Evans clinches WRC crown after Solberg crash
Going into the Sardinia finale, Evans and co‑driver Scott Martin held a 21‑point lead, which had narrowed to a single point after the penultimate rally.
Elfyn Evans secured the 2026 World Rally Championship title after Oliver Solberg crashed on the final stage of the Rally Italia Sardegna, handing the Briton his first world crown in 25 years.
Going into the Sardinia finale, Evans and co‑driver Scott Martin held a 21‑point lead, which had narrowed to a single point after the penultimate rally.
Solberg, 25, needed only to outpace his Toyota teammate on the last kilometre to claim enough bonus points for the championship, but his car left the road with less than 100 metres to go.
“It hasn’t sunk in,” said a shocked Evans, who became the first British world champion in 25 years. “I was sure it was over.”
I feel for Oliver, he had an incredible weekend.
The crash meant Solberg finished five points behind Evans in the overall standings, while fellow Toyota driver Sami Pajari ended the season a further point back in third place.
Evans, 37, described his reaction as “surreal” and “a relief”, adding that the victory “wouldn’t by my proudest way of winning it, but it’s job done.”
Toyota sporting director Kaj Lindström admitted the ending was unexpected, calling it “the hardest thing” and praising Solberg’s “all or nothing” effort.
Solberg, whose father Petter won the title in 2003, had already won the rally itself by almost a minute ahead of nine‑time champion Sébastien Ogier, who also finished second.
Ogier, driving for Toyota, was poised to collect a maximum 35 points on the final stage, which would have been enough for the title had Solberg not crashed.
The Sardinia rally also marked the end of a shortened 13‑round season after the Saudi Arabia event was cancelled amid Middle‑East unrest.
Irish rookie Jon Armstrong, competing in his first full WRC season, achieved a career‑best seventh place, describing the weekend as “a clean weekend with a strong result”.
“It’s not been an easy year and this was a rally to show we can put it together.”
Armstrong’s M‑Sport Ford teammate Josh McErlean, who had run as high as sixth on Saturday, retired after a tree collision and later finished ninth in the championship.
Final rally classification saw Solberg first in 3 h 24 min 57.0 s, Ogier second (+57.6 s), Pajari third (+1 min 37.4 s), Adrien Formaux fourth (+2 min 38.6 s), Evans fifth (+4 min 48.1 s) and Takamoto Katsuta sixth (+6 min 02.4 s). Armstrong rounded the top seven.
In the drivers’ championship, Evans topped the table with 243 points, followed by Thierry Neuville on 134, while fellow Briton Gus Greensmith placed 15th with 14 points.
Evans joins Colin McRae (1995) and Richard Burns (2001) as the only British men to have lifted the WRC trophy.