Solberg Suffers Major Blow After SS16 Drama

Oliver Solberg suffered a major setback in the fight for victory at Rally Portugal 2026 after sustaining a puncture during SS16 Cabeceiras de Basto 2. The Toyota Gazoo Racing driver lost substantial time near the end of the stage and dropped dramatically in the overall standings.

The front-right tyre on Solberg’s Rally1 car failed toward the closing section of the second pass through Cabeceiras de Basto. As a result, the Swedish driver finished 18.8 seconds slower than the stage-winning time set by Adrien Fourmaux of Hyundai Motorsport.

Solberg admitted he was confused by the puncture because he did not feel he had made any significant mistake during the stage. The rough Portuguese gravel roads, filled with deep ruts and exposed rocks during the second loop, significantly increased the risk of tyre damage for the Rally1 field.

Read AlsoSolberg Responds in SS19 as Ogier Stays Safe

“I do not know where it came from. I only received the puncture warning on the display. I was simply driving on the normal line. This is just typical bad luck for me,” said Solberg.

The time loss dropped Solberg from second place overall to fifth in the rally classification. He now trails rally leader Sébastien Ogier by 19.8 seconds as the battle at the front tightened further.

Despite not taking major risks, Ogier managed to maintain strong consistency on roads that continued to deteriorate throughout the afternoon. The French driver adopted a more conservative approach to avoid mistakes and preserve tyre condition on Portugal’s demanding gravel stages.

“I was not pushing too hard because the road was heavily rutted. It was all about risk management,” Ogier explained.

Meanwhile, Thierry Neuville moved closer to the rally lead after reducing the gap to just 3.9 seconds behind Ogier. The fight at the front intensified further as Sami Pajari also entered the victory battle after setting the second-fastest time on SS16.

Pajari climbed to third overall and now sits only 5.5 seconds behind the rally lead. The young Toyota driver combined aggressive pace with controlled risk management despite worsening gravel conditions and constantly changing grip levels.

“It was quite a good stage. I was really driving close to the limit. If I wanted to go any faster, the risks would become extremely high,” said Pajari.

Elfyn Evans also benefited from Solberg’s problems and moved into fourth overall, leading the Swede by just 0.6 seconds. In WRC2, Teemu Suninen continues to lead the category with a 13-second advantage over Jan Solans, while Roope Korhonen climbed to third in class.

Pos	Driver	Car	Time
1	Sébastien Ogier	Toyota	2:35:08.4
2	Thierry Neuville	Hyundai	+3.9
3	Sami Pajari	Toyota	+5.5
4	Elfyn Evans	Toyota	+19.2
5	Oliver Solberg	Toyota	+19.8
6	Adrien Fourmaux	Hyundai	+30.2
7	Takamoto Katsuta	Toyota	+1:07.7
8	Dani Sordo	Hyundai	+2:32.5
9	Josh McErlean	Ford	+3:29.8
10	Martins Sesks	Ford	+6:15.3

Remaining Rally Portugal 2026 Saturday stages (Western Indonesia Time):

Stage	Name	Distance	Time
SS17	Amarante 2	26.24 km	00:35 WIB
SS18	Paredes 2	16.09 km	02:05 WIB
SS19	SSS Lousada	3.78 km	03:05 WIB

Rally Portugal has now entered a decisive phase with only three stages remaining on Saturday. With minimal gaps separating Ogier, Neuville, and Pajari, tyre management, risk control, and the ability to survive Portugal’s rough gravel roads are expected to become critical factors in the battle for victory heading into the final day.