The team’s latest title success equals two long-standing WRC records, matching the six successive championships achieved by Lancia between 1987 and 1992, and bringing Toyota level with the Italian marque on 10 titles in total.
The result in Chile is the 11th win from 12 rallies so far this season for the GR YARIS Rally1 as well as an eighth one-two finish.
A second victory of 2026 for Solberg and co-driver Elliott Edmondson – after their season-opening triumph at Rallye Monte-Carlo – means all five of the team’s crews have now won multiple rallies this year.
The young Swedish driver excelled in wet and muddy conditions in the opening stages on Friday morning to establish an early lead over team-mate Elfyn Evans, which he then gradually extended with smart driving across drier and more abrasive stages. Solberg ultimately secured victory by 16.6 seconds with the fastest time in the rally-ending Power Stage.
Championship leader Evans and co-driver Scott Martin also capitalised on the wet weather at the start of the event which negated the disadvantage they have faced sweeping loose gravel roads across recent rallies. After fending off a charging Sébastien Ogier to retain second place on Saturday evening, Evans started the final day strongly with a stage win and was leading the Super Sunday classification until a cruel blow in the penultimate stage, where he stopped to change a tyre and lost two minutes, dropping to fifth position.
In the rally where he matched his Team Principal Jari-Matti Latvala’s all-time record of 213 WRC starts, Ogier also equalled Sébastien Loeb’s record tally of 120 podium finishes. Sixth after Friday morning’s first stage, Ogier and co-driver Vincent Landais fought back strongly thereafter to finish second overall and topped the Super Sunday classification by 3.8s over Solberg.
Evans recovered from his penultimate stage setback to take second in the Power Stage, half a second behind Solberg and 0.1s ahead of nearest championship rival Sami Pajari, who saw his unprecedented streak of three successive maiden victories come to an end but still secured a solid fourth place finish alongside co-driver Marko Salminen.
Evans continues to lead the drivers’ championship by 17 points over Pajari and 21 over Solberg with two rounds remaining on the schedule.
After getting stuck on the edge of the road in Friday’s opening stage, Takamoto Katsuta restarted on Saturday and set strong top-six times despite running first on the gravel road together with stand-in co-driver James Fulton.
*subject to the official publication of the results by the FIA
Quotes:
Akio Toyoda (TGR-WRT Chairman)
“Oliver, Elliott, congratulations on your victory!
This season, Takamoto won back-to-back rallies in the first half of the year, and then both Elfyn and Seb claimed their second victories of the season. Sami even went on a streak of three consecutive wins. Since their victory at the season opener, Oliver and Elliott had been unable to return to the top step of the podium, and I imagine it has not been an easy season for them. That is why I am genuinely delighted that they were finally able to secure their second win of the year here in Chile.
And thanks to that victory, the manufacturers’ championship has now been secured for TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team! Congratulations to Jari-Matti, Juha, and every member of the team. Thank you all for your incredible efforts.
I would also like to express my sincere gratitude to our fans who continue to support us, and to all of our partners who fight alongside us throughout the season. Thank you very much.
In previous years, this was the time of year when everyone would come to Japan. Being able to celebrate our successes together and see everyone in person was always something I looked forward to. Unfortunately, we will not have that opportunity this year, and I honestly wish we could.
However, there is still plenty to look forward to this season. The battle for the drivers’ championship remains incredibly intense, and all five drivers in our team still have a chance of becoming champion.
We are a team that believes in letting our drivers compete on equal terms and decide the outcome on the stages. To everyone in the team, for the remaining two rallies, please continue to provide the drivers with cars that allow them to push to the absolute limit with confidence.
For the final two rounds, good luck to Elfyn, Sami, Oliver, Seb, and Takamoto. Give it everything you've got!”
Juha Kankkunen (Deputy Team Principal)
“It’s a fantastic feeling to secure another manufacturers’ championship with this team. I was involved in some of Lancia’s championships as a driver, and some of the first titles won by Toyota, but I’m so happy to be part of this team now too. The atmosphere in the team and the way that everyone works together is fantastic, also with our drivers: when they are on the stages they are fighting each other hard and pushing for the best results, but they also get on and help each other and the team very well. This victory is very good for Oliver after a difficult period; we always knew that the talent was there and now he put a great rally together. Elfyn was very unfortunate today after a really good drive, but it will keep the drivers’ championship interesting with Sami and Oliver also up there in contention.”
Elfyn Evans (Driver car 33)
“I want to say a huge congratulations to everyone in the team and thank you for their efforts this year: it’s a privilege to be part of this team and to have now won these six straight titles together. We were having a pretty solid rally here with a good start in the rain on Friday and after that we tried to keep fighting as best as we could even if we dropped away from Oliver, who did a great job. I had a good feeling in the car today and was pleased with how the first two stages went, but then we got this puncture without warning in the penultimate stage. It was very costly in terms of points but we took what we could from the Power Stage and we just have to keep pushing in what’s now a full three-way fight in the championship.”
Sébastien Ogier (Driver car 1)
“Congratulations to the whole team: one more time we are world champions altogether! Hats off to everybody at the factory and every single member of our team because winning so many years in a row is a special achievement and it’s never easy. Nobody in the team takes anything for granted and we are always trying to improve, which is the mentality I’ve always tried to have in my career, and it has been great fun driving this car. This weekend after the time we lost in the first stage it was a big fight to try and come back towards the top positions. We couldn’t quite get the win – congratulations to Oliver and Elliott who did a great job – but it’s still a podium so we have many reasons to smile.”
Oliver Solberg (Driver car 99)
“It was always my dream to drive for Toyota and for me to be able to play a small part for the first time in winning a manufacturers’ title feels very special. It also feels incredible to be back on the top step of the podium. It has been an up-and-down season for me but the team always supported and believed in me, along with Elliott who’s been doing an amazing job, and things have really been coming together well in the last few rallies. Today it was tricky to find the right feeling on this demanding first stage, but we were able to keep a good gap and then push on the Power Stage. It’s great to also come back a bit in the championship and hopefully we can carry this momentum into the final rallies.”
Takamoto Katsuta (Driver car 18)
“I’m very proud to be part of this team and of another manufacturers’ title. At least in the two rallies this year when the team needed me to score manufacturers’ points, in Sweden and Croatia, I could achieve good results so I’m proud to feel like I could contribute as well. But this title is mainly because every single person in the team is working so hard and pushing all the time. Thank you to them for that and for supporting me in the more difficult moments. I had a difficult start to this weekend but at least I could come back strongly and take two points from the Power Stage. A big thank you to James who did an amazing job, and to Aaron who was also helping us remotely.”
Sami Pajari (Driver car 5)
“This was a tricky rally for us. It wasn’t the result we would have wanted and the pace was not as good as we hoped for, but today we tried to maximise what we could and we were able to gain a few important points. In the end we didn’t lose anything because Elfyn was unfortunate today, and the championship fight is getting really interesting with Oliver doing a very good job here and scoring lots of points. Congratulations to everyone in the team for securing this manufacturers’ championship. Even if we have been scoring points for TGR-WRT2 instead, it’s nice to be part of this family and I’m super happy for everyone involved.”
Yuki Yamamoto (Driver WRC Challenge Program GEN2)
“We had a tricky start to this rally with a half-spin in the muddy conditions of the first stage, but after that our pace was good and we could climb up the order. Unfortunately we got caught out in the last stage of Friday in a very tricky place; a fast, narrow and twisty section with a blind crest. I jumped a bit too far to the left over the crest and we landed into the bank, which bounced us across the road with a heavy impact. Thank you to everyone who took care of us and sent us messages. I’m very happy that Topi’s surgery went well and that he should return home in the coming days. This was an unfortunate finish to this South American trip and I can only say sorry to the team, thank everyone for their support and look to come back stronger.”
PROVISIONAL FINAL CLASSIFICATION, RALLY CHILE
1 Oliver Solberg/Elliott Edmondson (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1) 2h57m08.2s
2 Sébastien Ogier/Vincent Landais (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1) +16.6s
3 Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +33.3s
4 Sami Pajari/Marko Salminen (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1) +1m33.9s
5 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1) +2m22.3s
6 Esapekka Lappi/Enni Mälkönen (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +5m07.0s
7 Josh McErlean/Eoin Treacy (Ford Puma Rally1) +7m31.5s
8 Yohan Rossel/Arnaud Dunand (Lancia Ypsilon Rally2 HF Integrale) +9m31.0s
9 Robert Virves/Jakko Viilo (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +10m24.0s
10 Gus Greensmith/Jonas Andersson (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) +10m58.2s ...
36 Takamoto Katsuta/James Fulton (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1) +1h02m18.2s ...
(Results as of 15:00 on Sunday, for the latest results please visit www.wrc.com)
WRC2 class
1 Yohan Rossel/Arnaud Dunand (Lancia Ypsilon Rally2 HF Integrale) 3h06m39.2s
2 Robert Virves/Jakko Viilo (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +53.0s
3 Gus Greensmith/Jonas Andersson (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) +1m27.2s
4 Taylor Gill/Daniel Brkic (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +1m50.2s
5 Jorge Martínez/Rubén García (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +4m17.1s
6 Diego Domínguez/Rogelio Peñate (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) +4m24.2s ...
Retired Yuki Yamamoto/Topi Luhtinen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2)
2026 FIA World Rally Championship for drivers after round 12:
1 Elfyn Evans 230 points
2 Sami Pajari 213
3 Oliver Solberg 209
4 Sébastien Ogier 171
5 Adrien Fourmaux 167
6 Takamoto Katsuta 163
7 Thierry Neuville 129
8 Hayden Paddon 38
9 Josh McErlean 35
10 Esapekka Lappi 33 ...
2026 FIA World Rally Championship for manufacturers after round 12:
1 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team 614 points
2 Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team 410
3 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRT2 227
4 M-Sport Ford World Rally Team 152
What's next?
Rally Italia Sardegna takes place on October 1-4, switching to an autumn date for the first time since 2020. The demanding island event features fast but narrow gravel stages and a rocky, abrasive surface.
