Canary Islands Rally: Sébastien Ogier regains the throne, Yohan Rossel wins in WRC2

Sébastien Ogier secured his 68th career victory after an epic duel against Oliver Solberg during the Rally of the Canary Islands. If Toyota, untouchable in the regular, scores an imperial quadruple on the volcanic asphalt, the Swede however deprives the Japanese manufacturer of the quintuple which had been locked in since SS2 at the beginning of the event.

On a smooth, almost circuit-like asphalt surface, the weather played the decisive role. Between Saturday's downpours and a still damp and treacherous Sunday morning, the Canary Islands Rally gave competitors no respite before finishing under sunny skies.

Back after skipping Croatia, Sébastien Ogier reminded everyone why he remains the boss. Second last year behind Kalle Rovanperä, the Gap native had built a solid lead from Friday onwards, before seeing Oliver Solberg and Elfyn Evans chip away at his advantage during a tense Saturday.

Having trailed the Frenchman by just 2,2 seconds in the penultimate stage, Oliver Solberg lost everything at kilometer 14,7 of SS17. The Swede crashed into a barrier, tearing off the front right wheel of his car. Too damaged to continue, his vehicle forced him to retire with a heartbreaking zero points. As is often the case in rallying, nothing was decided until the final timed sector.

This dramatic turn of events opened a royal road for Sébastien Ogier and his co-driver Vincent Landais, to secure their first victory since the 2025 Rally Japan. They narrowly missed out on a clean sweep, finishing second in Super Sunday and third in the Power Stage, heading into the next event with 32 points collected on the Spanish island.

Behind the French duo, Toyota cemented its dominance with a commanding quadruple victory, ahead of the armada HyundaiSami Pajari secured his fourth consecutive podium finish, behind Elfyn Evans in second place. The Welshman, who reached the podium for the 48th time in his career, also achieved the best score on Sunday, snatching 10 points for a Canary Islands total of 27.

Among the South Koreans, the return of Dani Sordo, who this season shares the third i20N Rally1 with Esapekka Lappi and Hayden Paddon, was noted, although he finished seventh behind Adrien fourmauxfifth and Thierry Neuville, sixth.

In WRC2, the Rossel brothers hoped to repeat their historic one-two finish in Croatia, but fate had other plans. While Yohan Rossel took the WRC2 victory (9th overall), the atmosphere was somber at the finish for his brother Léo.

In the thick of the battle for the podium, Léo Rossel and Guillaume Mercoiret saw their transmission fail them in the final moments, the podium slipping away to another Frenchman, Éric Camilli, who finished third behind Alejandro Cachón. Léo Rossel ultimately finished fifth in the category, behind Roberto Daprà but just ahead of Nikolay Gryazin. The Bulgarian, for his part, was slowed by shock absorber problems early in the event after the spectacular jumps of the Gran Canaria Super Special Stage.

WRC 2026 – Canary Islands Rally
The classification of SS18

WRC 2026 – Canary Islands Rally
The general classification after SS18

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