Sebastien Ogier regains Rally Portugal lead ahead of Thierry Neuville
9th May 2026Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier has regained the rally lead as the Frenchman takes a 21.9-second lead into Rally de Portugal’s final day, ahead of Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville.
Feature image credit: Jaanus Ree // Red Bull Content Pool
Ogier started off the day with a 3.7-second buffer ahead of Hyundai’s 2024 world champion. Despite losing ground to the Belgian, the nine-time world champion was able to recreate some breathing room. However, it was somewhat undone as the French world champion lost the rally lead at the end of SS14.
Rain had started to fall at the end of the stage, after the first runners had passed through, making conditions tricky for the later runners, including Toyota’s Oliver Solberg.
The young Swede was able to catapult himself, thanks to a superb stage time, from fourth overall to the rally lead. Solberg finished the stage 7.2 seconds ahead of Elfyn Evans, who was the Toyota driver’s closest stage rival, whilst Ogier finished ninth on the course, 19.1 seconds off the Swedish driver’s pace.
Ogier smiled, calling Solberg’s result ‘unbelievable’ when he was told the rally lead had gone to his teammate in a single stage. The nine-time world champion cited no grip as a result of his result, after he tried his best to push on SS14.
However, it would be business as usual for the nine-time champ, as Ogier returned to the top of the overall standings ahead of teammate Sami Pajari and Evans.
By the end of proceedings, Ogier heads Neuville going into the final day of action in Portugal, with Pajari rounding out the top three positions, 25.8 seconds adrift of his teammate’s leading time.
M-Sport Ford’s Jon Armstrong became the first WRC retirement of the weekend as the Irishman crashed out of the stage on the second pass of Felgueiras (SS15).
The Puma driver was approaching a right-hand bend and carried too much speed over a crest, sending him crashing into the left-side rock bank. It resulted in a spin for the Irishman before he rolled off the track and down a hill.
Fortunately, the Irish pairing of Armstrong and Shane Byrne were okay in the incident. But, trouble did not end for the Ford drivers as Joshua McErlean became the next retirement of the WRC runners.
On the final super special stage of the day, the Irish pair ended up in the barriers after being caught out on the muddy quagmire. Despite pulling the handbrake, McErlean understeered and could do nothing to avoid the barriers.
His Puma slammed into the barriers and ultimately damaged his front-left suspension, leaving his front-left tyre at an unnatural angle. Thankfully, the Irish pairing of McErlean and Eoin Treacy were okay in their incident.
Martins Sesks now takes over as the leading Ford driver, currently ninth overall.
The final stage was then interrupted as the marshals worked on extracting McErlean’s stricken Puma as the rain continued to pour down. Thankfully, everyone was able to get through without further issues.
So, who sits where heading into the final day of action tomorrow?
WRC Rally1 overall Rally de Portugal standings
- Sebastien Ogier, Toyota – 3h 9m 13.3s
- Thierry Neuville, Hyundai +21.9s
- Sami Pajari, Toyota +25.8s
- Oliver Solberg, Toyota +49.6s
- Elfyn Evans, Toyota +58.2s
- Adrien Fourmaux, Hyundai +1m 23.8s
- Takamoto Katsuta, Toyota +1m 35.3s
- Dani Sordo, Hyundai +3m 44.7s
- Martins Sesks, M-Sport Ford +6m 47.7s
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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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.
