Rally Italia Sardegna on 1-4 October closes the 2026 World Rally Championship, and all three drivers still in contention for the title drive for Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team. Elfyn Evans leads Sami Pajari by 17 points and Oliver Solberg by 21, with 35 still on the table. The Sardinian round is also the last WRC outing for the GR Yaris Rally1 before new technical rules arrive in 2027.
The 2026 World Rally Championship ends earlier than planned. After the FIA and the WRC Promoter confirmed that Rally Saudi Arabia, originally set for November, would not form part of the season, Rally Italia Sardegna on 1-4 October becomes the 13th and final round — and the one that settles the drivers’ and co-drivers’ championships.
Three team-mates, one title
All three remaining contenders come from the same garage. Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team has already wrapped up a record-equalling sixth consecutive manufacturers’ title at the previous round in Chile, and one of its crews is now guaranteed the drivers’ and co-drivers’ crowns — the seventh time in eight years for the team.
With 35 points available across the weekend, Elfyn Evans and co-driver Scott Martin hold a 17-point cushion over Sami Pajari and Marko Salminen, and 21 over Oliver Solberg and Elliott Edmondson. Evans has led the standings since round five in the Canary Islands in April and won in Sweden and Japan, scoring consistently despite the disadvantage of opening the road on loose-gravel events. None of the three has been world champion before.
Pajari, 24, is in his second full season in Rally1 machinery and became the first driver to take his first three WRC wins back-to-back, in Estonia, Finland and Paraguay. Solberg, who turned 25 on 23 September, opened his first full season with the team by winning Rallye Monte-Carlo in January and added a second victory in Chile in September.
“It’s going to be very special to go to Sardinia with three of our crews fighting to become world champion for the first time,” says Team Principal Jari-Matti Latvala. “For our team, the most important thing is to provide them all with a strong and reliable car so that they can have an even fight.”
The last rally for the GR Yaris Rally1
Sardinia also marks the end of an era. The GR Yaris Rally1 bows out before the 2027 technical regulations take effect, after five seasons and 47 victories — which, according to Toyota, is more than any other model has managed under any previous set of rules.
Sébastien Ogier, fourth in the standings and out of title contention, will start his 214th WRC event in Sardinia, a new record for career starts that surpasses the tally set by Latvala at Rally Finland earlier this year. The nine-time champion is also the most successful driver on the Sardinian round, having taken a fifth win there in 2025 with co-driver Vincent Landais. Takamoto Katsuta, who won in Kenya and Croatia this year and became the first Japanese driver to lead the championship, is reunited with regular co-driver Aaron Johnston after Johnston missed Chile with a collarbone injury.
An October rally on abrasive gravel
Normally a June fixture, Rally Italia Sardegna runs in October for the first time since 2020. Temperatures should be lower than in summer, but the rocky, abrasive base that emerges as cars sweep away the sandy top layer remains hard on tyres — and the later date raises the odds of changeable weather off the Mediterranean.
The base moves from Olbia back to Alghero on the north-west coast. A super special stage at the Ittiri rallycross circuit opens proceedings on Thursday evening, Friday runs two loops of three stages to the north-east around midday service, and Saturday follows a similar pattern with one brand-new test, Solorche, closing each loop. Sunday features two returning north-west stages run twice, with the second pass of Sassari-Argentiera serving as the season-ending Power Stage after a final tyre-fitting zone.
WRC2 and the support classes
In WRC2, GR Yaris Rally2 drivers Roope Korhonen and Teemu Suninen are both still in the running to finish as championship runner-up. Gus Greensmith, Kajetan Kajetanowicz, Fabio Schwarz and Johannes Keferböck are also entered, along with Luis Arceluz and Martin Grigg. Italian driver Matteo Fontana, the 2025 WRC3 champion and 2026 champion-elect in that category, makes his WRC2 debut.
TGR WRC Challenge Program driver Yuki Yamamoto sits the event out. The team describes it as a joint decision to let him reset and concentrate on his development after a season that included a maiden WRC2 podium at Rally Japan.
What it means
An all-Toyota title fight removes the usual inter-team politics but adds a different kind of pressure: the team has said its priority is an equal contest rather than managing a result. Evans carries the points advantage but also the worst road position, sweeping the loose gravel for those behind — unless rain arrives, which he has noted could reduce that cleaning effect.
Facts: Rally Italia Sardegna 2026
- Dates: 1-4 October 2026
- Round: 13 of 13, final round of the season
- Base: Alghero (moved from Olbia)
- Points available: 35
- Standings: Evans leads Pajari by 17 points, Solberg by 21
- New stage: Solorche
- Power Stage: second pass of Sassari-Argentiera
The rally runs from 1 to 4 October, with the Power Stage closing the 2026 season on Sunday.
Source: newsroom.toyota.eu