Elfyn Evans will take a 17-point championship lead into Rally Italia Sardegna after the cancellation of Rally Saudi Arabia made the Italian event the 2026 World Rally Championship finale.
The Welsh Toyota driver has 230 points, ahead of team-mates Sami Pajari on 213 and Oliver Solberg on 209. The three Toyota drivers are the only remaining title contenders and each is pursuing a first WRC drivers’ championship.
Evans has the clearest numerical route to the crown: WRC said he will become champion if he scores at least 19 points in Sardinia, regardless of the results achieved by Pajari and Solberg. A rally victory would guarantee the title, even without additional points from Super Sunday or the Wolf Power Stage.
However, the final round offers a maximum 35 points, leaving substantial scope for the standings to change. Evans said the championship remained open and suggested that simply trying to protect his advantage would not be a workable approach under the current points system.
Evans faces road-order challenge on gravel
Sardinia’s gravel roads present a particular issue for the championship leader. Evans said running first on the road is normally a significant disadvantage in Sardinia.
He told WRC that the scale of that disadvantage would depend on conditions before the event. A dry lead-in would be likely to make the effect similar to previous Sardinian rallies, while different weather could alter the challenge.
This year’s event has moved from its customary early-summer position to October, which WRC said could bring different road and weather conditions. That uncertainty matters because Evans’ points lead alone does not remove the competitive cost of road position on loose gravel.
Evans said he intended to approach the rally as he would any other round rather than focus on title arithmetic during the competition. He also pointed to Solberg’s recovery of 20 points in Chile after Evans suffered a final-day puncture of unknown origin as evidence that a conservative strategy could be exposed quickly.
How the title race stands
Twenty-five points are available for winning the rally, with a further five for the best Super Sunday classification and five for the Wolf Power Stage. The bonus-point structure means positions beyond the overall result can remain decisive until the final stage.
| Driver | Points | Gap to Evans |
|---|---|---|
| Elfyn Evans | 230 | Leader |
| Sami Pajari | 213 | 17 |
| Oliver Solberg | 209 | 21 |
Pajari arrives after a three-win run in Estonia, Finland and Paraguay. He must score at least 18 points more than Evans to move ahead of the leader outright, while also remaining alert to Solberg, who is four points behind him.
Solberg’s victory at Rally Chile Biobío kept him in contention despite his 21-point deficit. To move ahead of both rivals on points alone, WRC said he needs to score at least 22 more than Evans and five more than Pajari.
WRC’s published permutations also underline why the headline gap does not settle the outcome. Second overall would give Evans 17 points, requiring at least two Sunday bonus points to reach the title-clinching 19. Third needs at least four bonus points; fourth needs seven; and fifth requires nine. Sixth place yields eight points, so even maximum Sunday points would leave him on 18 and dependent on the other results. Pajari can move ahead outright only by scoring at least 18 points more than Evans. His maximum 35-point total would be 248, and WRC said a tie at that figure would favour Pajari on countback if he won in Sardinia, giving him four wins for the season to Evans’ two.
Tied totals may also matter. WRC said championship ties are first settled by the number of rally victories, followed by second places and then subsequent finishing positions. Pajari currently has three wins this season, while Evans and Solberg have two each, although the Sardinian result could change that picture.
For Evans, the task is therefore straightforward in one respect but demanding in practice: 19 points settles the championship in his favour. Anything less leaves Pajari and Solberg with routes to extend the contest through Super Sunday and the Wolf Power Stage.