Ogier Extends Rally Lead After Dominant SS18

Sébastien Ogier strengthened his chances of victory at Rally Portugal 2026 after setting the fastest time on SS18 Paredes 2. The Toyota Gazoo Racing driver delivered a dominant performance on Saturday’s final major gravel stage and extended his overall lead to more than 20 seconds.

Ogier beat teammate Elfyn Evans by 3.7 seconds on the stage, allowing the eight-time world champion to increase his advantage over Thierry Neuville of Hyundai Motorsport to 20.2 seconds heading into the end of Saturday’s action.

Ogier’s pace represented one of the biggest turnarounds of the day after struggling for grip and rhythm during Saturday morning’s wet stages. Toyota made several setup adjustments during the afternoon service, particularly for changing weather conditions and grip balance, which immediately improved the car’s overall performance.

Baca JugaSolberg Bangkit di SS19, Ogier Tetap Aman

“I had to respond because the morning stages were a complete disaster for me. The afternoon conditions helped us a lot. We changed the car setup for the afternoon weather and it became much more enjoyable to drive,” said Ogier.

Neuville remains second overall but is now under increasing pressure from Sami Pajari. The young Toyota driver sits only 5.3 seconds behind the Hyundai driver after another strong performance in slippery and muddy conditions.

“It did not feel particularly good. There was some fighting with the conditions, but that is part of rallying. I never expected the time to be that competitive. It was quite crazy,” Pajari explained.

Neuville admitted there was little more he could do against Ogier’s pace in the difficult conditions. The Belgian driver is now increasingly focused on defending second position from Pajari heading into Sunday’s deciding stages.

“The feeling was quite good. I do not think I can do much more at the moment. We will keep trying until the end,” said Neuville.

Meanwhile, Oliver Solberg lost additional time after spinning during SS18. The incident compounded a difficult afternoon for the Swedish driver following the puncture he suffered earlier during the second Saturday loop.

As a result, Solberg now leads Evans by only 0.5 seconds in the battle for fourth overall. Extremely slippery road conditions and limited spare tyre availability continue to create major challenges for the Rally1 field.

Behind the top six, Takamoto Katsuta has started to pressure Adrien Fourmaux for seventh position, with only 10.8 seconds separating the pair. In WRC2, Jan Solans moved into the class lead after an impressive performance on the Paredes stage, although Teemu Suninen remains just 1.3 seconds behind.

Pos	Driver	Car	Time
1	Sébastien Ogier	Toyota	3:06:02.6
2	Thierry Neuville	Hyundai	+20.2
3	Sami Pajari	Toyota	+25.5
4	Oliver Solberg	Toyota	+53.1
5	Elfyn Evans	Toyota	+53.6
6	Adrien Fourmaux	Hyundai	+1:20.8
7	Takamoto Katsuta	Toyota	+1:31.6
8	Dani Sordo	Hyundai	+3:35.2
9	Martins Sesks	Ford	+6:42.6
10	Josh McErlean	Ford	+7:09.5

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

Stage	Name	Distance	Time
SS19	SSS Lousada	3.78 km	03:05 WIB

Rally Portugal has now entered the final stage of Saturday with Ogier firmly in control of the event. However, changing weather conditions, pressure from Hyundai, and the tightening podium battle are still expected to play a major role heading into Sunday’s decisive Fafe Power Stage.