Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team heads to Rally Chile on 10–13 September holding a 173-point lead in the manufacturers’ standings, and needs only seven points to make the title mathematically safe. The gravel round in the Biobío forests is the 12th of 14 in the 2026 FIA World Rally Championship, and comes with a heavily revised route. Behind the team battle, four Toyota drivers remain in contention for the individual crown.
Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team continues its South American programme at Rally Chile, held from 10 to 13 September as round 12 of 14 in the 2026 FIA World Rally Championship. The team’s five GR Yaris Rally1 cars have been rebuilt after a demanding Rally del Paraguay the previous week and transported across the Andes for the event.
A title that can be settled this weekend
Sami Pajari’s win in Paraguay completed a hat-trick of victories and pushed Toyota further clear at the top of the manufacturers’ championship. The team now leads by 173 points with 180 still available, meaning a score of at least seven points in Chile would secure the title with two rounds to spare.
The drivers’ championship is far less settled. Elfyn Evans leads by 20 points from Pajari, whose three consecutive wins have closed the gap significantly. Oliver Solberg is third, 41 points off the lead, with Takamoto Katsuta a further 15 points behind in fourth. Nine-time world champion Sébastien Ogier sits 68 points adrift and returns to an event he won in 2025.
“The manufacturers’ title is close now and we have pretty strong chances to secure that, while the drivers’ championship is getting more exciting as we near the end of the season and we will keep giving all our crews the same chances to win,” said deputy team principal Juha Kankkunen.
A change in the co-driver’s seat
Katsuta will be partnered by James Fulton in Chile. Regular co-driver Aaron Johnston was found, after further examinations at home, to have fractured his collarbone in a high-speed accident on the final day in Paraguay, and misses the rally to allow more recovery time. With Fulton moving up, TGR WRC Challenge Program driver Yuki Yamamoto will be joined by Topi Luhtinen for his continued WRC2 campaign in South America.
Yamamoto is one of eight GR Yaris Rally2 entries. Diego Domínguez and Gus Greensmith, first and second in class in Paraguay, are joined by series regulars Alejandro Cachón, Andrea Lafarja and Adrien Mosca, while Chilean brothers Alberto and Pedro Heller switch to the GR Yaris Rally2 for their home event.
A route that is 40 per cent new
This is the WRC’s fifth visit to Chile and its gravel roads in the forests of the Biobío region, around the Pacific port city of Concepción some 500 km (311 miles) south of Santiago. The stages mix fast and technical sections and smooth and abrasive surfaces, with rain and fog capable of transforming the challenge.
The itinerary has been substantially reworked for 2026: roughly 40 per cent of the 311.18 competitive kilometres (193.4 miles) are new to the championship. After shakedown and a ceremonial start in Concepción on Thursday, Friday’s leg runs three heavily reworked stages to the south-east twice, either side of a mid-day service. Saturday is the longest day at 139.2 km (86.5 miles) over two loops of three familiar stages south of the Biobío River, while Sunday pairs the new Carampangue test with the returning Biobío Power Stage.
What the drivers expect
Tyre management is the recurring theme. Evans notes the surface can be very loose for the early cars when dry and abrasive enough to demand careful tyre strategy, while wet weather brings mud comparable to Wales and fog that makes things extremely difficult. Solberg describes Friday as narrow and cambered, closer in character to New Zealand, with the later days wider. Pajari, who has contested the event twice in a Rally1 car, likens some stages to Finland: fast, flowing and cambered, but with high tyre wear.
Rally Chile runs from 10 to 13 September.
Facts: Rally Chile 2026
- Dates: 10–13 September 2026
- Round: 12 of 14, 2026 FIA World Rally Championship
- Surface: gravel, Biobío region around Concepción
- Competitive distance: 311.18 km (193.4 miles), around 40 per cent new
- Longest day: Saturday, 139.2 km (86.5 miles)
- Toyota manufacturers’ lead: 173 points, with 180 still available
- Points needed to seal the manufacturers’ title: seven
Source: newsroom.toyota.eu