How Evans made WRC history in Hollywood blockbuster Sardinia decider

If the climax to the 2026 World Rally Championship was a blockbuster Hollywood movie it wouldn’t have looked out of place.

After more than 4000 competitive kilometres across 13 rallies on snow, gravel and asphalt, a final stage head-to-head duel, and ultimately the last two corners of the season, decided the outcome of the title.

Fans, commentators, and even eventual champion Elfyn Evans were convinced Oliver Solberg was going to create history in Sardinia by claiming the title in his first full Rally1 season, after a simply sensational drive to overcome a 21-point deficit.

But never more has the old adage “it isn't over until it's over” been more appropriate. A mistake from Solberg two corners from then finish left collective jaws on the floor.

Simultaneously celebrations erupted in the Evans camp at the stage end, led by Elfyn’s father Gwyndaf frantically jumping up and down, while flanked by an army of rejoicing Welsh rally fans, amid the realisation of becoming world rally champion. “He [Gwyndaf] was far too keen on the celebrations. As soon as Oliver left the road he was celebrating and I was like let’s just wait a second. There were a lot of people more convinced than me. It was quite a moment," explains Evans.

In the Solberg camp there was desolation and agony as tears flowed from both Oliver and 2003 world champion father Petter as they came to terms with the drama that had unfolded.

It ranks alongside Margam Park in 1998 when Carlos Sainz’s Toyota Corolla ground to a halt metres from the finish to hand Mitsubishi's Tommi Makinen the title. It was the WRC’s version of the Formula 1 Abu Dhabi 2021 title decider Max Verstappen versus Lewis Hamilton social media viral moment - minus the controversy. It may have also lit the fuse to explode the WRC back to where it belongs in the sporting landscape and the general public’s consciousness. A dream ticket for the WRC’s new promoter to pounce on.

What we do know is after the disappointment of finishing runner-up five times, Evans and Scott Martin are now WRC champions and Britain’s first since Richard Burns and Robert Reid in 2001.

“I don’t think it’s quite sunk in yet. I was quite sure it was over. I didn’t drive the best stage, I threw everything at it but it wasn’t clean,” said Evans. “I feel for Oliver as well, he drove an incredible weekend. I’m sorry for him to lose it so close to the finish. But we have a lot of people to thank for backing me over the years, and Scotty [Martin] for an incredible job. It’s a bit of a relief. It wouldn’t be my proudest way of winning it, but it’s job done anyway.”

An equally dazed Martin added: “It has been a long time coming. When we were watching Oliver [Solberg] and Elliott [Edmondson] put together a very strong final stage I was starting to think that it would slip away again. It hasn’t sunk in. I’m in a bit of daze at the moment.”

“I was quite angry. I didn't speak to anyone for two days. I completely agree with the decision, and it's a safe decision to not go to Saudi. We had a lot of time to fix another rally" Oliver Solberg on the original season finale in Saudi Arabia being cancelled

The Power Stage crescendo is what will be remembered but the Sardinia showdown was a tense affair throughout. With the Saudi Arabia season finale cancelled and not replaced, the Italian island found itself in the surprise position of crowning a new world champion, in what is set to be its last WRC event for some time, as Rome’s asphalt stages replace it from 2027.

It therefore created a tantalising three-way title showdown between Toyota’s Evans, Sami Pajari and Solberg. Having completed the hard slog of leading the championship and opening the road for 10 rounds, Evans, with two wins under his belt, had a 17-point lead over the championship’s in-form three-time rally winner Pajari.

Solberg described his title hopes as a “long shot” with the Swede, who won last time out in Chile, 21 points behind with a maximum of 35 points to play for. Given his run of mid-season crashes it had been a remarkable turnaround for the Monte Carlo winner to be even in the title fight.

Solberg came into the finale as the outside bet in the title race

Photo by: Toyota Racing

Solberg admitted he was angry for two days after finding out that the season had been cut one round short, effectively hampering his chances of becoming champion. But the 25-year-old was prepared to give it everything in Sardinia to complete a herculean task.

“I was quite angry. I didn't speak to anyone for two days,” he told Autosport. “I completely agree with the decision, and it's a safe decision to not go to Saudi. We had a lot of time to fix another rally, and it's possible but okay that is life. For the title, I have nothing to lose. I think if I score 35 points, then 100% it is very possible. So the plan is clear what I have to do. But how to do it in a rally like this is not that straightforward.”

Despite having the points advantage, Evans knew nothing was guaranteed on Sardinia’s gravel roads that are known to be demanding on car and tyres, and equally difficult to sweep when first on the road.

“I think it is going to be a tough job with the road position actually to keep touch with the guys behind. You never know how things are going to work out here, so you have to do as good a job as you can,” Evans told Autosport. “There might be circumstances over the weekend where we have to change [the approach] a little bit. But anyway, for the first part of the event, I think it's important to drive well and clean, and then see what comes. It's still a fight. Some people might say it's a big gap. It is to a point, but there's a lot of points now also on offer.”

Few would have predicted that 24-year-old Pajari would be involved in the title fight after his disappointing two crashes in the Monte Carlo season opener. But since then the Finn has transformed himself into a genuine title fighter and headed into Sardinia with more wins and podiums than his rivals following an incredible run of results.

“Maybe it [the title tilt] was something not many people saw coming. But in a way, I feel like the work we have put together for many, many years has prepared us to be in this position, and I still feel like we are where we should be,” Pajari told Autosport. “Maybe I have a bright future, but you never know. Maybe it's the best chance I will ever get. So I need to try to use it.”

The driver that made the most of the opportunity was Solberg. Of the three he had the better of the road position, but still his performance across Friday was mightily impressive despite suffering a slow puncture on stage two that dropped the Swede to seventh. Solberg’s speed hauled him to third at the end of Friday, 12.3s adrift of the lead that Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville had snatched from team-mate Adrien Fourmaux by 0.4s on the day’s final stage.

Neuville led a Hyundai 1-2 after Friday's action, but Solberg was on a charge after a slow puncture

Photo by: Hyundai

While Solberg starred, Evans and Pajari struggled sweeping the roads with the championship leader powerless and more than a minute adrift in sixth, and 28.7s behind fifth-placed Pajari. While this was still enough for Evans to win the title on paper it had only enhanced Solberg’s belief in pulling off the unlikely.

“I’ve 100% got the shot. Elfyn is not in a great position, and he will not be for the rest of the weekend with the road cleaning,” said Solberg. “Hopefully we can still be a little bit clever. It's still a long weekend ahead, so we still need to keep calm. But at least I'm not too far away. At least I have a shot. That's the most important thing.”

Solberg’s performance had rung alarm bells for Evans and Pajari.

“I don’t know what more we could have done realistically. I think Oliver is the danger man at the minute being quite close to the lead, and of course we know that if he ends up in that position where he is the leader of the rally, then obviously that puts a bit more pressure on us to score a few more points. We have to keep at it,” said Evans. Pajari added: “We were clearly faster than Elfyn on every stage so it shows how crucial the road position is. Nothing is lost. So we clearly need to keep pushing.”

Solberg continued his incredible speed and remained on course to top the Super Sunday points, while Evans did react and managed to put himself into a position to claim two bonus points, before the first twist arrived

However, despite an improved road position on Saturday, Pajari and Evans were unable to make any in-roads on pure pace. They were however helped by misfortune striking others. Fourmaux’s hopes of claiming a deserved maiden win were ended by a pair of punctures, while Hyundai’s possible last Rally1 hurrah turned from promise to despair when Neuville crashed out 1.1km into stage 11.

By the time Neuville ripped his left rear wheel from his i20 N, a charging Solberg had already moved into the lead after producing astonishing drives to win stages nine and 10 that only added fuel to the belief that a shot at the title was well and truly on. But Solberg really could have done without Neuville’s exit that handed more points to Evans and Pajari. However the rally lead and the potential 25 points that went with it looked as safe as it can be in Sardinia, as Solberg led nine-time world champion Sebastien Ogier by 33.6s.

Solberg and co-driver Elliott Edmondson had succeeded in raising the tension levels, ratcheting up the pressure on Evans. Solberg started to appear favourite to win the title when a determined Fourmaux snatched fourth position from Evans on the Saturday’s final stage. It meant Solberg trailed by a mere six points, with the 10 Super Sunday and Power Stage points still on offer. It also left Evans with a worse road position for a tense Sunday showdown.

At the end of Saturday's action, Evans' provisional lead was down to six points and the pressure was on

Photo by: Toyota Racing

At this point Evans knew the game had changed and he’d have to react. If positions stayed the same, five Sunday points would be enough, not the easiest of prospects in the circumstances where punctures can strike at any moment. “It is difficult to know what to do in this situation. You're stuck between a rock and a hard place. It seems if you're pushing, you get a puncture. If you go slowly, you might miss an opportunity, like we've done. Obviously we have got to go all in or nothing tomorrow,” said a downbeat Evans.

Pajari also had to adapt a flat-out approach but realistically he would need drama to strike his rivals to stand any hope of claiming the title.

For Solberg, the objective was clear: “It's been an incredible day. It's the same tomorrow. It's still a tough, long day so I still need to be clever. But the objective is clear, to take 10 points and after the Power Stage, we will see what happens. Elfyn has a load of pressure tomorrow too. He needs to really push and anything can happen to him too. He hasn't really pushed all weekend yet and you never know who gets what.”

There was a feeling there was another twist in the title race to come in a nerve-wracking Sunday showdown.

True to form, Solberg continued his incredible speed and remained on course to top the Super Sunday points, while Evans did react and managed to put himself into a position to claim two bonus points, before the first twist arrived. For the second rally in succession Evans suffered a costly puncture on the penultimate stage. The frustration from the Evans camp was clear.

"Just a corner we could see coming, a very fast corner with stones. I eased the speed and went as clean as I could through it. You can always count on these [tyres],” said Evans.

Despite a rapid wheel change any hope of Super Sunday points had vanished meaning Solberg trailed Evans by one point. It would all come down to quite literally 'a winner takes all' 7.1km stretch of Power Stage, that had rutted up and favoured those at the top of the order. With Solberg on course for a third victory of the year, he would take the title on count back if points were tied at the end of the rally. It created a quite sensational situation where whoever came out on top in the Power Stage would become the world champion. So no pressure then.

With Solberg on top, whoever finished higher in the Power Stage would be world champion

Photo by: Toyota Racing

Both had to go all in. The tension was palpable. Despite throwing everything at it, Evans was 5.6s slower than pacesetter Neuville and already resigned to becoming a six-time WRC title runner-up.

"I'm pretty sure it won't be enough. I'm pretty sure we overdrove. I'm not giving up but I'm being honest. It seems like we are back in the same situation,” said Evans.

Evans, known for his impeccable judgement, appeared to be on the money as Solberg threw down the gauntlet. He was flying and 1.9s quicker on the splits. And with the title seeming in sight Solberg suddenly veered off the road two corners from the end. Cue pandemonium at the stage end, and in Toyota’s team building Solberg’s engineer Steffan Williams thumped the table while Evans’ engineer Rui Soares was simply stunned.

Solberg managed to scramble back to the road to finish the stage and take the rally win by 57.6s. But the win was met by screams of anger inside the car while thumping the steering wheel, before the tears started to flow upon realising the mistake had cost him the title.

It will take time to heal this wound but there is no doubt Solberg is destined to become a world champion in the future

“I expected the corner to be fine and it was fine until there was a bush, like a gravel bank on the outside and I didn’t expect the car to hook me in, so it came as a surprise,” said an emotional Solberg. “I tried my very best to the very end and that is all I can say. I'm not a guy that gives up. I have a lot of passion. It hurts a lot but I have no regrets. If I didn’t try and I had lost on time I would be struggling even more, but I at least tried. I’m proud and it has been a great season overall and a rollercoaster of a season and to actually have a chance was incredible. I’m proud but it hurts. This was my whole dream.”