WRC title showdown: What Evans, Pajari and Solberg need in Sardinia
The fight for the 2026 World Rally Championship is set to go down to the wire with Toyota trio Elfyn Evans, Sami Pajari and Oliver Solberg all in contention to claim a maiden title in Sardinia. On paper championship leader Evans is the favourite given his 17-point lead over Pajari with Solberg only four points further back with 35 points to play for. However, Evans will need to score 19 points…
Oliver Solberg, a title contender in the World Rally Championship, took the early lead in the Rally Italy Sardinia championship showdown after winning Thursday's super special stage. The Norwegian driver starts the rally 21 points behind championship leader and Toyota team-mate Elfyn Evans. Solberg's victory in the technical test stage showed his potential to challenge for a maiden world title.
However, he acknowledged the challenges ahead and expressed his determination to stay out of trouble. Solberg's time surpassed the previous benchmark set by his team-mate Sebastien Ogier, who had edged Hyundai's Thierry Neuville by 1.5 seconds in their head-to-head. Elfyn Evans, currently the championship leader, finished third overall, 1.1 seconds behind Solberg.
Elfyn's main rival, Sami Pajari, secured fourth place, just 0.8 seconds ahead of Hyundai's Thierry Neuville. Dani Sordo, a returning Hyundai driver, finished sixth fastest on the super special stage, trailing the lead by 22.4 seconds due to two separate 10-second time penalties.
Written by urgent.news from Motorsport.com's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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