Solberg Wins in Chile, and Toyota Claims Its Tenth Manufacturers' Title

Oliver Solberg held off Elfyn Evans's charge throughout the morning, came through despite tire damage midway through the final stage, and still had enough margin to win the Wolf Power Stage before closing out the Rally Chile Bio Bío with his third victory in the Rally1 category and his second of the year.

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Solberg led the classification from the first stage on Friday and only lost it briefly to Evans, before holding it on roads with mud and little grip throughout the weekend. That resistance was put to the test on the final stage, when Evans won the first pass through Carampangue and cut the gap to just over 13 seconds. Solberg responded immediately at Biobío, where he won the stage despite damage to his right-rear tire and stretched the gap back to nearly 15 seconds.

The rally's outcome was finally decided on the second pass through the same stage, when Evans suffered a puncture and lost more than two minutes changing it by the roadside. The stop dropped him from second to fifth place and handed second to Sébastien Ogier, with Adrien Fourmaux moving up to third, leaving Solberg with enough margin to close out the rally without drama and also win the Wolf Power Stage, the final test that awards bonus points to the five fastest.

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Toyota arrived in Chile needing just seven points to mathematically clinch the manufacturers' title, and the combined result of its crews left no doubt, with Solberg first, Ogier second, Pajari fourth, and Evans scoring points in fifth despite his final-stage problem. That makes ten titles in total for the Japanese team, counting the three it won in the 1990s and the one it added in 2018 before this run of six consecutive crowns that began in 2021—a figure that puts it on the same level as Lancia, until now the only manufacturer with ten titles in WRC history.

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The gap between the teams shows the size of that advantage. Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT has 614 points in the manufacturers' championship, compared to 410 for Hyundai and 152 for M-Sport Ford, while the second Japanese team, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT2, has 227. With the manufacturers' title already settled, the three Toyota drivers fighting for the individual championship—Evans, Pajari, and Solberg—no longer have any reason to hold back against each other or to trade positions on team orders, which could make the final two rounds of the year even more intense.

Evans remains at the front with 230 points, but his lead has shrunk to 21 over Solberg and 17 over Pajari, who arrived in Chile as the only one with a mathematical chance of cutting into the gap after winning the last three rounds on the calendar in Estonia, Finland, and Paraguay. With Rally Italia Sardegna and Saudi Arabia as the two remaining rounds, and up to 35 points available per event, all three arrive at the final round with realistic chances. Ogier's second place also left a relevant statistical note, as he reached 120 podium finishes in a WRC event, the same figure as Sébastien Loeb, a nine-time champion like him.

In WRC2, Yohan Rossel took the category win driving a Lancia Ypsilon, the Italian manufacturer's first result on gravel since returning to the WRC this season. Robert Virves finished second and with that result clinched the WRC2 Challenger title, while also moving much closer to the overall WRC2 title, which he can only lose if Teemu Suninen makes up a 41-point deficit over the two remaining rounds. Gus Greensmith finished third for the second event in a row, and Taylor Gill ended up fourth after losing his chances of fighting for third when a tire was damaged on Saturday.

The weekend also closed out the Junior WRC championship, a category that went to Ali Türkkan after the event in Chile.

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The calendar continues on the first weekend of October with Rally Italia Sardegna, the penultimate round of the year, and there Evans would need to open a gap of at least 36 points over his two pursuers to clinch the title before the final round in Saudi Arabia. That November in Jeddah date remains on the official calendar, although the security situation in the region casts doubt on whether it will take place, and the FIA continues to evaluate the matter together with the teams before the Sardinia event.

WRC Overall - 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	2:57:08.2
2	1	Sébastien OGIER Vincent LANDAIS	Toyota Gazoo Racing Wrt	Toyota	Gr Yaris Rally1	+ 16.6
3	16	Adrien FOURMAUX Alexandre CORIA	Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team	Hyundai	I20 N Rally1	+ 33.3
4	5	Sami PAJARI Marko SALMINEN	Toyota Gazoo Racing Wrt2	Toyota	Gr Yaris Rally1	+ 1:33.9
5	33	Elfyn EVANS Scott MARTIN	Toyota Gazoo Racing Wrt	Toyota	Gr Yaris Rally1	+ 2:22.3
6	4	Esapekka LAPPI Enni MÄLKÖNEN	Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team	Hyundai	I20 N Rally1	+ 5:07.0
7	55	Joshua MCERLEAN Eoin TREACY	M-sport Ford World Rally Team	Ford	Puma Rally1	+ 7:31.5
8	95	Jon ARMSTRONG Shane BYRNE	M-sport Ford World Rally Team	Ford	Puma Rally1	+ 51:08.2
9	18	Takamoto KATSUTA James FULTON	Toyota Gazoo Racing Wrt	Toyota	Gr Yaris Rally1	+ 62:18.2
10	23	Yohan ROSSEL Arnaud DUNAND	Lancia Corse Hf	Lancia	Ypsilon Hf	+ 9:31.0
11	20	Robert VIRVES Jakko VIILO	Toksport Wrt 2	Skoda	Fabia Rs	+ 10:24.0
12	26	Gus GREENSMITH Jonas ANDERSSON	Gus Greensmith	Toyota	Gr Yaris	+ 10:58.2
13	28	Taylor GILL Daniel BRKIC	Toksport Wrt 2	Skoda	Fabia Rs	+ 11:21.2
14	31	Jorge MARTÍNEZ Rubén GARCÍA	Jorge Martínez	Skoda	Fabia Rs	+ 13:48.1
15	25	Diego DOMÍNGUEZ Rogelio PEÑATE	Diego Domínguez	Toyota	Gr Yaris	+ 13:55.2
16	32	Alberto HELLER Luis ALLENDE	Alberto Heller	Toyota	Gr Yaris	+ 14:35.3
17	35	Emilio ROSSELOT Matías LEIVA	Emilio Rosselot	Citroen	C3	+ 18:17.9
18	34	Pedro HELLER Pablo OLMOS	Pedro Heller	Toyota	Gr Yaris	+ 18:21.5
19	37	Adrien MOSCA Julie AMBLARD	Printsport	Toyota	Gr Yaris	+ 19:29.2
20	38	Miguel GRANADOS Marc MARTÍ	Miguel Granados	Skoda	Fabia Rs	+ 27:01.7
21	54	Leevi LASSILA Mikko LUKKA	Leevi Lassila	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	+ 20:46.4
22	52	Ali TÜRKKAN Bilge AYAN	Castrol Ford Team Türkiye	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	+ 22:06.7
23	57	Craig RAHILL Conor SMITH	Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	+ 24:44.7
24	50	Felipe PADILLA Sebastián OLGUÍN	Felipe Padilla	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	+ 25:55.0
25	59	Alex HEILBRUNN Juan CILLONIZ	Alex Heilbrunn	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	+ 28:12.0
26	40	André MARTÍNEZ Matias ARANGUREN	André Martínez	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	+ 28:28.4
27	45	Eduardo CASTRO Javiera ROMÁN	Eduardo Castro	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	+ 29:06.7
28	53	Gil MEMBRADO Adrián PÉREZ	Gil Membrado	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	+ 29:19.6
29	49	Patricio MUÑOZ Miguel RECALT	Patricio Muñoz	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	+ 31:27.0
30	44	Dean MASCARENHAS Gagan KARUMBAIAH	Dean Mascarenhas	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	+ 35:20.8
31	61	Jorge MARTÍNEZ Juan Pablo MONASTEROLO	Jorge Martínez	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	+ 38:52.5
32	47	Carlos PRIETO Juan VARELA	Carlos Prieto	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	+ 40:00.6
33	39	Eric ROYÈRE Maxime ANDERNACK	Eric Royère	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	+ 42:03.5
34	42	Georgios VASILAKIS Allan HARRYMAN	Georgios Vasilakis	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	+ 46:08.0
35	43	Naveen PULLIGILLA Musa SHERIF	Naveen Pulligilla	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	+ 55:45.6
36	65	Marcelo PÉREZ Enrique PÉREZ	Marcelo Perez	Peugeot	208 Rally4	+ 56:11.3