Oliver Solberg Wins Monte Carlo to Lead WRC 2026

WRC, Sportrik Media - Oliver Solberg delivered a commanding victory at the season-opening Rally Monte Carlo to seize the early lead of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) 2026 with Toyota Gazoo Racing, according to a report by DirtFish.

The result defied many expectations. Although Solberg arrived as the reigning WRC2 champion and had already won on his Toyota debut at Rally Estonia last year, Monte Carlo marked his first tarmac event as a full-time Rally1 driver. He nevertheless took control on SS2 with a stunning 31-second stage win and never relinquished the lead thereafter.

Solberg’s performance was defined by composure in treacherous winter conditions. Despite running off into a field on Saturday and suffering a small spin on Sunday, he maintained a measured approach to secure a controlled 51.8-second victory over team-mate Elfyn Evans, underlining Toyota’s early-season strength.

“I don’t understand it at the moment, I think. It’s another emotional day,” said Solberg.
“It was the most difficult rally I’ve done in my life—my first rally in the car on tarmac and my first rally back at the full level—and here we are winning the whole thing. It’s been so demanding and stressful. A huge thank you to Toyota for believing that I could deliver.”

The win places Solberg at the top of the WRC 2026 standings, four points clear of Evans. While Evans claimed the power stage victory and finished second on Super Sunday, he was narrowly beaten on Super Sunday by Yohan Rossel driving a Rally2 Lancia, highlighting the complex competitive dynamics of Monte Carlo across classes.

Reigning world champion Sébastien Ogier completed the podium in third, recording his weakest Monte Carlo result since 2012, when he crashed a Škoda Fabia S2000. Nevertheless, Ogier banked valuable points in the broader championship context.

For Hyundai Motorsport, Adrien Fourmaux and Thierry Neuville finished fourth and fifth, but several minutes adrift of the leading Toyotas. Fourmaux lost around 30 seconds in fog on Thursday, encountered an electrical issue on Friday afternoon and spun on Saturday to end 5m59.3s down. Neuville was delayed by three minutes on Friday’s final stage and required a tyre change after contact on Sunday, finishing 10m29.8s behind.

Léo Rossel claimed WRC2 victory and an impressive sixth overall, defeating Škoda drivers Eric Roberto Daprà and Eric Camilli. It marked Rossel’s first WRC2 win, as his brother Yohan Rossel broke a wheel on the opening stage and Lancia team-mate Nikolai Grjazin went off into a field on Saturday.

Further back, Takamoto Katsuta finished seventh after an impact broke his power steering on Friday afternoon, while Hayden Paddon completed his first manufacturer-backed WRC event since 2018 in 10th, losing four minutes after an off on Saturday.

Monte Carlo also proved unforgiving for several Rally1 crews. Sami Pajari retired on Thursday night after hitting a bridge and breaking his rear-left suspension, before later becoming stuck in a snowbank and hitting a tree on Saturday. Grégoire Munster exited on Sunday morning with a mechanical issue on the liaison, Josh McErlean retired after hitting an Armco barrier on the penultimate stage, and debutant Jon Armstrong also retired on the penultimate stage—ending M-Sport’s long-standing manufacturer points-scoring run dating back to Monte Carlo 2002.

Solberg’s Monte Carlo triumph reshapes the early competitive order of WRC 2026. With a diverse calendar still ahead, the manner of his victory establishes a new benchmark for consistency and control, setting the tone for the championship battle as the series moves on to contrasting surfaces in the coming rounds.