Elfyn Evans breaks Britain’s 25-year wait for WRC title

Elfyn Evans has broken Britain’s quarter-century wait for a WRC title after being crowned in three-way decider in Sardinia.

Evans finished fifth on Rally Italia Sardegna, the last running of the Italian round on the island just south of Corsica before the Rally di Roma Capitale takes over in 2027 after several years in the European championship (ERC).

The Welshman entered the weekend with a 17-point lead over Sami Pajari, while Oliver Solberg was 21 points adrift ahead of what was originally set to be the penultimate round of 2026 before the Middle East conflict caused Rally Saudi Arabia to be cancelled.

Evans lost out in the Saudi decider last year to Sebastien Ogier. It was another three-way decider, with Kalle Rovanpera also in contention, but the weekend was characterised by punctures on the incredibly aggressive Saudi gravel.

The sandier roads of Sardinia made for a less chaotic final round, but with Evans and Pajari opening the road the opportunity was there for Solberg to take risks with a slightly cleaner road than his rivals.

That paid off on Friday, meaning he kept his road order advantage over his two rivals on Saturday. By the end of the morning loop, Solberg had ascended to the lead of the rally and had positioned himself as the nearest rival to Evans.

Only four points separated Evans and Solberg at the start of the afternoon loop on Saturday, but that first stage claimed Neuville for the day and while that made things easier for Solberg with respect to the rally itself, it gave points to Pajari and Evans behind.

By the end of the second full day, Solberg was almost a minute clear at the head of the field, ahead of Ogier, while Pajari was third and Evans fifth, the two separated by Adrien Fourmaux.

WRC’s unusual points format, which sees points awarded for the overall rally result as well as bonus points for Sunday-only standings and the concluding Power Stage, meant that, while Evans went into Sunday virtually leading by six points over Solberg, the Swede had chances to make those points back.

As it had been already in the Sardinia weekend, Sunday was an all-out attack from Solberg, whom nobody could match in the Sunday standings from the beginning of the day on stage 14.

A puncture for Evans pushed the balance more in the favour of the Swede, who virtually trailed by only a point heading into the Power Stage.

Solberg was on course to beat Evans and take second in the Power Stage, which would’ve been enough to take the title, but two corners from the finish he ran wide, clipped a bank, lost the rear and went off the road, leaking time and ultimately handing the title to Evans. Solberg kept the Rally Italia Sardegna victory.

Evans’ title was the first for a Welsh driver in WRC history, and the first for a Welsh driver or co-driver since Phil Mills won alongside, ironically, Petter Solberg in 2003.

Additionally, no British driver had won the WRC title since Richard Burns was victorious in 2001, while Scott Martin became the first English man to win the co-drivers’ title.