World Rally Championship: Elfyn Evans’ title hopes hurt by final day Chile puncture

Elfyn Evans remains top of the World Rally Championship (WRC), but his hopes of extending his long-standing lead were hit by a final-day puncture at Rally Chile.

Running second to Oliver Solberg for most of the three-day event in Concepcion, the Welshman looked set to widen his margin on nearest rival Sami Pajari before the final two rounds on the 2026 calendar.

However, 37-year-old Evans had to stop for a wheel change on the penultimate stage, losing over two minutes.

The delay dropped him to fifth behind Toyota team-mate Pajari and reduced his Sunday bonus points to four as second quickest driver on the final Powerstage.

“Obviously we tried to be as efficiently fast as we could,” said Evans.

“We did what we could. Of course it was looking pretty positive this morning but these things happen. We keep at it.”

Solberg won the rally from Frenchman Sebastien Ogier, with the Swede now third in the WRC standings 21 points behind Evans, whose lead over Finland’s Pajari is down to 17.

With Evans, Pajari, Solberg and Ogier all on the same team, the weekend’s result secured a record 10th manufacturer’s championship for Toyota’s Gazoo Racing.

Josh McErlean also suffered a puncture in Chile, finishing seventh, while Motorsport Ireland and M-Sport Ford team-mate Jon Armstrong was forced to retire from Saturday’s stages after hitting a bank and rolling his Puma Rally1.

Five-time runner-up Evans has led the championship since April’s Rally Islas Canarias, as he seeks to become only the third British WRC winner following Colin McRae (1995) and Richard Burns (2001).

Explaining his lengthy delay with stage 15 tyre trouble, the Dolgellau driver said: “We didn’t get the notification on the dash, so we had to make sure it definitely was flat or delaminated and what have you, so it made the decision to stop a bit more difficult or prolonged, let’s say, than it normally would’ve been.

“But I guess anyway it wouldn’t have made any difference in the scheme of what’s happened.”

The drivers now head to Rally Italia Sardegna from 1 October to 4 October, where Evans could in theory claim his first title with a maximum of 35 points on offer for each rally.

However, the championship looks set to be decided in November’s season-ending finale in Saudi Arabia – as it was last year.

Ten months ago, Evans headed to the inaugural Saudi event with a three-point lead in the driver standings, only to be pipped by Ogier, who claimed a record-equalling ninth world title.