Sébastien Ogier and Vincent Landais dominated in the Canary Islands, taking the Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 to victory after fending off a hard-charging Oliver Solberg, who kept the pressure on his team-mate until retiring on the penultimate stage. Another mistake from the Swedish driver allowed Ogier to claim his 68th WRC victory and his first in the Canary Islands. Toyota locked out the podium, with Elfyn Evans in 2nd place and Sami Pajari finishing 3rd, while an inspired Takamoto Katsuta secured 4th after two consecutive wins in previous events. With four cars in the top four, Toyota swapped Katsuta for Evans at the top of the drivers’ championship standings, while further extending their dominance in the manufacturers’ championship. While Solberg battled Ogier for the win until his retirement, five Toyotas completed the top five, with the best Hyundai being Adrien Fourmaux in 5th place, over a minute and a half behind the winner, followed by the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 cars of Thierry Neuville and returning Dani Sordo, who followed team orders to allow Neuville and Fourmaux to gain positions. M-Sport Ford performed solidly on the Canary Islands’ asphalt stages, with Joshua McErlean finishing 8th and John Armstrong in 11th.
While Toyota’s dominance has been clear, Lancia made a strong return in WRC2, securing a second consecutive victory in the Canary Islands with Yohan Rossel at the wheel of the new Ypsilon HF Rally2, beating Spain’s Alejandro Cachón (Toyota) by more than 25 seconds. Lancia has also shown strong pace with Nikolay Gryazin, who faced some challenges in the Canary Islands, unlike Yohan Rossel, who delivered a clean drive to secure his 8th WRC2 win. In stark contrast between the gravel stages of Croatia and the asphalt roads of the Canary Islands, Toyota responded decisively to Hyundai’s challenge. Within the Japanese team, only Oliver Solberg faltered in what was a constant battle between Sébastien Ogier’s experience and composure and Oliver Solberg’s raw speed, which ultimately ended in retirement. Dani Sordo also impressed on his return to a Hyundai i20 N Rally1 at his home WRC round, though he eased off towards the end to support team-mates Fourmaux and Neuville.
Like Ogier, Sordo will also compete in the Vodafone Rally de Portugal, taking on the challenge of its renowned gravel stages after winning the Portuguese Rally Championship last season. Hyundai will be aiming for a stronger showing on gravel, following some set-up difficulties experienced by Neuville in the Canary Islands. Toyota remains dominant in the manufacturers’ standings with 265 points, compared to Hyundai’s 167, and reached the milestone of 300 WRC podiums on Sunday. Elfyn Evans scored bonus points in the Canary Islands by winning the Power Stage and Super Sunday, scoring 27 points overall, compared to the 32 taken by winner Sébastien Ogier, who was 2nd on Super Sunday and 3rd in the Power Stage. In the drivers’ championship, Elfyn Evans returns to the lead with 101 points, closely followed by Takamoto Katsuta on 99. Sami Pajari is 3rd with 72, followed by Oliver Solberg on 68, Adrien Fourmaux on 59, and Sébastien Ogier now on 58 points. Five Toyota drivers occupy the top six places. The next round of the 2026 WRC is the Vodafone Rally de Portugal, from 7 to 10 May.