Solberg stretches Chile lead as WRC title stakes rise

Swede ends Saturday in command as Chile battle heats up

Oliver Solberg will take a 19.1sec Rally Chile BIOBÍO lead into Sunday’s finale after a commanding response on Saturday’s final stage, while the battle behind him intensified around FIA World Rally Championship leader Elfyn Evans.

Solberg began the WRC’s longest day 10.1sec clear of Evans but faced sustained pressure as Sébastien Ogier produced a formidable charge, winning four of Saturday’s six stages and at one point moving to within touching distance of second place.

Yet, when the 28.31km María las Cruces test brought a punishing 139.2km day to its conclusion, Solberg delivered his answer.

The Toyota driver was fastest by 3.7sec over Evans and 4.7sec over Ogier, almost doubling his advantage and leaving himself four stages away from a third career WRC victory.

“That is the key. Every time, every year. You have to wait with your tyres to the end then go flat out,” Solberg joked at the finish.

“We have a small gap which is very nice. I will do my very best on Sunday.”

Victory would add another major chapter to Solberg’s rapid rise at rallying’s highest level. His breakthrough WRC win came on his Rally1 Toyota debut in Estonia last season, before he opened 2026 with victory at Rallye Monte-Carlo.

He has also tasted success twice previously in Chile at WRC2 level.

Saturday had looked far less comfortable earlier in the day.

Ogier was the morning’s dominant force, winning Pelún and Lota as Solberg struggled with the loose surface and the balance of his GR Yaris Rally1.

The nine-time world champion continued his attack after service, again topping both Pelún and Lota to put increasing pressure on Evans.

After SS11, just three-tenths separated Evans and Ogier in the fight for second, while Solberg’s lead had grown to 15.4sec.

Evans responded when he needed to on the final stage. Despite admitting he had not been satisfied with his afternoon, the championship leader beat Ogier by 1.0sec to preserve second place by 1.3sec overnight.

“It was a clean drive,” Evans said. “We benefited from new tyres but the damage was done in the previous two stages. I can’t be fully satisfied with the afternoon. We hoped to be faster. We keep going.”

Ogier, who started Saturday fourth and 19.7sec from the lead, ends it third and only 20.4sec behind Solberg.

“It is fine,” was his succinct assessment. “It is going to be a nice Sunday.”

Adrien Fourmaux remains firmly in the podium fight, although a three-soft-tyre gamble on the final stage backfired and dropped the Hyundai driver 10.7sec behind Ogier in fourth.

Sami Pajari, meanwhile, reaches Sunday in a lonely fifth position, 1min 15.5sec from the lead. After winning the previous three rallies in Estonia, Finland and Paraguay, the Finn struggled throughout Saturday to find the pace and confidence he wanted.

“Not so many stories to tell from today,” Pajari admitted. “We are not quite on the pace where we would like to be.

“There is a lot of discussion about road position playing a big role, but still at the end of the day the pace is not what we wanted. Hopefully we can be quicker in Super Sunday.”

His position gives Sunday particular significance for the drivers’ championship.

Evans arrived in Chile 20 points ahead of Pajari, with Solberg a further 21 behind. If the current overall order were to remain unchanged, the base rally points would increase Evans’ advantage over Pajari to 27 points, while Solberg would close to just six points behind Pajari for second in the championship before Sunday and Wolf Power Stage bonus points are added.

Toyota also stands on the brink of another manufacturers’ world title.

The Japanese marque arrived in Chile with a 173-point lead over Hyundai and requiring only seven points from the rally to make the championship mathematically secure.

With Evans and Ogier currently second and third, Toyota is firmly on course to complete the job on Sunday.

Behind Pajari, Esapekka Lappi holds sixth ahead of M-Sport Ford’s Josh McErlean.

Thierry Neuville will not restart on Sunday following his high-speed roll on Saturday morning, while Jon Armstrong was also forced out of the leg after rolling his Ford Puma Rally1 onto its side on SS8.

Yohan Rossel leads WRC2 after Friday pacesetter Nikolay Gryazin rolled out on Saturday morning, with championship leader Robert Virves 58.0sec behind the Frenchman.

Sunday brings 71.2 competitive kilometres across four stages, with two runs each through the new Carampangue test and BIOBÍO, the latter hosting the rally-ending Wolf Power Stage.

Standings after Saturday (SS12 /16):

O Solberg / E Edmondson SWE Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 2h 17m 09.5s

E Evans / S Martin GBR Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +19.1s

S Ogier / V Landais FRA Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +20.4s

A Fourmaux / A Coria FRA Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +31.1s

S Pajari / M Salminen FIN Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +1m 15.5s

E Lappi / E Mälkönen FIN Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +4m 10.1s