Oliver Solberg stretched his WRC Rally Chile advantage to 19.1 seconds on Saturday evening as Toyota driver Elfyn Evans narrowly defended second position from Sébastien Ogier.
The current championship leader faced immense pressure from his world champion team-mate across the abrasive Biobío gravel. Ogier slashed a 6.4-second deficit down to just 0.3 seconds on the penultimate test. Evans responded decisively during the 28.31km Maria las Cruces stage, edging the Frenchman by a single second to secure a 1.3-second overnight buffer.
Balancing Risk And Reward
Evans sits eleven points clear of Takamoto Katsuta in the 2026 standings and must now weigh the pursuit of Solberg against banking vital podium points. The Welshman admitted his defensive driving stemmed from aggressive degradation during a brutal tyre gamble on the punishing Chilean surfaces.
“I can’t be fully satisfied with the afternoon, we’d have hoped to be faster,” Evans told DirtFish. He noted that the Toyota crew were perhaps too cautious with their tyre strategy split over the loop.
This hesitation allowed Solberg to dominate the late afternoon. The rally leader blasted through the final downhill section of SS12 to gap Evans by 3.7 seconds.
“The first stage tomorrow is extremely difficult, but at least we’ve got a small gap now which is very nice. For the championship’s sake I need to do my classic powerstage and Sunday don’t I? So I’ll do my best,” Solberg said.
Sunday concludes with four stages across 71.2 competitive kilometres, ending on the Biobío Power Stage.
