Elfyn Evans wins world rally title as Solberg crashes in Sardinia
Elfyn Evans became world champion at 3.06pm local time on Sunday in Sardinia when Oliver Solberg crashed on the final stage of Rally Italia Sardegna, handing Evans his first World Rally Championship title. The 37-year-old from north Wales finished the event to become the first British winner of the WRC in 25 years.
Only two British men had previously taken the world title since the WRC began in 1977 — Colin McRae in 1995 and Richard Burns in 2001 — while Louise Aitken-Walker was Britain’s first world champion when the WRC ran a women's version in 1990. Evans had finished as championship runner-up on five prior occasions, with three of those decided on the final day and two after he had entered the last event holding the lead. For much of the final stage in Sardinia he feared history repeating itself: at 3.05pm local time he could only stand and watch, already preparing a runners-up speech.
With two turns to go on the final stage, Solberg careered off into the Sardinian sand, an incident that occurred when he was around one kilometre from victory and allowed Evans to claim the title. Solberg is the son of Petter Solberg, who won the 2003 world championship. "It wouldn't by my proudest way of winning it, but it's job done," said Evans. "It's been a difficult weekend. I felt on Friday things were slipping away. We were a bit powerless with the road position we had and Oliver was flying."
Evans's co-driver Scott Martin said the pair had not allowed themselves to assume the result was secure until after the final stage and revealed Evans had been apologising for his stage performance while they waited for Solberg to finish. "I've said all week that until we arrived at the beach after that last stage it was never over. How true that turned out to be," said Martin. Travelling supporters in Italy roared the pairing on as events unfolded.
Throughout the 2026 championship Evans and Martin produced consistent performances across a variety of venues, including the streets of Monaco, the ice and snow of Sweden, the flowing roads of Chile and gravel events in southern Europe. Despite winning only two of the previous 12 events, the duo entered Rally Italia Sardegna with a 21-point lead over their rivals.
On receiving the title, Evans reflected on the event's build-up and on his rival's misfortune. "The lead up to this event gave us a bit of a buffer and we just about managed to hold on at the end. It was an incredible finish," he said. "I feel for [Solberg] after he came so close and lost at the last moment. I've been in a similar situation and it will be tough for him for a few days, but he's shown he's one to watch for the future." Evans celebrated with Toyota Gazoo Racing colleagues by jumping into the Mediterranean sea.
Evans's route to the top included early milestones and a period of setback: he took his first WRC stage win in Germany in 2014, his first podium in Argentina in 2015, dropped to the WRC2 class in 2016 and recorded his first rally victory in Wales in 2017. He had finished second in the championship in 2020, 2021, 2023 and 2024 and narrowly lost to Sebastien Ogier by four points in the final race of 2025.
The result secures the 2026 World Rally Championship title for Elfyn Evans after the dramatic conclusion in Sardinia.