Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin are FIA World Rally Champions* for the first time after an extraordinary Rally Italia Sardegna finale went down to the final corners of the season.
The Toyota Gazoo Racing crew survived one last twist on Sunday to finally secure the crown after years of near-misses, while Oliver Solberg and Elliott Edmondson won the rally following a superb weekend in their GR Yaris Rally1.
Evans entered the final Wolf Power Stage knowing his championship battle with Solberg had effectively become a straight fight. That scenario had been created on the preceding Osilo – Tergu test, where Evans suffered a front-right puncture and stopped to change the wheel.
With Super Sunday points gone, Evans and Solberg arrived at the 7.10km Sassari – Argentiera finale separated by the smallest of margins in the title race.
Evans completed his run first. Solberg then attacked and was 1.9 seconds ahead of the Welshman’s time with little more than one kilometre remaining.
But just a handful corners from the finish, the Swede slid wide and went off into the sand. He recovered and completed the stage, but the time lost was enough to confirm Evans and Martin as world champions.
“I don’t think it’s quite sunk in yet,” admitted Evans, who had feared the title was slipping away before Solberg’s late drama. “I mean, I was quite sure that it was over. I didn’t drive the best stage. I threw everything at it, but it wasn’t clean. I feel sorry for Oliver as well – he did an incredible weekend, and I’m sorry for him to lose it so close to the finish there. Obviously, I have a lot of people to thank for backing me for all the years, and to Scotty, obviously, for an incredible job.”
The success ends a long wait for Evans, who had finished championship runner-up five times and twice previously arrived at the season finale leading the standings.
His 2026 campaign again demanded resilience. Evans led the championship for much of the year but saw his advantage eroded during the second half of the season.
Road-cleaning duties then left him on the back foot through much of the finale, but he and Martin kept themselves in contention until the championship finally swung their way.
