Solberg, Evans, and Ogier Compete in the 2026 WRC Rally Chile Bio Bío

The rain that fell overnight changed the rally's initial approach. After a shakedown on dry roads on Thursday, the three stages that were repeated on Friday through forests and farmland started the day with mud and little grip, a situation that benefited Solberg and Evans by running early in the starting order without the usual disadvantage of sweeping loose gravel. The two traded the fastest times of the morning and swapped positions more than once, until Solberg closed the day ahead thanks to the final stage. Sébastien Ogier and Sami Pajari, further back in the morning, improved in the afternoon and finished fourth and fifth respectively, just behind Adrien Fourmaux in third.

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The day also brought two crashes that affected the rest of the weekend. Takamoto Katsuta got stuck on a dirt bank during the first stage and could not continue, although his car did not suffer significant damage and he returned to the road the following day. More serious was the crash involving Yuki Yamamoto in the WRC2 category. Yamamoto was unhurt; his co-driver Topi Luhtinen suffered two vertebral fractures and a fractured sternum, and underwent successful surgery on Saturday.

Saturday was the longest day of the rally, with a route that repeated the same three stages twice south of Concepción, near the Biobío River and overlooking the Pacific Ocean. These are more tire-wearing roads than Friday's, and the teams were allowed to change up to two tires before María las Cruces, the longest stage of the weekend. Ogier was fastest on most of the morning stages and came within less than a second of Evans for second place. At that point, Solberg's advantage over Evans had been reduced to just over half of what it had been at the start of the day.

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Solberg responded with the fastest time on the second run through María las Cruces, which meant his margin over Evans ended the day close to nineteen seconds and practically doubled compared to the morning. Evans held off Ogier's charge on the final stage and kept second place by just over a second. Fourmaux, in fourth, tried a different tire setup on the final stage that did not work for him and finished the day just over ten seconds behind Ogier. Pajari could not close in on the leading group all afternoon and ended the day more than a minute behind Solberg, a result that complicates his fight for second place in the drivers' championship.

The rally in Chile carries extra weight for the overall standings. Evans arrived in South America with 216 points, twenty more than Pajari and forty-one ahead of Solberg, after Pajari won the last three rounds of the calendar in Estonia, Finland, and Paraguay. If the current order holds through Sunday, the gap between Evans and Pajari would grow, and Solberg would be just a few points behind Pajari for second place before the bonus points from the final stage are awarded. In the teams' championship, Toyota arrived in Chile with more than 170 points of margin over Hyundai and needed just seven points to mathematically clinch the manufacturers' title, something that the positions of Evans and Ogier in the overall classification make practically inevitable at the close of the rally.

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Saturday morning brought two more retirements in the top category. Thierry Neuville rolled his car at high speed and will not continue on Sunday. Jon Armstrong was also knocked out when he rolled his Ford Puma on another stage. In WRC2, Yohan Rossel moved into the lead once Nikolay Gryazin, the fastest on Friday, rolled his car on Saturday morning. Robert Virves, who leads the championship in that category, ended up less than a minute behind Rossel.

Sunday closes out the rally with two stages, Carampangue and Biobío, each run twice, for a total of four timed stages and 71 kilometers. Carampangue is a road the WRC has never run before, and the second pass through Biobío serves as the power stage, with bonus points for the five fastest. There will be no service between the two runs, although teams will be allowed to change tires once more before the second half of the day.

WRC Overall Saturday - Rally Chile Bío Bío 2026

POS	#	driver/codriver	team	brand	car	time
1	99	Oliver SOLBERG Elliott EDMONDSON	Toyota Gazoo Racing Wrt	Toyota	Gr Yaris Rally1	2:17:09.5
2	33	Elfyn EVANS Scott MARTIN	Toyota Gazoo Racing Wrt	Toyota	Gr Yaris Rally1	+ 19.1
3	1	Sébastien OGIER Vincent LANDAIS	Toyota Gazoo Racing Wrt	Toyota	Gr Yaris Rally1	+ 20.4
4	16	Adrien FOURMAUX Alexandre CORIA	Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team	Hyundai	I20 N Rally1	+ 31.1
5	5	Sami PAJARI Marko SALMINEN	Toyota Gazoo Racing Wrt2	Toyota	Gr Yaris Rally1	+ 1:15.5
6	4	Esapekka LAPPI Enni MÄLKÖNEN	Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team	Hyundai	I20 N Rally1	+ 4:10.1
7	55	Joshua MCERLEAN Eoin TREACY	M-sport Ford World Rally Team	Ford	Puma Rally1	+ 5:18.2
8	95	Jon ARMSTRONG Shane BYRNE	M-sport Ford World Rally Team	Ford	Puma Rally1	+ 49:27.4
9	18	Takamoto KATSUTA James FULTON	Toyota Gazoo Racing Wrt	Toyota	Gr Yaris Rally1	+ 61:40.8
10	23	Yohan ROSSEL Arnaud DUNAND	Lancia Corse Hf	Lancia	Ypsilon Hf	+ 6:54.6
11	20	Robert VIRVES Jakko VIILO	Toksport Wrt 2	Skoda	Fabia Rs	+ 7:52.6
12	26	Gus GREENSMITH Jonas ANDERSSON	Gus Greensmith	Toyota	Gr Yaris	+ 8:20.7
13	28	Taylor GILL Daniel BRKIC	Toksport Wrt 2	Skoda	Fabia Rs	+ 8:49.1
14	31	Jorge MARTÍNEZ Rubén GARCÍA	Jorge Martínez	Skoda	Fabia Rs	+ 10:21.2
15	32	Alberto HELLER Luis ALLENDE	Alberto Heller	Toyota	Gr Yaris	+ 11:16.1
16	25	Diego DOMÍNGUEZ Rogelio PEÑATE	Diego Domínguez	Toyota	Gr Yaris	+ 11:17.3
17	35	Emilio ROSSELOT Matías LEIVA	Emilio Rosselot	Citroen	C3	+ 14:07.2
18	34	Pedro HELLER Pablo OLMOS	Pedro Heller	Toyota	Gr Yaris	+ 14:27.4
19	37	Adrien MOSCA Julie AMBLARD	Printsport	Toyota	Gr Yaris	+ 15:04.8
20	38	Miguel GRANADOS Marc MARTÍ	Miguel Granados	Skoda	Fabia Rs	+ 20:23.7
21	52	Ali TÜRKKAN Bilge AYAN	Castrol Ford Team Türkiye	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	+ 14:55.8
22	54	Leevi LASSILA Mikko LUKKA	Leevi Lassila	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	+ 15:17.7
23	46	Ignacio GARDIOL Gonzalo DÍAZ	Ignacio Gardiol	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	+ 18:38.6
24	57	Craig RAHILL Conor SMITH	Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	+ 18:47.8
25	50	Felipe PADILLA Sebastián OLGUÍN	Felipe Padilla	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	+ 19:47.9
26	59	Alex HEILBRUNN Juan CILLONIZ	Alex Heilbrunn	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	+ 21:30.9
27	40	André MARTÍNEZ Matias ARANGUREN	André Martínez	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	+ 21:50.9
28	45	Eduardo CASTRO Javiera ROMÁN	Eduardo Castro	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	+ 21:52.6
29	53	Gil MEMBRADO Adrián PÉREZ	Gil Membrado	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	+ 24:19.2
30	49	Patricio MUÑOZ Miguel RECALT	Patricio Muñoz	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	+ 24:46.6
31	44	Dean MASCARENHAS Gagan KARUMBAIAH	Dean Mascarenhas	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	+ 27:13.1
32	61	Jorge MARTÍNEZ Juan Pablo MONASTEROLO	Jorge Martínez	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	+ 28:56.6
33	47	Carlos PRIETO Juan VARELA	Carlos Prieto	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	+ 29:47.7
34	39	Eric ROYÈRE Maxime ANDERNACK	Eric Royère	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	+ 32:30.3
35	42	Georgios VASILAKIS Allan HARRYMAN	Georgios Vasilakis	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	+ 34:19.5
36	43	Naveen PULLIGILLA Musa SHERIF	Naveen Pulligilla	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	+ 43:19.3
37	64	Mario PARRA Hugo GAJARDO	Mario Parra	Opel	Corsa	+ 30:22.9
38	65	Marcelo PÉREZ Enrique PÉREZ	Marcelo Perez	Peugeot	208 Rally4	+ 42:28.9
39	67	Francisco ASENCIO Alan BASCUR	Francisco Asencio	Peugeot	208 Rally4	+ 93:15.2