A jump, a right-hand bend, the end: Oliver Solberg dramatically loses a potential WRC victory to Sebastien Ogier at the Canary Islands Rally
After a dramatic duel for victory at the Canary Islands Rally, the fifth round of the 2026 World Rally Championship (WRC), Oliver Solberg had to concede defeat shortly before the finish. A driving error on the penultimate special stage ended the thrilling duel with his team-mate Sebastien Ogier prematurely. Afterwards, Solberg emphasized that he had not gone over the limit, but only needed to improve small details.
In a right-hand bend after a crest, his GR Yaris went off track and crashed into the barriers, which meant an immediate retirement. Solberg explained the incident as follows: “The rhythm in the stage and the speed were good. I didn’t push too hard and was six tenths behind Ogier at the intermediate time.“
”It was this one corner with a jump. This morning we were much slower in this stage because it was wet, so we hardly jumped. I didn’t expect the car to jump that far. It was a small mistake. We just went off the line and hit the barriers,” said Solberg.
The son of former world champion Petter Solberg and nine-time champion Ogier engaged in a battle on Gran Canaria that came down to a heart-stopping finale on the Power Stage. Before the penultimate stage, Solberg had reduced the gap to Ogier to just 2.2 seconds. But in his attempt to snatch victory, the young Swede ended up in the crash barriers.
Solberg: “Could have been satisfied with second place”
Despite his disappointment at missing out on the top result, the Monte Carlo Rally winner was combative. He had proven that he could keep up with one of the greatest rally drivers of all time. “It was difficult to assess and it was a small mistake. It was stupid,” he says.
“When you’re struggling, it’s easy to say you’re happy with second place, and that was the original goal. But when you’re only two seconds behind, you have to try. I felt very comfortable in the car today and everything was easy for me. I just misjudged the jump a bit,” said Solberg.
Looking to the future, he added: “I have to try to stay positive, look ahead and keep pushing. I haven’t done that many rallies in this car yet and I’ve already taken a few wins. I just need to improve the small details. The speed and the feeling are there, and that’s fantastic. It was a dream come true to fight against Ogier this weekend.”
Sebastien Ogier kept his cool in the duel
The pressure on Ogier was significantly reduced by his rival’s retirement. The Frenchman ultimately secured his 68th WRC victory with a lead of 19.9 seconds over his Toyota team-mate Elfyn Evans. Ogier stated that he never panicked despite the constant pressure from Solberg. At the time of the accident, the 42-year-old was just ahead of Solberg at the intermediate stage.
“Every win is satisfying, but one after such an intense weekend and a tough battle like this is more fun. It would have been even better if the fight had gone right to the end,” Ogier summed up. “It was great fun. It’s never really my approach to take the full risk, everyone knows that. I never panicked, as I always do, and concentrated on myself. I wanted to drive as cleanly as possible and maintain this strong rhythm.“
Ogier admitted that it would have been close without the accident: ”On this last loop, I had the rhythm I needed to maintain the necessary lead for victory. In the end, it would have been a close call and it’s hard to say which way it would have gone. We’ll never know.”
