Elfyn Evans extended his lead in the World Rally Championship standings with victory at the Forum8 Rally Japan.
In an event dominated by Toyota in their homeland, the Welshman took the lead on stage two and never looked back. He showed great consistency and skill to take his his third Rally Japan win , the 13th of his career, and on the final tarmac event of the Rally1 era.
Held on tarmac over the course of 20 stages, Rally Japan is set on tight and twisty asphalt roads lined by trees; there’s little room for error.
It was reigning champion Seb Ogier who was fastest on the pre-event shakedown, with Toyota laying down the marker from the start.
Home hero Takamoto Katsuta couldn’t have had a worse start to the rally. A puncture on Special Stage One before he slid off on SS3, losing him 43 seconds and with it, a chance of victory.
Hyundai, fresh off victory in the previous round in Portugal with Thierry Neuville, struggled throughout the event, with Neuville, Hayden Paddon and Adrien Fourmaux all suffering with understeer on day one. The hard tyres once the rain cleared just weren’t giving Neuville the grip he needed.
Evans ended Day One with a 15 second lead over Oliver Solberg with Ogier third. Neuville sat fourth after a difficult opening day.
Solberg came out firing on Day Two, he went fastest on SS7, the first run through Obara before Evans fought back taking victory on SS8. Solberg responded once again with another stage win on SS9, another run through Obara. However that would be the end of Solberg’s involvement on Saturday. He was fighting too hard when he lost the back end on a left hand turn and clipped a tree on the outside, ruining his rear right wheel.
Sami Pajari was having a quiet rally, fifth at the end of Day One, he found pace to win SS11 and stake his claim for a podium spot now Solberg was out.
Hyundai and Ford couldn’t get near the Toyota drivers all weekend, with neither team managing to secure a stage win.
On the Fujoka Special Stage, Evans had his only slip up the whole rally. He took a left hand bend too quickly and almost understeered into a barrier. The Welshman got away with it with an incredible near miss.
He held a 17 second lead over Ogier by the end of Day Two.
Hyundai were settled in fifth, sixth and seventh in the overall standings, as Sunday belonged to the returning Solberg. Reeling from his Day Two retirement, the young Swede fought back to take maximum Sunday points, with victory on the Wolf Power Stage too.
Ogier ended the rally strong, and kept chipping away at Evans’ lead, but it wasn’t enough to overthrow the championship leader. Evans took victory, and extended his championship lead over Katsuta, who finished the event in fourth.
Gordon Shedden used all of his experience to take a determined win in Round 9 of the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship.
Shedden started on a reverse grid pole and his Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport Toyota came under significant pressure from championship leader Ash Sutton late on, while Tom Ingram was third on the road as he charged from last on the grid, before a track limits penalty dropped him to 8th. Daryl De Leon of WSR inherited third position.
The three-time champion did well to ward off the challenges of the Cataclean Plato Racing duo of Dan Rowbottom and Adam Morgan in the early laps before they faded late on, and led a peaceful existence in the lead until Sutton passed Morgan with an excellent move into Agostini.
From there it was the boost-laden Toyota against the Ford/Sutton combination with only a single lap of boost to its name, and it looked as if Sutton would win out as a move around the outside at Turn One briefly had him in the lead, but Shedden held the inside to repel an inspired Sutton.
Further back, it was a return to form for the West Surrey Racing BMW duo of Daryl De Leon and Charles Rainford, as they climbed from 10th and 8th on the grid to record 3rd and 5th place finishes respectively either side of Restart Racing’s Chris Smiley.
Morgan fell back to 6th as his boost ran out with Tom Chilton 7th. The top 10 was rounded out by Dan Cammish’s 9th placed NAPA Racing Ford Focus and Rowbottom, who faded badly on medium tyres.
It was an emotional podium at the end of race three, as Nicholas Hamilton won the Jack Sears Trophy in scenes that united the entire BTCC paddock.
Ash Sutton took a remarkable British Touring Car Championship victory from 11th on the grid in a chaotic Race 2 at Snetterton to extend his lead at the top of the Championship to 48 points.
He led home Team Vertu duo Ricky Collard and Tom Chilton, while Suttons championship rival Tom Ingram in another Vertu Hyundai retired with a loss of drive, after a significant lock up on lap 8 saw him drop from the lead to 5th under pressure from Sutton’s NAPA Ford.
The race started with Ingram making an early move on polesitter Charles Rainford after holding off the other WSR BMW of Daryl De Leon, and the race seemed to settle down as De Leon held back the NAPA Ford of Dan Cammish and Ricky Collard’s fast starting Hyundai, while Josh Cook dropped back from fourth on the grid in his Toyota Gazoo Racing Corolla.
That all changed midway through the race.
Sutton had been steadily gaining places after his start took him to 8th from 11th and once he eventually deposed Collard from 5th, he was quickly into the medium shod and comparatively boost starved BMWs of De Leon and Rainford, with Cammish passing De Leon for third on lap 6.
De Leon quickly fell backwards as Sutton and Rowbottom both shuffled the BMW backwards, where he would eventually end up tenth.
Sutton easily dealt with teammate Cammish and Rainford’s BMW before he attacked Ingram into Riches. Ingram covered off the inside but on the brakes into Wilson, he locked up and went off to allow Sutton, Cammish, Collard and Chilton through.
An alternator failure on lap 10 proved Ingram’s undoing, while Collard and Chilton both passed Cammish at the end of the race to get onto the podium.
Gordon Shedden in the Laser Tools with MB Motorsport Toyota was seventh overall to take Independent honours ahead of Rainford in 8th.
West Surrey Racing’s Charles Rainford took his second career victory in Race One of the day’s British Touring Car Championship action.
Rainford won yesterday’s pole race and was never troubled after an excellent start to win ahead of Vertu Hyundai’s Tom Ingram, while Rainford’s WSR teammate Daryl De Leon was a storming third from sixth on the grid.
The result sees Sutton’s lead at the top over Ingram fall to 26 points ahead of last season’s champion Ingram, while Rainford is now third overall and atop of the Independents’ Championship.
They were followed by Josh Cook in fourth ahead of Dan Cammish, while Dan Rowbottom reacted to a tough Brands Hatch weekend with 6th place.
Tom Chilton lead home Vertu Hyundai teammate Ricky Collard, while James Dorlin continued his good form in his Restart Racing Hyundai with 9th ahead of NAPA Racing’s Sam Osborne.
Ingram passed Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Josh Cook for second on the opening lap with an excellent switch back move on the Snetterton 300’s tight and twisty infield section, but settled for second stating later that “there was an adult in his head” when thinking about chasing the BMW in the lead.
De Leon in his fast starting BMW passed the Cataclean Plato Racing Mercedes of Dan Rowbottom off the line for fifth but didn’t make any further moves until a blistering lap 9.
There, he first despatched Dan Cammish’s NAPA Racing Ford at the end of the Bentley straight into Brundle, before a lovely late braking move on Cook’s Toyota into Agostini half a lap later.
Further back, championship leader Ashley Sutton recovered to 11th from last on the grid following technical troubles in yesterday’s Race to Pole, in no small part due to a stunning lap 1 in which he gained 8 places to move up to 13th.
Charles Rainford will start from pole position following victory in the BTCC Race To Pole at Snetterton on Saturday afternoon.
Rainford led home Toyota Gazoo’s Josh Cook and Tom Ingram’s VERTU Hyundai, while Championship leader Ashley Sutton suffered a technical issue to drop to the back of the field.
The result sees Ingram close the gap between himself and Sutton in the standings to 39 points, with the Ford driver still in a very strong position after just six rounds.
WSR BMW driver Rainford passed Vertu Hyundai’s Tom Chilton on lap 1 in a move that ultimately relegated to polesitter to 6th on the first lap, with Cook, Ingram, Ash Sutton and Cammish all profiting from a robust move around the Snetterton 300’s infield section.
Chilton would receive a 5s penalty for a starting offence to drop to eighth at race end, while Cammish bump drafted teammate Sutton to third into Nelson’s on the first lap as the field jostled for position.
Sutton suffered a tyre failure on lap 3 at Murrays to relinquish third and headed to the pit lane to correct this, and he will start from 21st after suffering similar trouble at the season opening Donington Park round.
He finished Race One in 2nd on that occasion, but with the lowest Toca Boost available of anyone in the field he’ll have it all to do to repeat that feat.
Provisional Starting Grid For Round 7 of the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship at Snetterton:
Charles Rainford, West Surrey Racing
Josh Cook, Toyota Gazoo Racing
Tom Ingram, Team Vertu
Dan Cammish, Alliance NAPA Racing UK
Dan Rowbottom, Cataclean Plato Racing
Daryl De Leon, West Surrey Racing
Adam Morgan, Cataclean Plato Racing
Tom Chilton, Team Vertu
James Dorlin, Restart Racing
Sam Osborne, Alliance NAPA Racing UK
Dexter Patterson, Steel Seal With Power Maxed Racing
Ricky Collard, Team Vertu
Gordon Shedden, Laser Tools with MB Motorsport
Chris Smiley, Restart Racing
Mikey Doble, LKQ Euro Car Parts with Power Maxed Racing
Nicholas Hamilton, Team Vertu
Lewis Selby, Alliance NAPA Racing UK
Max Buxton, Toyota Gazoo Racing
Aiden Moffat, LKQ Euro Car Parts with Power Maxed Racing
We came then to the final day of this amazing rally and with almost 67 kilometres over four stages to run, what would they hold for the crews? Josh and Eoin would return to the action and open the road throughout the stages after the M-Sport Ford team completed rebuilding the Puma at around three o’clock. It was an amazing feat from the team.
First up was SS20 Vieira do Minho 1 and the rain which was expected had arrived making the stage super tricky. Elfyn would set the pace from Oliver and Thierry whilst rally leader Seb was fifth. The Frenchman saw his lead trimmed to just over fourteen seconds. It was a good start to the day from Elfyn who led the super Sunday standings from Oliver.
The first run of SS21 Fafe 1 saw the rain move through the stage changing the road surface. Josh set the pace from Martins for the Rally1 crews. However incredibly the later Rally2 crews came through with better road conditions and the Irishman’s time was beaten by Robert Virves by almost nine seconds in his Skoda Fabia. Interestingly Seb added a few seconds to his lead over Thierry as they set the sixth and twelfth fastest time respectively. Meanwhile, Elfyn continued to lead the super Sunday standings from Oliver.
Then it was back to SS22 Vieira do Minho 2 and there was more rain coming through the stage as the crews came through. Adrien was fastest of the crews from Takamoto and Oliver. Elfyn was fifth fastest and almost eighteen seconds slower than Adrien, but only around eight seconds slower than Oliver. This did mean that Oliver moved to the head of the super Sunday standings. There was drama for two of the Toyota crews though as both Seb and Sami suffered punctures and as it was early in the stage they both stopped to change the wheel over. This all meant that they dropped positions in the overall standings. Seb emerged in sixth place whilst Sami was seventh. The Frenchman’s hope for an eighth victory was gone.
We came then to the final stage, SS23 Fafe 2, the powerstage and again the rain was coming and going in the area as the crews made their way through. Adrien was set the pace from Thierry and Elfyn whilst Oliver was fourth and Seb fifth fastest. Thierry and Martijn took victory for Hyundai, their first of the year, whilst Oliver and Elliott were second and Elfyn and Scott were third.
Let’s hear from the drivers and take a look at the final finishing positions.
Hyundai Motorsport
Thierry Neuville
“What a weekend! It has been crazy out there, and we have faced all kinds of conditions and emotions, but we have been consistent, fighting with the fastest on every stage, never really losing a lot of time. I think that is what gave us the final victory, as well as making no mistakes. We know the rally is never over until it’s over; the stress was very high on the last stage, but we made it. This win feels very special; as a team, we have been chasing this result for a while, and haven’t been rewarded, and I let the team down in Croatia. We needed to fight back, and the rally gods were with us this weekend. I’m very happy to bring home the first victory of the year for the team.”
2026 FIA World Rally Championship 06 Round, Rally de Portugal 06-10 May 2026 Photographer: Dufour Fabien Wordwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Adrien Fourmaux
“It has been a very positive weekend for the team here in Portugal, so we can be pleased to score 20 points as a crew and that Thierry and Martijn have taken the win. It’s a great result for the whole team, and with all the preparation we have done recently, I am pleased we are now enjoying some nice success. I’d like to say thank you to the team, and also thank you to the fans. It has been fantastic to see you all out in force even in the rain. Overall, it’s been a very challenging rally – but I think that’s why we love it.”
Dani Sordo
“I have to admit we are not very happy with our performance here in Portugal. It was a difficult rally with the weather, which made the conditions very slippery, and I didn’t feel good in the car. However, I am delighted for the team – everyone really deserves this victory, especially after what happened in Croatia, so very happy for this.”
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Oliver Solberg
“Firstly, I’m sorry to our team-mates who had been in front of us until the bad luck they had today. I think we all had our challenges this weekend. It’s been a tough event and a bit of a rollercoaster; we were up and down all weekend. After two tough rallies for me, and even if this one hasn’t been easy either, I’m very happy at least to finally be back on the podium with some good points. It’s a big relief. Thank you to the team for believing in me and our mechanics for always fixing the car.”
Elfyn Evans
“This has been a long event with very tough conditions and a lot of ups and downs. There were some moments where we had good pace, and others where I wasn’t so proud of my driving. I think there was potential for more, but we didn’t quite get it right. Our team-mates Seb and Sami have been unlucky today and I feel for them. I never want to gain positions that way, but it’s part of the sport sometimes. We’ll take the points and aim for more in Japan.”
Takamoto Katsuta
“This was a difficult weekend for us. We took a bit of a risk with the car setup at the beginning of the rally to help with my road position, and it didn’t really work out. Together with the team were able to make improvements and the feeling got much better during the weekend, but it was difficult to catch up to those ahead of us. In the end, with the bad luck our team-mates had today, we could score some decent points. Now I’m really looking forward to my home event, Rally Japan.”
Sébastien Ogier
“We had some tough luck today. In the beginning of this penultimate stage, it was very rutted and there were some rocks in the line; I don’t think we could have done much differently. Everything that we could control this weekend, I think we did it pretty well, together with the team. I think we all deserved better, but that’s rallying sometimes. Of course, when you put in so much effort it’s frustrating, but we have to forget about it and go to Japan and look to get another win there.”
Sami Pajari
“It’s disappointing what happened today, as everything had been going really well until then. From what I could see, there was a huge loose stone in the line, and we hit it and got a puncture. There was nothing much I could do. Otherwise, though it has been a good event for us. The performance was really strong, one of the best we’ve had so far. It’s always a pity when the reward doesn’t come our way, but we just need to take the many positives from this weekend and be even stronger on the next rallies.”
M-Sport Ford WRT
Mārtiņš Sesks
“Looking back at the weekend, there are a lot of positives we can take from this rally. We showed consistent performance throughout the whole weekend, having some top three times each day, which demonstrates that we have a good base. Now it’s up to taking the knowledge from here and trying to put it into our next rally in Greece.”
Josh McErlean
“Rally Portugal is done and dusted. It’s been quite competitive this weekend with plenty of ups and downs. We nearly secured the stage win today in Fafe, which was special, but we were just edged out at the very last minute. We faced some issues along the way, and unfortunately hit the wall in Lousasa on Saturday night, probably the worst wall you could hit in rallying! I want to give big thanks to the whole team for their tremendous effort to get us back out today. They were up quite late last night, so thanks to all the lads and ladies for that. Japan is next, and we’re looking forward to it and getting back on Tarmac, before the summer gravel rallies.”
Jon Armstrong
“It’s disappointing to retire while we were fighting our way back into the points after the mechanical issues on Friday. The margins are fine at this level, and unfortunately this time it didn’t go our way. Portugal is a great event, but it hasn’t been my luckiest yet. I’m really looking forward to the upcoming rallies and coming back stronger.”
Mille Johansson
“We showed some really good pace in the dry conditions, but the rain made it very difficult to find a rhythm and build confidence. I think we exceeded our expectations for this rally, particularly in the dry, and I’m happy with that. There are still a few things we need to work on, but overall, it’s been a very positive rally for us.”
Romet Jürgenson
“We experienced an impact from a rock early on that broke the steering rack, leaving us without power steering. The wisest option was to retire to fix it for the next day, as there was no service available on days one and two.
“On Friday, I was able to demonstrate decent speed through the stages. Saturday was challenging with torrential rain affecting our road position, making it difficult to commit fully without risk. Sunday’s weather was more favourable, allowing us to achieve some good stage times.
“Overall, there’s still work to do in my driving, particularly on the sandy stages, to extract the best performance from the vehicle. Despite the challenges, this event was an improvement compared to last year. We’re now focused on moving forward to our next competition in Japan.”
Rally de Portugal Final Classification
1
T. Neuville
M. Wydaeghe
Hyundai i20 N Rally1
03:53:01.7
2
O. Solberg
E. Edmondson
Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
+16.3
3
E. Evans
S. Martin
Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
+29.1
4
A. Fourmaux
A. Coria
Hyundai i20 N Rally1
+54.8
5
T. Katsuta
A. Johnston
Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
+1:12.6
6
S. Ogier
V. Landais
Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
+1:26.6
7
S. Pajari
M. Salminen
Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
+2:50.9
8
D. Sordo
C. Carrera
Hyundai i20 N Rally1
+4:10.0
9
M. Sesks
R. Francis
Ford Puma Rally1
+6:49.2
10
T. Suninen
J. Hussi
Toyota GR Yaris
+11:13.8
Super Sunday Classification – Rally de Portugal
1
O. Solberg
43:15.1
2
E. Evans
+4.2
3
A. Fourmaux
+4.3
4
T. Katsuta
+10.6
5
T. Neuville
+11.4
Summary
Well, what a rally we had and what a drive from Thierry and Martijn. They were there to benefit when Seb and Vincent had their puncture in the penultimate stage. The French crew in the Yaris on balance probably deserved victory but this is the way of rally and punctures are all part of the challenge.
Oliver and Elliott took a strong second position and also took the maximum points for super Sunday. This has given them a good boost of points in the championship, and they hold third in the championship.
Finally, Elfyn and Scott once again showed what a great partnership they have, taking third overall and good points as well to extend their championship lead over Takamoto and Aaron. It’s been a positive first half of the season for them and they’ll open the road next time in Japan.
2026 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers’ Standings
After round 6
1
E. Evans
123
2
T. Katsuta
111
3
O. Solberg
92
4
A. Fourmaux
79
5
S. Pajari
78
6
S. Ogier
67
7
T. Neuville
65
8
E. Lappi
21
9
Y. Rossel
20
10
L. Rossel
18
2026 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers’ Standings
After round 6
1
Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team
311
2
Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team
218
3
Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team 2
86
4
M-Sport Ford World Rally Team
71
Next up is Rally Japan which moves from November to May taking place over the weekend of 28 to 31 May.
Tom Ingram won his first race of the 2026 British Touring Car Championship with a dominant display at Brands Hatch.
Ingram took the win in his Vertu Racing Hyundai ahead of a hard charging Ash Sutton who took his third podium of the day in his NAPA Racing Ford, while Mikey Doble completed an excellent weekend with third overall and a victory in the Independents Championship in his LKQ Car Parts with Power Maxed Racing Audi.
Daryl De Leon was fourth for WSR ahead of Josh Cook and a recovering Adam Morgan, while Gordon Shedden recovered to seventh ahead of polesitter James Dorlin, who suffered on his medium tyres while those around him were on softs.
Ingram started the reverse grid race from fifth and was quickly up into the top two with an excellent start, and passed Sutton on the run to Clearways at the end of lap one.
He picked his way past Dorlin shortly after, while Doble then tried a double move from fourth to second – succeeding only in passing Sutton for third as Dorlin grimly held on.
That allowed Ingram to build a gap in tranquillity before Doble eventually passed Dorlin midway through the race, quickly followed by Sutton and De Leon as the Restart Racing Hyundai fell backwards.
Sutton eventually passed Doble three laps from the end but was unable to do anything about Ingram ahead, while Shedden passed Laser Tools MB Motorsport teammate Taylor-Smith and Dorlin on the final lap to steal seventh.
The weekend’s results leave Sutton on 129 points and with a mammoth 47 point lead over Ingram having finished no lower than second all season, with Mikey Doble in third on 68 points and in the lead of the Independents Championship ahead of a return to the scene of his first BTCC at Snetterton in 2025.
Aron Taylor-Smith won his first BTCC race since the Rockingham event of 2016 from 13th on the grid as rain created chaos for Race Two at Brands Hatch.
The Irishman worked his way up the field as chaos ensued ahead as Ricky Collard and Ash Sutton traded paintwork for the lead – Collard would eventually take third behind Sutton’s Ford as a red flag ended the race after 21 laps.
What the race lacked in distance it made for with action with passing all over the field, Charles Rainford the unfortunate driver to bring out the red flag after making the early running up to fifth along with Sam Osborne.
The race was immediately neutralised as Lewis Selby’s NAPA Ford spun off at a greasy Druids hairpin, and as the cars trundled round behind the Safety Car the rain got heavier.
What followed was an advert for the British Touring Car Championship as Collard attacked and passed Sutton for the lead, and Rainford attacked and passed Cammish, who fell to 14th via two trips to the gravel, for fourth at Druids.
Rainford would launch attacks on Ingram on successive laps around the outside at Paddock Hill but the 2025 champion stood firm for two laps before Rainford eventually got ahead.
Ingram would re-pass Rainford and make contact with Sutton later in the race, giving way to the crazy end to the race as contact between Ingram and Rainford at Druids on lap 22, before Daniel Rowbottom’s Mercedes collided with Sam Osborne’s NAPA Ford, brought about the red flag and a premature end.
Aiden Moffat ended up an eventful fifth place ahead of LKQ Cart Parts with Power Maxed Racing teammate Mikey Doble, while Josh Cook continued his weekend recovery with seventh via a trip through the gravel when fourth.
Completing the top 10 were James Dorlin for Restart Racing, Dexter Patterson for Steel Seal Racing with Power Maxed and Daryl De Leon’s WSR BMW.
Ash Sutton dominated race one on Sunday morning at Brands Hatch to take his 50th career BTCC victory.
The 4-time Champion dominated in his NAPA Racing Ford Focus to lead from lights to flag in changeable conditions, to beat Ricky Collard by two seconds.
2025 Champion Tom Ingram was third for Vertu Racing Hyundai after a brilliantly executed move on Dan Cammish with 4 laps to go.
Tom Chilton was fifth ahead of a charging Sam Osborne in sixth, with Independents winner Mikey Doble seventh for Power Maxed Racing.
The rain began to fall just before the start of the race, and the conditions caught out Daryl De Leon’s WSR BMW at the start as he fell back to seventh from the front row, as Collard passed Cammish for second later in the lap.
An extended Safety Car period followed with Adam Morgan’s Plato Racing Mercedes going off on lap 2 at Paddock Hill Bend, and they weren’t racing for another six laps.
Collard attacked and briefly passed Sutton for the lead on lap 12 before being re-passed later that lap, and had to hold off a mid race assault from Cammish in the second Ford.
Cammish would eventually fade and lost out to Ingram on lap 24, while further down Chris Smiley and Charles Rainford charged from lowly grid positions to finish 8th and 9th, while after an eventful race De Leon would end up 10th following an incident with MB Motorsport’s Gordon Shedden.
Onto Saturday’s stages then which included the longest stage of the rally and the crews had seven stages over 146 kilometres ahead of them. Martins and Renars would open the road throughout the day. There was also the promise of rain at some point, but it was hard to predict when and where it would fall.
First up then was SS11 Felgueiras 1 and this stage was dry throughout. Sami would set the pace from Thierry and Elfyn, whilst Seb who held the overall lead was four and a half seconds back with the fourth fastest time. This meant that his lead over Thierry was reduced to just 1.7 seconds. Interestingly the Belgian had a stall in the stage meaning that he might have taken the lead without this problem.
Onwards then to SS12 Cabeceiras de Basto 1 and we had two Frenchman setting the pace with Adrien edging out Seb by half a second, whilst Takamoto was a further two seconds back with the third fastest time. Adrien had the best of the conditions, particularly near the end of the stage as it was clear that in this last section the road was getting really rough. There was no rain in this stage.
Next came SS13 Amarante 1, the longest stage of the day and again it remained dry for most. Oliver would set the pace from Seb and Elfyn and amazing less than one second covered the three of them. There were no position changes in this one and Seb’s lead actually grew over Thierry to just over eight seconds and this was due to the rain arriving during the Belgian’s run, yet Elfyn didn’t have any rain.
The final morning stage, SS14 Paredes 1 and the rain really arrived for everyone in this stage. It was hard for the crews to judge where the grip was. Incredibly Oliver was fastest from Elfyn and Jon who’d set the early pace only to see it beaten. It was a good drive from all three of them. The Swedes pace saw him leap from fourth overall into the rally lead by just half a second over Seb whilst Thierry remained close, just five and a half seconds further back. Unfortunately, we lost Jon and Shane in this one as they hit a bank on the left-hand side of the car and the car rolled. Both of them were okay, but they were out for the rest of the day.
After the service break came SS15 Felgueiras 2 and there was another lead change as Seb set the pace by just one tenth of a second from Sami with Elfyn a further almost three seconds back. Oliver set the seventh best time and fell to second overall, now four seconds from Seb.
Into SS16 Cabeceiras de Basto 2 and Adrien set the pace from Sami and Thierry. Oliver had a tyre off the rim on the front right-hand side near the end of the stage, ultimately holding him back to the eighth best time and fell to fifth overall. Seb continued to lead but after being fifth fastest would see some of his lead trimmed over Thierry to just under four seconds. The rain really arrived earlier in the day and changed the road surface quite a bit.
Next came SS17 Amarante 2 and every crew had some rain in this one as well as no rain. Martins time stayed unbeaten until the last Rally1 car came through, that being piloted by Seb. The Frenchman set the fastest time by over eleven seconds from the Latvian whilst Oliver was third. This was enough to allow the Swede to re-pass Elfyn for fourth place the gap almost twenty seconds between the teammates.
Onto the final proper stage of the day then, SS18 Paredes 2 and Seb again set the pace from Elfyn by almost four seconds, whilst Thierry was third. The Frenchman now had a lead of over twenty seconds from Thierry and Sami remained in third a further five seconds back. Oliver lost a lot of time and was almost passed by Elfyn, the gap at the end just half a second between them.
The final stage of the day then, SS19 SSS Lousada and Oliver was fastest from Seb and Sami. The short stage around the track was not without drama as very heavy rain turned the stage into a really tricky thing to navigate. The first two crews to start, Josh and Martins would see the young Irishman slip up on some very slippery mud and saw the Puma hit the stage side very heavily breaking the suspension on the left-hand side.
Let’s hear from the drivers and take a look at the top ten.
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Sébastien Ogier
“It’s been a good day for us overall. The morning had been good until this last stage, where I didn’t take enough risk and we lost a lot of time. In midday service we switched to more of a rain setup and this worked much better for the afternoon. Coming to Amarante with crazy conditions, it was so close behind that I knew I had to drive well and take some risks. We’ve got a bit of a gap now but not enough to feel comfortable, because tomorrow the weather can still be tricky, and we’ll have to keep pushing.”
Sami Pajari
“Today started really well with a stage win, and the morning generally was quite nice with fairly steady conditions. Then this afternoon the conditions were much more intense with a lot of rain and super slippery stages. Still, we managed to stay out of trouble and have consistent speed. I think we can be really happy to finish a day like this cleanly and in third place, and to even be a little bit closer to second, and tomorrow we’ll try to catch Thierry.”
Oliver Solberg
“It’s been a very tricky day. This morning was great, going from fourth to the lead, and then in the afternoon we went back from first to fourth again. It was disappointing to get the puncture in the second stage this afternoon and after that it was tough, with a half spin in a very narrow place where we had to reverse. There’s still a long day to come tomorrow and the weather can be tricky again, and we’ll keep trying until the end to take as many points as possible.”
Takamoto Katsuta
“Today was overall better than yesterday for me but the conditions have been totally different. Still, I was much happier with the feeling in the car and the times were much better. I just tried to be clever, and tried to find something more that can work even better for me for tomorrow. It was a bit like Kenya in places with the mud and the standing water, but we made it through quite cleanly. Tomorrow the conditions could be just as tricky, but I’ll try to catch Fourmaux if I can.”
Hyundai Motorsport
Thierry Neuville
“Another tough day for us – the conditions were very rough, with a lot of rain on the last two stages, but we made it back to service. I’m pretty satisfied with my driving today and the speed we were able to go. It seems the Toyotas are a little faster still, but we are still in the middle of the fight, and as long as we can stay there, we are in a good position. Generally, I was missing a bit of traction in the wet, but the performance is good, and we kept Pajari behind. We need to make the best out of Sunday and defend our second place, which is what I intend to do.”
2026 FIA World Rally Championship 06 Round, Rally de Portugal 06-10 May 2026 Photographer: Dufour Fabien Wordwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Adrien Fourmaux
“The conditions this afternoon were incredible with the rain it was very muddy and tricky with the grip – sometimes you had it, and sometimes you didn’t, and it would have been very easy to make a mistake. It was certainly not easy to manage. However, we are here at the end of the day, and that is the main thing. Our plan for tomorrow is to try and get the maximum points; the only other thing we can do is see if something happens to the cars in front of us.”
Dani Sordo
“It has been a really challenging day; the rain made conditions tricky and difficult. I tried my best, but I was struggling to find grip with the soft tyres. We were sliding around everywhere, and now we are in the middle of nowhere in the classification. The positive thing is that we are safely here at the end of the day, but we wanted to perform better this weekend. We will try our best to finish in a good way tomorrow.”
Classification after Day Three
1
S. Ogier
V. Landais
Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
03:09:13.3
2
T. Neuville
M. Wydaeghe
Hyundai i20 N Rally1
+21.9
3
S. Pajari
M. Salminen
Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
+25.8
4
O. Solberg
E. Edmondson
Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
+49.6
5
E. Evans
S. Martin
Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
+58.2
6
A. Fourmaux
A. Coria
Hyundai i20 N Rally1
+1:23.8
7
T. Katsuta
A. Johnston
Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
+1:35.3
8
D. Sordo
C. Carrera
Hyundai i20 N Rally1
+3:44.7
9
M. Sesks
R. Francis
Ford Puma Rally1
+6:47.7
10
T. Suninen
J. Hussi
Toyota GR Yaris
+9:17.8
Sunday
The final full day will see the crews face four stages over almost sixty-six kilometres and there is more rain predicted as well. Let’s wait and see what happens! The M-Sport squad confirmed that Jon and Shane would not return to the action due to the damage sustained in their crash.
