the manufacturers' title in Chile, their sixth in a row and a tenth in total, level with Lancia.
Pos | Driver | Team | Wins | Points |
1 | Elfyn Evans | Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT | 2 | 243 |
2 | Oliver Solberg | Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT | 3 | 238 |
3 | Sami Pajari | Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT2 | 3 | 237 |
4 | Sebastien Ogier | Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT | 2 | 189 |
5 | Adrien Fourmaux | Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT | 0 | 183 |
6 | Takamoto Katsuta | Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT | 2 | 175 |
7 | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT | 1 | 134 |
Did Elfyn Evans deserve the 2026 WRC title?
This is the question I could not settle, and I spent the whole rally unable to decide who to root for. Evans did exactly what I have been asking him to do on Fridays for years, pushing harder early so the weekend is easier, for most of the season. In Sardinia he did not, and I thought he was too cautious in sixth. Chris started out thinking it was a slightly disappointing performance too, until he remembered how hard that rally is to open. Pajari started second on the road and finished third, while Solberg started third and won, so the gap between those positions was smaller than the gap in stage times that I saw on screen.
Road position is what keeps pulling me back. Ogier said after the rally that Evans has now cleaned the road for two years running, and Chris believes that cost him last year's title too. Chris went further and said that if the Saudi finale had stayed on the calendar, we would probably have a Scandinavian champion this year. I am glad it did not come down to tyres or road position alone.
What changed my mind a little was Evans himself. He and Scott Martin have been among the hardest working crews in the service park, and this year they entered rallies outside the championship to sharpen up, including the Arctic Rally and a gravel event in Estonia before the WRC round. Afterwards Evans said that nothing would really change for him and that the title was a reward for the people who had backed him. He had finished runner-up five times before this. On balance, yes, I think he deserved it, even if it took a Solberg mistake to finish the job.
Oliver Solberg's season and what Ogier meant by a lucky win
By our count Solberg took 68 stage wins this year, against 39 for Pajari and 30 for Evans, and that was in his first full season in a Rally1 car. Chris thinks losing the title this way will raise his profile, and I agree. He is no longer just Petter Solberg's son. What impressed us most was how he handled the aftermath. He did not disappear on a private jet to Sweden. He stayed for the team celebrations and went up on the podium to collect the rally win, which I could not have done in his place.
Ogier called it a lucky win, which sounds harsh until you hear what he meant. Solberg was lucky to stay in the rally after one of his offs, but the rally was not a lucky win. Everything else about his weekend was sensational. I would not be surprised if Oliver takes the championship next year, and Chris thinks Pajari, who balances speed and caution much like Evans does, will win one too. Pajari took nine podiums this year, more than anyone, but Chris thinks that if he had attacked more on Sundays he might have been champion. Fourmaux is the other one I feel for. He was flat out all weekend and ended up without the win he has been close to for months, mostly because of punctures.
Goodbye Rally1: Ford's return and what comes next
Sardinia was the final event for the current Rally1 cars before the new WRC27 regulations arrive in 2027. Chris said he will miss how spectacular the cars are, though not the lack of competition, and I feel the same. It did not feel like one team with five drivers. It felt like five separate teams, and Chris noted that Toyota's management said in post-rally interviews that they let their crews race with no team orders. Ogier pushed hard for the first two days and then backed off on Sunday, and I was fully behind Solberg's comments about his pace.
Ford has now confirmed it will return as a full factory team in 2028 with M-Sport, with an all-new car arriving in 2029. M-Sport will run a Fiesta-based car in 2027 in the meantime. I hope they stay with petrol, because the noise matters to a lot of fans, and Chris is confident Ford will not go electric because they intend to win. With Ford's money coming, I do not know whether there will be seats for the Irish drivers, but Chris thinks M-Sport could run a Ford Motorsport Ireland team alongside the factory effort. Fourmaux is now hot property on the driver market, especially if Hyundai does not commit. I have also heard that the WRC27 cars will get a turbo restrictor change worth around ten extra horsepower, which pulls them further from the Rally2 cars than I would have liked.
M-Sport's drivers, tyre exchange zones and Super Sunday
Jon Armstrong brought his Puma home in seventh, his best result of a tricky first year in Rally1, and his helmet camera onboard on stage 14 was the best new angle I have seen in rallying. Josh McErlean had an unlucky off into a tree. Chris and I both rate how well M-Sport rebuilt the cars with limited resources. We were more disappointed with Mārtiņš Sesks, who has not lived up to his promise since 2024, and Chris thinks he should have done a full WRC2 season instead of chasing occasional Rally1 starts.
I am not a fan of the tyre exchange zones we saw in Sardinia and Chile. If tyres are wearing out, I would rather give crews more tyres than add another rule. Chris pointed out that Hankook have had issues for two years, and that the zones felt like a reaction to a problem that should not exist. On Super Sunday, I would like to see a return to a single set of points for the whole rally. Chris sees the argument for keeping it, because it gives stars a reason to come out on Sunday after a bad Friday, and the promoter wants more spectators and fewer stages on that day.
Frequently asked questions
Who won the 2026 WRC championship?
Elfyn Evans and co-driver Scott Martin won the 2026 World Rally Championship on 243 points, five ahead of Oliver Solberg on 238 and six ahead of Sami Pajari on 237. It is Evans' first title, and he is the first British driver to win since Richard Burns in 2001.
Who won Rally Italia Sardegna 2026?
Oliver Solberg and Elliott Edmondson won by 57.6 seconds from Sebastien Ogier and Vincent Landais, with Pajari and Marko Salminen third.
What happened to Oliver Solberg on the Power Stage?
He went off the road two corners from the finish of the last stage after leading Evans, losing around nine seconds. That handed Evans the championship.
Why was Sardinia the final round of the 2026 WRC season?
Rally Saudi Arabia was removed from the calendar because of the 2026 Iran war, so Rally Italia Sardegna became round 13 of 13.
Is Ford returning to the WRC?
Yes. Ford has announced a return as a full factory team from 2028 with M-Sport, with an all-new car arriving in 2029.
Was this the last Rally1 rally?
Sardinia was the final event for the current Rally1 cars before the WRC27 regulations arrive in 2027.
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