WRC 2026 result after Round 6: Rally de Portugal

Toyota Gazoo Racing continued its 2026 FIA World Rally Championship campaign with a double podium finish in round six – an unexpected twist in what had been a thrilling and demanding event. How did this WRC 2026 result on Rally de Portugal play out? Read on as we review each day’s activities.

WRC 2026 result: Rally de Portugal

Toyota arrived in Portugal in the best possible position, having won every event in the WRC 2026 season so far. Although the gravel roads of this round presented a very different challenge to the previous five, the terrain has proved successful. Toyota has won the last six editions, so the team was confident of continuing that unbroken form and consolidating its leading championship positions.

Rally de Portugal is a founding round of the WRC. The event is based in the north of the country, close to the second-largest city of Porto. Large numbers of passionate fans line the stages, which are fast but technical in nature, with a surface that starts out soft and sandy but often becomes rocky and rutted come the second pass.

Day 1

The event began with two of the longest and most demanding rounds of the entire season, each of which took drivers from the start line straight into a full-length gravel test. Times were exceptionally close in the opening 9.34-mile stage, with just five seconds covering the top seven – a seven that included all five Toyota drivers.

The 12.5-mile second stage provided more opportunities to make a difference. Here, Oliver Solberg bounced back from the disappointment of his final-day retirement in round five to set the fastest time and take the rally lead. And after the traditional seaside super special that rounded out the day, the Swede’s overall advantage stood at 3.4 seconds. Sébastien Ogier climbed into third, while Elfyn Evans finished fifth having faced more road opening duties than other drivers.

Similar challenges were experienced by Takamoto Katsuta and Sami Pajari, who, for the first time in their careers, were among the earliest starters. Having begun in second and third place on the road, the drivers fought gamely and concluded in sixth and eighth places.

WRC 2026 result: Day 2

Day two’s curve ball was that the majority of roads that had been part of the rally route for many years were run in the opposite direction to usual. There was also no opportunity for the cars to receive full mechanical attention until they returned to the service park after completing the day’s seven stages.

Among the Toyota contingent, Pajari made the strongest start, winning the first two stages as he climbed from sixth to second overall across the morning loop. Ogier was just 0.3 seconds further back by the mid-day break, where the regulations allowed the team to make some minor set-up changes. Following this tweak to the suspension, the Frenchman’s form improved significantly. He claimed three consecutive stage wins and moved to the front of the overall order.

Pajari continued to show good pace but a spin in stage nine dropped him to third, while a similar incident for Solberg made him slip from first to fifth before recovering strongly to finish in fourth. Meanwhile, championship leader Evans faced another day of gravel sweeping and remained in fifth. Katsuta concluded two places further back in seventh.

Day 3

The long day three consisted of nine stages totalling some 90 miles. These stages to the north-east of Porto were generally softer and sandier than those already run to the south, but deep ruts and heavy rain made the surface extremely slippery at points.

Ogier started the day with a 3.7 second lead and responded to the initial pressure by increasing that advantage to more than eight seconds after the morning’s three stages. The forecasted rain arrived in force for the final stage of the morning and turned the leaderboard upside down. Solberg excelled in these slippery conditions and made the remarkable vault from fourth to first, having previously been almost 19 seconds behind.

However, the afternoon loop began dry and Ogier immediately reclaimed his lead, while team-mate Solberg lost almost everything he’d gained during the morning when one of his front tyres came off the wheel rim. Ogier’s advantage remained slim going into the second pass of the rally’s longest stage. This time, and despite the wettest conditions experienced so far, the nine-time world champion produced a masterclass performance and extended his lead to 16 seconds. Another stage win followed, and after a very wet and muddy super special, Ogier’s lead stood at almost 22 seconds going into the final day.

Day 4

The final day started with all five GR Yaris Rally1 drivers within the top seven. Ogier’s win appeared to be guaranteed, and even though his advantage slimmed to 17.3 seconds after the day’s first two sandy stages, his position remained strong. But then in the rutted and rocky conditions of the penultimate stage he and co-driver Vincent Landais were forced to stop and change a wheel. This lost the pair around two minutes… as well as the rally win. They were not alone either. The same stage delivered a puncture to third-placed Pajari, which ultimately denied him a fifth consecutive podium finish.

The positive from this unfortunate situation was that both Solberg (above) and Evans moved up into the podium places and secured second and third overall respectively. They also finished first and second in the Super Sunday classification to secure valuable extra championship points. Evans was the team’s fastest driver in the rally-ending Power Stage, and extended his lead in the drivers’ championship to 12 points over team-mate Katsuta.

WRC 2026 result in Round 6: Rally de Portugal

WRC 2026 championship: drivers and co-drivers

WRC 2026 championship: manufacturers

WRC 2026: Where next?

Round seven sees the WRC take on Rally Japan, which has been moved forwards from its usual slot in November. Seen as one of two ‘home’ events for the Toyota Gazoo Racing rally team, it takes place on 28-31 May and runs on the twisting asphalt roads in the mountains of the Aichi and Gifu prefectures.

Learn more: How did last year’s WRC end for Toyota?