Sebastien Ogier Wins Rally Islas Canarias
Introduction
Sebastien Ogier has won the Rally Islas Canarias, achieving his first victory of the 2026 World Rally Championship (WRC) season and his 68th career win. The event ended with Toyota Gazoo Racing taking the top four positions in the final standings.
Main Body
The race featured a close battle between Ogier and his teammate, Oliver Solberg. Ogier took the lead after the second stage and held an 8.9-second advantage by the end of Friday. Although Solberg managed to reduce this gap to just 2.2 seconds before the second-to-last stage, he unfortunately crashed into a barrier. This accident caused significant damage to his car and forced him to retire, allowing Ogier to win with a 19.9-second lead over Elfyn Evans. In the championship standings, Elfyn Evans has reclaimed the lead with 101 points, moving ahead of Takamoto Katsuta, who has 99 points. Evans improved his position thanks to his second-place finish and by earning 10 bonus points on Super Sunday. Meanwhile, Sami Pajari and Takamoto Katsuta finished third and fourth, although both drivers admitted they struggled to keep up with the speed of their teammates. From a technical side, Hyundai drivers performed worse than Toyota because the i20 N was less effective on smooth asphalt. Adrien Fourmaux was the best Hyundai driver, finishing fifth, while Thierry Neuville and Dani Sordo finished sixth and seventh. In the M-Sport-Ford category, Josh McErlean took eighth place, whereas Jon Armstrong finished 11th after facing several mechanical and navigation problems on Saturday. Additionally, Yohan Rossel secured a second consecutive WRC2 victory for Lancia, finishing 10th overall.
Conclusion
The Rally Islas Canarias ended with a dominant performance by Toyota and a change in the championship lead to Elfyn Evans. The series will now move to Rally Portugal from May 7-10, where the competition will shift from asphalt to gravel roads.