Oliver Solberg wins Rally Chile as Toyota clinches 2026 WRC manufacturers' title

Rally victory and manufacturers' title

Oliver Solberg and co-driver Elliott Edmondson secured victory at Rally Chile on Sunday, completing the 16 gravel stages in a total time of 2:57:08.2. Driving for Toyota, the 24-year-old Swedish driver led the majority of the 311-kilometre event to claim his second victory of the 2026 World Rally Championship season, following an opening-round win at Rally Monte-Carlo. Ten Rally1 category cars contested the twelfth round across varying weather and gravel conditions in the South American nation. The result mathematically clinched the 2026 WRC manufacturers' championship for Toyota, marking the Japanese constructor's fifth consecutive title and tenth overall crown with two rounds left in the season.

“It was an unbelievable weekend. We had an up-and-down season, but the team supported us and always believed. This was a perfect weekend.”

Puncture reshuffles final stages

Solberg entered Sunday's final leg holding a 19.1-second advantage over Toyota teammate and championship leader Elfyn Evans. Evans cut the deficit to 14.5 seconds by winning the opening run through the Carampangue stage. Solberg answered on the subsequent BioBío test, beating Evans by 1.3 seconds despite sustaining a right-rear tyre puncture near the finish line. The contest shifted on the penultimate stage when Evans suffered a puncture of his own and stopped to change the wheel, losing more than two minutes and dropping from second to fifth place overall. Sébastien Ogier won that penultimate test by 5.4 seconds over Adrien Fourmaux to move into second position. Solberg then posted the fastest time on the concluding power stage, edging Evans by 0.5 seconds to wrap up the event with a 16.6-second winning margin.

Standings tightened and milestone podiums

The outcome in Chile compressed the fight for the 2026 drivers' championship with two rounds remaining. Evans continues to lead the championship standings, but fourth-place finisher Sami Pajari reduced his deficit to 17 points, while Solberg narrowed his gap to the top to 21 points. Second place allowed Ogier to collect his 120th career WRC podium finish, matching the benchmark held by Sébastien Loeb. Fourmaux took third place in his Hyundai i20, finishing 33.3 seconds behind Solberg to score the 13th podium of his career. Pajari finished fourth overall, 1:33.9 behind Solberg, while Evans recovered to take fifth place, 2:22.3 adrift of the winner. Esapekka Lappi finished sixth in a Hyundai, Josh McErlean took seventh in a Ford Puma, and WRC2 class winner Yohan Rossel placed eighth overall in a Lancia Ypsilon.

Sami Pajari17

Oliver Solberg21

Sami Pajari

17 points

Oliver Solberg

21 points

Data from the article text

Incidents and retirements across the field

The loose gravel tracks in Chile caused several severe retirements among the ten Rally1 entries competing across Toyota, Hyundai, and M-Sport Ford. Hyundai driver Thierry Neuville suffered a high-speed rollover on Saturday that destroyed his Hyundai i20. Neuville and his co-driver Martijn Wydaeghe escaped without injury, but the damage forced their immediate retirement from the rally, following an earlier suspension failure in Paraguay. Hyundai officials confirmed the crew will return for the next round in Sardinia at the start of October. The privateer M-Sport squad also endured damage when the Ford Puma crew of Jon Armstrong and Shane Byrne rolled their car during Saturday's running, prompting their withdrawal for the day.