Sébastien Ogier was running the penultimate stage of Vieira do Minho with a 17.3‑second lead over Thierry Neuville when a rock on the racing line punctured the right rear tyre of his Toyota GR Yaris Rally1. The Frenchman and his co‑driver Vincent Landais got out to change the wheel on the stage, lost nearly two minutes and let a victory that had seemed certain since Saturday’s downpour slip away. Neuville completed the Wolf Power Stage at Fafe without trouble and secured his first winning result of the season by 16.3 seconds.

The mistake that cost two minutes

Sami Pajari was running third with a guaranteed top‑3 finish when he hit the same rock that had stopped Ogier. The Finn also stopped to change a tyre and lost more than two minutes, dropping him to seventh place overall. Within a few kilometres, Toyota squandered the 1‑3 it had in the classification, and Oliver Solberg together with Elfyn Evans moved up to second and third without having fought for those positions on the road. The 21.9‑second gap with which Ogier had closed Saturday was erased in a single stage.

Neuville revives in the championship

Thierry Neuville arrived in Portugal having not finished in the top three in any of the previous six rounds and with Hyundai winless in 2026. The Belgian kept the Hyundai i20 N at a safe distance from Ogier throughout Sunday, convinced he would not make a mistake on dry roads. Saturday’s rain and the mud of Amarante conditioned the race’s rhythm, but the decisive stage was decided by a loose stone. "This comes at a very good time for the whole team. We never gave up and this weekend the performance paid off," Neuville said after getting out of the car.

Photo By Red Bull Content Pool

Ogier explained that the rock appeared in a very broken section of the stage and there was no room to avoid it without compromising the suspension. The nine‑time world champion had accumulated three winning results in the first five events and was on course for an eighth victory in Portugal to extend his own record. With a final sixth place, he falls 56 points behind championship leader Evans.

Solberg and Evans pick up the trophies

Oliver Solberg had not stood on the podium since the Rallye Monte‑Carlo in January. The Swede described his weekend as a "ping‑pong of positions": he led on Thursday, regained the lead on Saturday at Paredes, then collapsed with a tyre off the rim at Cabeceiras de Basto and a spin on the repeat, only to appear on the second step when the Toyotas parked on the roadside. Evans scored his third top‑3 finish of the season and extended his championship lead to 12 points over Takamoto Katsuta, who finished fifth in Portugal.

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Adrien Fourmaux finished fourth in the second Hyundai, ahead of Katsuta and the two unfortunate Toyotas. Dani Sordo closed eighth after a weekend he described as one of the toughest he has faced. M‑Sport Ford placed Mārtiņš Sesks in ninth with the Puma Rally1, the last of the Rally1 cars to cross the finish without major trouble.

Suninen in WRC2

Teemu Suninen drove the 65 kilometres of Sunday with authority to take his eighth WRC2 victory. The Finn started the day with a 0.9‑second lead over Jan Solans, stretched the gap to 18 seconds in the first loop and saw the Spaniard go off the road on the penultimate stage in his Škoda Fabia RS Rally2. Solans lost more than two minutes and dropped to fourth place. Suninen completed the route with a 45.6‑second advantage over Roope Korhonen and now leads the championship tied with the brothers Yohan and Léo Rossel. Yohan Rossel did not score in Portugal after retiring on Saturday with an accident in the Lancia Ypsilon HF Integrale Rally2. Andreas Mikkelsen was third in WRC2, ahead of Solans and Fabrizio Zaldivar.

Photo By Red Bull Content Pool

Evans leads

The championship now travels to Japan for the seventh round, the first on tarmac since Croatia, where Neuville lost the victory on the final stage. The Belgian closes the gravel swing with 65 points and revives his chances just before the part of the season that best suits the Hyundai.

WRC Overall - Vodafone Rally de Portugal 2026

POS	#	driver/COdriver	team	brand	car	time
1	11	Thierry NEUVILLE Martijn WYDAEGHE	Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team	Hyundai	I20 N Rally1	3:53:01.7
2	99	Oliver SOLBERG Elliott EDMONDSON	Toyota Gazoo Racing Wrt	Toyota	Gr Yaris Rally1	+ 16.3
3	33	Elfyn EVANS Scott MARTIN	Toyota Gazoo Racing Wrt	Toyota	Gr Yaris Rally1	+ 29.1
4	16	Adrien FOURMAUX Alexandre CORIA	Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team	Hyundai	I20 N Rally1	+ 54.8
5	18	Takamoto KATSUTA Aaron JOHNSTON	Toyota Gazoo Racing Wrt	Toyota	Gr Yaris Rally1	+ 1:12.6
6	1	Sébastien OGIER Vincent LANDAIS	Toyota Gazoo Racing Wrt	Toyota	Gr Yaris Rally1	+ 1:26.6
7	5	Sami PAJARI Marko SALMINEN	Toyota Gazoo Racing Wrt2	Toyota	Gr Yaris Rally1	+ 2:50.9
8	6	Daniel SORDO Cándido CARRERA	Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team	Hyundai	I20 N Rally1	+ 4:10.0
9	22	Mārtinš SESKS Renārs FRANCIS	M-sport Ford World Rally Team	Ford	Puma Rally1	+ 6:49.2
10	55	Joshua MCERLEAN Eoin TREACY	M-sport Ford World Rally Team	Ford	Puma Rally1	+ 20:07.9
11	27	Teemu SUNINEN Janni HUSSI	Teemu Suninen	Toyota	Gr Yaris	+ 11:13.8
12	25	Nikolay GRYAZIN Konstantin ALEKSANDROV	Lancia Corse Hf	Lancia	Ypsilon Hf	+ 11:38.7
13	20	Roope KORHONEN Anssi VIINIKKA	Rautio Motorsport	Toyota	Gr Yaris	+ 11:59.4
14	29	Andreas MIKKELSEN Jørn LISTERUD	Toksport Wrt	Skoda	Fabia Rs	+ 12:28.0
15	36	Jan SOLANS Rodrigo SANJUAN	Ph.ph	Skoda	Fabia Rs	+ 14:00.8
16	28	Fabrizio ZALDIVAR Marcelo DER OHANNESIAN	Fabrizio Zaldivar	Skoda	Fabia Rs	+ 16:18.5
17	37	Mille JOHANSSON Johan GRÖNVALL	M-sport Ford World Rally Team	Ford	Fiesta Mk Ii	+ 16:31.6
18	30	Eric CAMILLI Thibault DE LA HAYE	Eric Camilli	Skoda	Fabia Rs	+ 17:27.6
19	38	Yuki YAMAMOTO James FULTON	Printsport	Toyota	Gr Yaris	+ 23:49.7
20	34	Mattéo CHATILLON Maxence CORNUAU	Mattéo Chatillon	Skoda	Fabia Rs	+ 24:05.1
21	58	Bernhard TEN BRINKE Tom WOODBURN	Bernhard Ten Brinke	Toyota	Gr Yaris	+ 26:26.7
22	26	Gus GREENSMITH Jonas ANDERSSON	Gus Greensmith	Toyota	Gr Yaris	+ 27:31.3
23	35	Romet JÜRGENSON Siim OJA	M-sport Ford World Rally Team	Ford	Fiesta Mk Ii	+ 28:09.4
24	44	Armindo ARAÚJO Luís RAMALHO	Armindo Araújo	Skoda	Fabia Rs	+ 29:53.7
25	24	Roberto DAPRÀ Luca GUGLIELMETTI	Roberto Daprà	Skoda	Fabia Rs	+ 34:37.2
26	46	Ferran JUBANY Alejandro LÓPEZ	Ferran Jubany	Skoda	Fabia Rs	+ 39:25.9
27	54	Paulo NETO Carlos MAGALHÃES	Paulo Neto	Skoda	Fabia Rs	+ 41:15.1
28	23	Robert VIRVES Jakko VIILO	Toksport Wrt	Skoda	Fabia Rs	+ 44:03.1
29	32	Giovanni TRENTIN Pietro Elia OMETTO	Mt Racing Srl	Skoda	Fabia Rs	+ 44:41.9
30	77	Óscar RAL Axel CORONADO	Baporo Motorsport Ca	Skoda	Fabia Evo	+ 47:19.7
31	39	Pablo SARRAZIN Yannick ROCHE	Pablo Sarrazin	Citroen	C3	+ 47:48.6
32	21	Yohan ROSSEL Arnaud DUNAND	Lancia Corse Hf	Lancia	Ypsilon Hf	+ 52:15.0
33	61	Tiago SILVA Jorge HENRIQUES	Tiago Silva	Skoda	Fabia	+ 53:59.3
34	43	Harry BATES Keaton WILLIAMS	Harry Bates	Toyota	Gr Yaris	+ 66:46.5
35	59	Adrien MOSCA Julie AMBLARD	Printsport	Toyota	Gr Yaris	+ 81:40.0
36	81	Pierleonardo BANCHER Andrea MARCON	Pierleonardo Bancher	Skoda	Fabia Rs	+ 143:19.4
37	65	Matteo FONTANA Alessandro ARNABOLDI	Matteo Fontana	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	+ 30:25.1
38	71	Ali TÜRKKAN Oytun ALBAYRAK	Castrol Ford Team Türkiye	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	+ 31:43.7
39	72	Leevi LASSILA Mikko LUKKA	Leevi Lassila	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	+ 35:15.3
40	68	André MARTÍNEZ Matias ARANGUREN	André Martínez	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	+ 42:40.5
41	73	Gil MEMBRADO Adrián PÉREZ	Gil Membrado	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	+ 46:37.6
42	74	Raúl HERNÁNDEZ José MURADO	Raúl Hernández	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	+ 48:30.7
43	66	Eric ROYÈRE Maxime ANDERNACK	Eric Royère	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	+ 53:51.8
44	79	Sylvain TAMISIER Mathieu TAMISIER	Sylvain Tamisier	Renault	Clio Rally3	+ 58:06.0
45	76	Craig RAHILL Conor SMITH	Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	+ 108:12.3
46	69	Jarkko NIKARA Tomiya MAEKAWA	Toyota Gazoo Racing Wrt Ng	Renault	Clio Rally3	+ 131:46.6
47	80	Helder MIRANDA Vitor PEREIRA	Hélder Miranda	Peugeot	208 Rally4	+ 87:36.4