Portugal Rally 2026, SS19: Ogier one step from victory

The last two rallies in Croatia and the Canary Islands reserved twists in the last stages when everything seemed decided, with errors from Neuville and Solberg that deprived the latter of victory. In Portugal, nine-time world champion Sébastien Ogier will have to be very careful, currently leading the standings with a 22-second advantage over Neuville, with the Frenchman, barring unforeseen events, seemingly close to securing his second consecutive win.

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SS11-SS14: Solberg’s comeback

The third day of the Portuguese rally, the longest of the entire program, opened in the sign of Sami Pajari, who set the best time with a 2.5-second advantage over Neuville. The 2nd place obtained by the Belgian driver in SS11 once again demonstrated the excellent form of Hyundai in Portugal, confirmed in the next stage also by Adrien Fourmaux, in an all-French ‘one-two’ achieved together with Ogier. However, in SS13 (during which the first drops of rain fell) Oliver Solberg’s great comeback began: winner of the stage just ahead of Ogier, the Swede repeated this in the last morning stage, during which the defending champion, Neuville, and Pajari, who until then occupied the top three positions in the overall standings, encountered difficulties. With a masterstroke, Solberg thus became the new leader of the Portuguese rally.

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SS15-SS19: Ogier returns to the top

Solberg’s presence in first place, however, lasted only briefly: at the end of the first afternoon stage, during which a serious accident fortunately without consequences occurred for Armstrong and his co-driver, Toyota’s #99 did not go beyond seventh place, while Ogier returned to the top of the standings also thanks to his win in SS15. Complicating a second comeback attempt for the Swede was a pressure problem on the front right tire, with the stage finished in 8th place and a drop to fourth in the rankings. Ogier did not shine in SS16, unlike Fourmaux, who won ahead of Pajari and Neuville, with the Belgian closing the gap to the defending champion. However, the gap between the two drivers increased significantly in the next stage, both due to the Frenchman’s win and the 4th place of the Hyundai representative, with Sesks also setting an excellent 2nd time. Day 3 of the Portuguese rally closed in favor of Ogier in the last two stages, with the Frenchman maintaining a significant gap from Neuville by first winning SS18, and then finishing 2nd behind Solberg on a day affected by bad weather.

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Rally of Portugal 2026, standings after SS19 (Top-10)