Evans heads Ogier as Solberg retires after crash in Rally Japan

Toyota’s Elfyn Evans continues to lead Rally Japan ahead of Sebastian Ogier as Oliver Solberg retires after a mistake on SS10. 

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

Evans remains the overall leader of the WRC’s Rally Japan, heading a provisional Toyota 1-2-3-4, after Oliver Solberg crashed out on the first test of the afternoon. 

Solberg and Evans had been trading blows across Saturday’s morning loop with the former taking first blood on SS7, followed by Evans taking top honours on SS8 before the Swede returned to the top on SS9, Mt. Kasagi.

The following pass of the Mt. Kasagi stage would be where that fight would end, as Solberg hit a tree amongst the Japanese forest, at a left-hand bend. 

The Toyota driver broke over a cut, and his Yaris couldn’t slow down enough to make the corner. As he tried to apply the handbrake, it sent the right rear into a tree. The suspension had broken after contact, and he couldn’t move the car, prompting an early retirement. 

Oliver Solberg crashes out of Rally Japan on SS10

It meant that teammates Sebastien Ogier and Sami Pajari climbed up to second and third overall, respectively. The nine-time world champion claimed Solberg’s retirement was ‘it’s not really a surprise.’ He said: 

“Not a surprise. This morning, I’ve seen the risk he’s taking is too high. Unfortunately, it’s not really a surprise.”

Overall, Evans heads Ogier by 17.8 seconds heading into the final day of action.  

Toyota’s home hero, Takamoto Katsuta, tried to make a charge onto Pajari to fight for the final podium position, after a troublesome start in his home event. However, the Finnish driver was able to keep his Japanese teammate at bay, increasing the gap from 17 seconds to 26.9 seconds by the end of Saturday’s action.

However, for the following competitors, it was not a simple day for some with both M-Sport Ford’s Joshua McErlean and Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville both suffering handbrake problems. 

McErlean faced his issues on the opening SS7 stage and was able to rectify the issue for the following stage. Whereas Neuville suffered intermittent issues with his Hyundai throughout the day, compounded by car balance problems. 

2026 Rally Japan: The full WRC stage guide and times

So, who finished where after the second day of action at Rally Japan?

1. Elfyn Evans, Toyota – 2hr, 32m 5.6s
2. Sebastien Ogier, Toyota +17.8s
3. Sami Pajari, Toyota +44.4s
4. Takamoto Katsuta, Toyota +1m 11.3s
5. Adrien Fourmaux, Hyundai +2m 5.2s
6. Thierry Neuville, Hyundai +2m 17s
7. Hayden Paddon, Hyundai +3m 41.8s
8. Jon Armstrong, M-Sport Ford +4m 33.7s
9. Nikolay Gryazin, WRC2 +7m 17.7s
10. Alejandro Cachon, WRC2 +7m 23.4s

Rally1’s outside the top 10: 

Joshua McErlean, 11th, seven minutes and 58.3 seconds adrift of Evans’ time.

Read more WRC here:

• Oliver Solberg crashes out of Rally Japan on SS10
• Elfyn Evans keeps Oliver Solberg at bay after Rally Japan morning loop
• Elfyn Evans tops opening day of Rally Japan ahead of Oliver Solberg
• Takamoto Katsuta looking forward to different Rally Japan conditions
• Thierry Neuville expecting ‘difficult’ weekend in Rally Japan after securing first 2026 win
• Ogier lays down the gauntlet in Rally Japan shakedown

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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.