Solberg Leads WRC Finale in Sardinia as Neuville Crashes Out and Evans Clings to a Six-Point Lead
Oliver Solberg goes into the final day of the WRC season in Sardinia 33.6s clear of Ogier, with the title fight between Evans, Solberg and Pajari still open.
The 2026 World Rally Championship comes down to one final day in Sardinia. Oliver Solberg did everything possible on Saturday to take the title from Elfyn Evans.
Rally Italia Sardegna became the season finale after Rally Saudi Arabia was cancelled because of unrest in the Middle East. The same disruption brought the Bahrain Grand Prix to Sepang this weekend.
Solberg's Saturday charge
Thierry Neuville led overnight, but Solberg took control on Saturday. He won the rough Coiluna-Loelle and Solorche stages in the morning to take the lead, RACER reported.
Then Neuville's rally ended. The Hyundai driver crashed about 0.6 miles into the afternoon's Lerno-Sa Conchedda-Monti di Ala stage, damaged the rear of his car and retired. Before that, he had said Solberg "will go all-in and we're going to see how it works."
Solberg managed the afternoon carefully. "I tried to do my thing and enjoy it and have fun. This afternoon I was a bit more careful," he said, as quoted by Auto Action.
Standings after Saturday
- Oliver Solberg (Toyota) – 2h42m33.2s
- Sebastien Ogier (Toyota) – +33.6s
- Sami Pajari (Toyota) – +1m39.9s
- Adrien Fourmaux (Hyundai) – +2m32.0s
- Elfyn Evans (Toyota) – +2m38.4s
Fourmaux had two punctures but won the last stage of the day. Ogier, now second, warned that the rally is not over: "There are still some long stages to go tomorrow with rough sections, so nothing is done."
The title fight
Evans is only fifth on the road but still leads the title race. Auto Action and RACER give the provisional standings after Saturday as Evans 240 points, Solberg 234 and Pajari 228. Evans came to Sardinia with a 21-point lead, according to WRC.com.
Up to 10 bonus points are available today: five from the Super Sunday classification and five from the Wolf Power Stage. Today's route has the Osilo Tergu stage (23.71km) and the Sassari Argentiera stage (7.10km), each run twice. The second run through Sassari Argentiera is the Power Stage that ends the season.
Evans admitted he cannot do much about Solberg's result. He called the title fight "a bit out of my control" and said, "I'm not realistically going to catch anybody in front." RACER noted that if the points finish level, Solberg would be favoured on the rally-wins countback.
Watching from Malaysia
Sardinia is six hours behind Malaysia. Today's stages run during Sunday afternoon and evening Malaysian time, so they overlap with the MotoGP race at Motegi and the F1 race at Sepang. The Power Stage will decide whether Evans finally wins his first world title or whether Solberg or Pajari takes it.
Key takeaways
- Solberg leads Rally Italia Sardegna by 33.6s from Ogier going into the final day.
- Neuville crashed out of second place on Saturday afternoon.
- Provisional points: Evans 240, Solberg 234, Pajari 228, with 10 bonus points available today.
- Sardinia is the 2026 finale after Rally Saudi Arabia was cancelled.
FAQ
Why is Sardinia the last round of the 2026 WRC season? Rally Saudi Arabia was cancelled because of unrest in the Middle East, so the season ends in Italy.
How many points are available on the final day? Up to 10: five from Super Sunday and five from the Wolf Power Stage.
Who can still win the 2026 WRC title? Elfyn Evans, Oliver Solberg and Sami Pajari all go into the final day with a mathematical chance.
Sources: RACER, Auto Action, WRC.com, Motorsport.com, The National