Oliver Solberg Off as Evans Extends Sweden Lead

WRC, Sportrik Media – Oliver Solberg flirted with disaster on SS3 of Rally Sweden 2026 after sliding into a snowbank, an incident that allowed Elfyn Evans to strengthen his grip on the rally lead.

Solberg, who had led the event into Friday before a stall on SS2 dropped him to second, lost over 30 seconds on Andersvattnet after going off the road. The Toyota Gazoo Racing driver buried the throttle to free his GR Yaris Rally1 from deep snow but also picked up a front-left puncture in the process. He now sits sixth overall, 37.5 seconds behind rally leader Evans.

“I went off the road,” Solberg said. “There was so much snow everywhere, I had a big snap with the rear and went off. I somehow got up so I’m lucky in that sense, but I got a puncture in the ditch there. Not good.”

Solberg was not the only driver caught out on the stage. Thierry Neuville of Hyundai Motorsport was pulled into a snowbank and lost over a minute after having to undo his seat belts to clean his windscreen and restore visibility.

“I touched the snowbank and it put me slightly in. I had immediately no visibility, so I went in the ditch on the other side,” Neuville explained. “We had to clean the windscreen to keep going.”

Further drama struck Mārtiņš Sesks of M-Sport Ford, who suffered a third puncture in two stages. Despite the setback, Sesks confirmed he would continue, with one of the affected tyres not severely damaged.

At the front, Evans claimed his second consecutive stage win to extend his rally lead to 11.5 seconds over Takamoto Katsuta. Sami Pajari holds third overall at +18.4s, while Esapekka Lappi is the leading Hyundai in fourth, 29.0 seconds off the lead and 3.4 seconds ahead of team-mate Adrien Fourmaux.

Two rear punctures for Josh McErlean have promoted Jon Armstrong to the leading M-Sport position, 2.1 seconds clear of Neuville in eighth. McErlean now sits ninth, over two minutes adrift of the rally lead.

With ruts deepening and tyre damage proving increasingly decisive, Rally Sweden 2026 continues to underline how marginal errors on snow can dramatically reshape the competitive order within a single stage.