TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team secured a double podium finish at Rally de Portugal after being denied victory by a cruel twist of fate late in a thrilling and demanding event.
Sébastien Ogier had appeared on course for a record-extending victory on the classic gravel contest after a strong performance in challenging wet weather on Saturday afternoon.
His advantage stood at 17.3 seconds after Sunday’s first two stages on iconic sandy tracks north-east of Porto, but in the rutted and rocky conditions of the second pass of Vieira do Minho, he and co-driver Vincent Landais would be forced to stop to change a wheel and tyre, conceding around two minutes.
This penultimate stage provided double trouble for the team, with third-placed Sami Pajari also having to stop in similar circumstances for over two minutes, denying he and co-driver Marko Salminen a fifth consecutive podium finish.
Oliver Solberg and Elfyn Evans benefitted from their team-mates’ misfortunes to move up into the podium places and secure second and third overall respectively. They also finished first and second respectively in the Super Sunday classification to secure valuable extra championship points.
Evans was the team’s fastest driver in the rally-ending Power Stage, setting the third-best time overall together with co-driver Scott Martin. Evans extends his lead in the drivers’ championship to 12 points over Takamoto Katsuta, who finished fifth overall together with his co-driver Aaron Johnston. Solberg and co-driver Elliott Edmondson were fourth in the Power Stage and climb to third in the championship, 31 points from the lead. Ogier and Pajari rounded out the top seven in the rally results.
There was a one-two finish for the GR Yaris Rally2 car in the WRC2 category after a similarly close and eventful competition in the challenging conditions. Teemu Suninen and Janni Hussi prevailed to claim victory in their Delta Rally-prepared car, with fellow Finns Roope Korhonen and Anssi Viinikka finishing second in their Printsport-run, Rautio Motorsport-entered car.
TGR WRC Challenge Program driver Yuki Yamamoto gained valuable experience through the demanding stages and overcame numerous challenges to finish ninth in the 43-car Rally2 field.
Quotes:
Juha Kankkunen (Deputy Team Principal)
“It’s never a nice feeling to lose a rally victory so close to the end like this, but we benefitted from a similar situation in Croatia this year and now we were on the other side. This is rallying: it’s never over until it’s over. It looks like Seb and Sami both picked up punctures in a similar place on this penultimate stage; it’s frustrating because both of them had been doing such a great job, especially in the wet conditions yesterday. Still, Oliver and Elfyn were able to step up onto the podium and finish one-two in Super Sunday. We have a strong team and now we look forward to Rally Japan.”
Elfyn Evans (Driver car 33)
“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.”
Sébastien Ogier (Driver car 1)
“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.”
Oliver Solberg (Driver car 99)
“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.”
Takamoto Katsuta (Driver car 18)
“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.”
Sami Pajari (Driver car 5)
“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.”
Yuki Yamamoto (Driver WRC Challenge Program GEN2)
“This rally was all about gaining experience and it was good to compare ourselves against so many competitors in the Rally2 class. At first I was struggling for confidence in slippery conditions with the hard tyres, but the feeling was getting much better on Friday until we lost a lot of time with a puncture. On Saturday and Sunday we drove in some really extreme conditions, but we could set some good times and were able to reach the finish, and now I will look forward to Rally Japan.”
PROVISIONAL FINAL CLASSIFICATION, RALLY DE PORTUGAL
1 Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) 3h53m01.7s
2 Oliver Solberg/Elliott Edmondson (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1) +16.3s
3 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1) +29.1s
4 Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +54.8s
5 Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnston (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1) +1m12.6s
6 Sébastien Ogier/Vincent Landais (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1) 1m26.6s
7 Sami Pajari/Marko Salminen (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1) +2m50.9s
8 Dani Sordo/Cándido Carrera (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +4m10.0s
9 Mārtiņš Sesks/Renārs Francis (Ford Puma Rally1) +6m49.2s
10 Teemu Suninen/Janni Hussi (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) +11m13.8s
(Results as of 14:30 on Sunday, for the latest results please visit www.wrc.com)
RC2 class
1 Teemu Suninen/Janni Hussi (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) 4h04m15.5s
2 Nikolay Gryazin/Konstantin Aleksandrov (Lancia Ypsilon Rally2 HF Integrale) +24.9s
3 Roope Korhonen/Anssi Viinikka (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) +45.6s
4 Andreas Mikkelsen/Jørn Listerud (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +1m14.2s
5 Jan Solans/Rodrigo Sanjuan (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +2m47.0s
6 Fabrizio Zaldívar/Marcelo Der Ohannesian (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +5m04.7s
9 Yuki Yamamoto/James Fulton (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) +12m35.9s
2026 FIA World Rally Championship for drivers after round 6:
1 Elfyn Evans 123 points
2 Takamoto Katsuta 111
3 Oliver Solberg 92
4 Adrien Fourmaux 79
5 Sami Pajari 78
6 Sébastien Ogier 67
7 Thierry Neuville 65
8 Esapekka Lappi 21
9 Yohan Rossel 20
10 Léo Rossel 18
2026 FIA World Rally Championship for manufacturers after round 6:
1 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team 311 points
2 Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team 218
3 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRT2 86
4 M-Sport Ford World Rally Team 71
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