WRC 2026 result after Round 13: Rally Italia Sardegna

Toyota Gazoo Racing driver Elfyn Evans and co-driver Scott Martin used the final event in the 2026 FIA World Rally Championship to secure their first championship titles in a thrilling intra-team battle at Rally Italia Sardegna. How did this superb WRC 2026 result play out, and what other dramas took place? Read on as we review each day’s activities.

WRC 2026: Rally Italia Sardegna

Following the cancellation of Rally Saudi Arabia due to ongoing uncertainty in the region, Rally Italia Sardegna became the WRC 2026 season’s finale. Not only did this island event decide the drivers’ and co-drivers’ championships (Toyota had already secured its sixth successive manufacturers’ title in round 12), it marked a farewell for the GR Yaris Rally1 car. Across five seasons the little Toyota established itself as the most successful car in WRC history – its 47 victories being more than any other model under any previous set of regulations.

Rally Italia Sardegna was moved from its usual June position to October this year. While that brought some relief in terms of temperature, the rocky and abrasive roads (see above) provided the same tough challenge for tyres and cars.

Day 1

Fresh from his victory in Rally Chile, Oliver Solberg set the fastest time during the morning’s pre-event shakedown as teams and drivers made their final checks and tweaks before the competitive action got underway.

The Swedish driver then went full-send in the afternoon’s super special, besting team-mate Sébastien Ogier by 0.8 seconds to lead a strong 1-2-3-4 for Toyota. Ogier set a record of his own, however, surpassing the WRC event tally of his team principal Jari-Matti Latvala. Elfyn Evans (above) and Sami Pajari raced side-by-side through the stage and secured third and fourth.

Day 2

Following the previous day’s short super special, crews now faced two loops of demanding gravel stages. These proved hardest for championship front-runners Evans (below), Pajari and Solberg, who were tasked with cleaning a line through the loose, sandy gravel for everyone else to follow.

Coming into day two, Solberg (below) was leading the rally but dropped to seventh after sustaining a puncture near the end of the morning’s first stage. However, he fought back strongly and won the morning’s final test to move back up into third, just ahead of Pajari. Ogier similarly lost time with tyre damage but ended the morning in fifth. Evans rounded out the top six.

Solberg maintained third through the afternoon, while Ogier moved ahead of Pajari. Meanwhile, Evans ended the day just over a minute behind the leader in sixth place – but importantly, still leading the drivers’ championship standings.

WRC 2026: Day 3

The longest day threw something of a spanner into the works for some. Not for Solberg, however. Beginning the morning loop in third, the young Swede climbed an additional position in the opening stage when a rival was slowed by a loss of tyre pressure. And then he claimed a pair of stage wins to catch and pass the front-runner to seize the lead – a valuable position in his bid to close the 21-point deficit between him and championship leader Evans (below).

Coming into the afternoon, Solberg’s lead stood at just 2.7 seconds. But when his second-placed rival stopped with vehicle damage in the first stage, that lead grew to 36.6 seconds. Team-mate Ogier then took second place and secured two stage wins of his own, while Pajari and Evans also benefited from the rival manufacturer’s misfortune and moved up into third and fourth respectively. Having had problems on the previous two days, Takamoto finally enjoyed a trouble-free day and moved up into sixth.

Day 4

Coming into day four, Solberg was leading the rally and Evans was fifth. The virtual gap between these two championship contenders had been reduced to six points, which meant that the winner would be decided by the ten bonus points available across the Super Sunday and Power Stage classifications.

Continuing to show impressive pace, Solberg established an early lead in the Sunday standings with a strong stage win in the opening test, but the subsequent stage – noted for its sandy downhill finish – provided a different dynamic as conditions deteriorated for later runners.

A major development occurred in the second pass of the first test when Evans stopped to change a wheel and conceded almost two minutes. While he held on to fifth overall, the Welshman dropped out of contention for Sunday points and headed into the rally-ending Power Stage with a virtual lead of just one point over Solberg.

This meant that the final stage of the season effectively became a straight shootout between the two – whoever set the quicker time would be the drivers’ world champion. Knowing the time of Evans (below right) that he had to beat, Solberg (below left) was a shade faster on the split times during a committed run but ran off the road in the final stretch. He managed to get back on the road and secured the overall victory in Rally Italia Sardegna but finished the stage 8.9 seconds down on Evans.

Evans and co-driver Scott Martin’s first world title represents a hard-earned reward after seven seasons consistently fighting at the front of the field, during which they finished as championship runners-up in five of the previous six years. Evans is the first Welsh driver to ever win the title, and Martin is the first English co-driver to win the title.

This year marks the seventh time in eight years that a Toyota crew has been crowned world champions, and the fifth time in six years that the team has swept all three championships. Solberg’s victory also represented Toyota’s 12th win from 13 rallies this season (now 48th in total) in the outgoing GR Yaris Rally1 machine. New technical regulations are being introduced for 2027, which means the team has to prepare a new car – more information on this will be released at a later time.

WRC 2026 result in Round 13: Rally Italia Sardegna

POSITION	TEAM	DRIVERS	VARIATION
1	Toyota Gazoo Racing	Solberg / Edmondson
2	Toyota Gazoo Racing	Ogier / Landais	+ 57.6s
3	Toyota Gazoo Racing	Pajari / Salminen	+ 1m 37.4s
4	Hyundai Shell Mobis	Fourmaux / Coria	+ 2m 38.6s
5	Toyota Gazoo Racing	Evans / Martin	+ 4m 48.1s
6	Toyota Gazoo Racing	Katsuta / Johnston	+ 6m 02.4s
7	Ford M-Sport	Armstrong / Byrne	+ 7m 32.2s

WRC 2026 championship: drivers and co-drivers

POSITION	TEAM	DRIVERS	POINTS
1	Toyota Gazoo Racing	Evans / Martin	243
2	Toyota Gazoo Racing	Solberg / Edmondson	238
3	Toyota Gazoo Racing	Pajari / Salminen	237
4	Toyota Gazoo Racing	Ogier / Landais	189
5	Hyundai Shell Mobis	Fourmaux / Coria	183
6	Toyota Gazoo Racing	Katsuta / Johnston	175
7	Hyundai Shell Mobis	Neuville / Wydaeghe	134
8	Hyundai Shell Mobis	Paddon / Kennard	38
9	Ford M-Sport	McErlean / Treacy	35
10	Hyundai Shell Mobis	Lappi / Mälkönen	33

WRC 2026 championship: manufacturers

POSITION	TEAM	POINTS
1	Toyota Gazoo Racing	662
2	Hyundai Shell Mobis	440
4	Ford M-Sport	168

WRC 2027: Where next?

The FIA is expected to release the official WRC 2027 calendar later this month. But we already know that it will feature the full 14 rounds and include a new Rally Scotland event.

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