Oliver Solberg takes lead Rally Portugal ahead of Sebastien Ogier

Toyota’s Oliver Solberg has taken over as the rally leader, taking a narrow lead ahead of teammate Sebastien Ogier, at the World Rally Championship’s Rally Portugal. 

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

Toyota’s championship contender, Solberg, has taken over as the rally leader in Portugal despite starting the day down in fourth place in the overall leaderboards. 

The Swede was trailing the standings for most of the morning, staying fourth for the first three stages, securing two of the four stage victories. 

But it wasn’t until the fourth stage of the day that he excelled, on SS14, mastering the conditions to beat everyone else by 7.2 seconds. As such, it meant that the Swede took the lead by 0.5 seconds ahead of Ogier. 

The nine-time world champion remained ahead of the 2024 champion Thierry Neuville, in the Hyundai, who occupies third overall, 2.1 seconds adrift of the French driver. 

WRC 2026 Rally de Portugal: The full WRC stage guide and times

So, who stands where after Saturday’s morning loop?  

WRC Rally Portugal Leaderboard:

1. Oliver Solberg, Toyota – 2hr 16m 16.3s
2. Sebastien Ogier, Toyota +0.5s
3. Thierry Neuville, Hyundai +2.6s
4. Sami Pajari, Toyota +8.1s
5. Elfyn Evans, Toyota +17.8s
6. Adrien Fourmaux, Hyundai +29.5s
7. Takamoto Katsuta, Toyota +58s
8. Dani Sordo, Hyundai +2m 6.7s
9. Joshua McErlean, Ford +3m 0.2s
10. Jon Armstrong, Ford +5m 29.2s
11. Martins Sesks, Ford +5m 58s 

Saturday’s action will continue at 2pm.

Read more WRC here:

• Sebastien Ogier profits from Adrien Fourmaux mistake at Rally Portugal
• Adrien Fourmaux takes over WRC Rally Portugal lead
• Solberg takes early Thursday lead at WRC Rally Portugal
• WRC 2026 Rally de Portugal: The full WRC stage guide and times
• Rally de Portugal Weather 2026: Full WRC Weekend Forecast
• Oliver Solberg rues optimistic performance after Rally Islas Canarias crash

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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.