Oliver Solberg tightens gap on Sebastien Ogier at WRC Rally Islas Canarias

Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier retains his overnight lead going into the final day of Rally Islas Canarias, but his teammate Oliver Solberg has tightened the gap on the world champion.

Feature image credit: Jaanus Ree // Red Bull Content Pool

Saturday saw mixed conditions with the morning throwing in damp areas and occasional rainfall, adding an extra challenge to the WRC event.

Ogier had established an 8.9-second advantage over Solberg going into the second full day of running in the Spanish islands. However, the Frenchman was under threat from behind.

Solberg had cut down the gap to Ogier to 5.3 seconds by the end of the morning loop. After the afternoon stages, Ogier’s advantage had diminished to 3.8 seconds going into the final day of the event.

Across the six stages, Solberg and his teammate, Elfyn Evans, took three fastest times apiece, with the Swede remaining ahead of the nine-time world champion to chip away at this lead.

Jon Armstrong goes off the road at Rally Islas Canarias

It now means Ogier will have a narrower lead going into the final four stages of the rally, with momentum on Solberg’s side.

However, it was not plain sailing for all of the WRC Rally1 competitors as M-Sport Ford’s Jon Armstrong suffered an off on the final stage of the day, ultimately going off-road to avoid a barrier.

The Irishman was quickly approaching a right-hand bend at speed, but the car understeered to the far side of the road, and he quickly decided to go off the road – through the foliage – to avoid a head-on collision with a barrier.

Armstrong and his co-driver Shane Byrne were okay in the incident as they fought their way back onto the road, with the help of Byrne and nearby fans to get the car up the hill and onto the asphalt.

The Irish crew’s Rally1 Puma had suffered significant damage to the front bumper and side, following their off, but they were able to continue their route to the finish line.

Due to the amount of time lost, it meant teammate Joshua McErlean was on their compariot’s tail by the time they got to the control finish.

Rally Islas Canarias: The full WRC stage guide and times

It remains a Toyota top-five lockout going into Sunday, with Hyundai bringing up the rear in their own pack, led by Adrien Fourmaux, with Daniel Sordo and Thierry Neuville following closely behind.

Sunday’s action will get underway at 7:35am with the 25.93km Ingenio-Telde-Valsequillo test ahead of the dress rehearsal for the Wolf Power Stage, Santa Lucia-Aguimes.

So, who finished where on day three?

1. Sebastien Ogier, Toyota – 1hr 58m 5.7s
2. Oliver Solberg, Toyota +3.8s
3. Elfyn Evans, Toyota +21.9s
4. Sami Pajari, Toyota +52.7s
5. Takamoto Katsuta, Toyota +1m 3.1s
6. Adrien Fourmaux, Hyundai +1m 54.5s
7. Daniel Sordo, Hyundai +2m 26.3s
8. Thierry Neuville, Hyundai +2m 28.3s
9. Joshua McErlean, M-Sport Ford +3m 53.8s
10. Yohan Rossel, Lancia (WRC2) +4m 55s

Following his time off the road on the final stage of the day, Armstrong dropped outside the top 10, going to 16th overall, six minutes and 4.8s behind Ogier’s leading pace. 

Read more WRC here:

• Jon Armstrong goes off the road at Rally Islas Canarias
• Sebastien Ogier leads Toyota quintet after Rally Islas Canarias Saturday morning
• Sebastien Ogier holds overnight lead after day two of WRC Rally Islas Canarias 
• Sebastien Ogier tops morning loop of WRC Rally Islas Canarias day 2
• WRC Rally Islas Canarias: SS3 cancelled due to spectator cars
• Takamoto Katsuta takes overnight lead at Rally Islas Canarias

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Kamron Kent

Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.

I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.

Kamron Kent

Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.