Oliver Solberg crashes out of Rally Japan on SS10
30th May 2026Toyota’s Oliver Solberg has crashed out of the World Rally Championship’s Rally Japan after an early charge to challenge his teammate, Elfyn Evans, for the rally lead.
Feature image credit: Jaanus Ree // Red Bull Content Pool
On Saturday morning, Solberg was on a charge to fight for the lead of the rally, which is currently held by his more experienced teammate Evans. The Swede went into the second day of running 15.7 seconds adrift of the Welshman.
Despite taking two of the three stage wins on the morning loop, Solberg had brought down Evans’ advantage to just over 10 seconds. However, on the second pass of Mt. Kasagi, his attack for the rally lead came to nothing as he collided with a tree and retired from the event.
Elfyn Evans keeps Oliver Solberg at bay after Rally Japan morning loop
As the Swedish driver approached a left-hand bend through the Japanese forests, he couldn’t slow down the car enough before the back end slipped out beneath him after running through a deep cut in the road. The rear-right of his Rally1 Yaris had collided with a tree, rocking the car into some nearby foliage.
When Solberg tried to get the car moving again, it would not move – seemingly beaching itself on the bank.
However, through the onboards of other cars that passed, following the incident, showed that the Swedish driver had suffered significant rear-right suspension damage. The rear-right tyre was moved into an unnatural angle inside the wheel well.
As such, it means the SS10 stage winner and Toyota driver, Sebastien Ogier, will move up to second place, and his teammate Sami Pajari will move up to third overall. Evans had lost time to pass Solberg on the road, meaning the nine-time world champion pipped his rival by 5.5 seconds, bringing his gap to Evans down to 14.6 seconds.
On the incident, after finishing the stage with the eventual best time, Ogier said:
“Not a surprise. This morning, I’ve seen the risk he’s taking is too high. Unfortunately, it’s not really a surprise.”
Read more WRC here:
- 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
- Sebastien Ogier fastest first pass in WRC Rally Japan Shakedown
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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.
