2026 WRC Round 1, Rallye Monte-Carlo Saturday: Solberg survives snowy scare and returns to Monaco 59.3 seconds ahead

Rallye Monte-Carlo continued on Saturday after heavy snow. Oliver Solberg went off a mountain road but rejoined and took a 59.3-second lead into Sunday’s final day. Toyota’s provisional evening classification gave him and co-driver Elliott Edmondson an accumulated time of 3 hours 16 minutes 34.1 seconds, with Elfyn Evans second and Sébastien Ogier third. The provisional top three remained unchanged, but the transition from snow around Gap to rain in Monaco almost made this a day of two very different contests.

Overnight snowfall made the three mountain stages around Gap exceptionally difficult. Solberg carried Friday’s lead of 1 minute 08.4 seconds into the day’s opening test, also the longest of the rally at 29.93 kilometres. He lost 17 seconds on the snow, substantially reducing his advantage. On the second stage, he was 11.4 seconds faster than Evans and steadied his lead. For the rally leader, these were not conditions in which simply slowing down guaranteed a safe passage: cars running in different positions encountered snow in different states, requiring grip levels to be judged anew at every corner.

After midday service, the crews returned to La Bréole–Bellaffaire. The snow was beginning to melt and passing tyres churned it into slush. Several drivers went off, including Solberg, who slid away from the road. He managed to get the car back and still set the fastest time, avoiding the prospect of a lead of almost a minute turning straight into retirement. A conspicuous mistake and a stage win occurring together illustrated the extreme fluctuations in Monte-Carlo’s timing; the eventual provisional advantage could not obscure that risk.

Saturday’s final stage moved to Monaco’s streets, using part of the Grand Prix circuit. It was the first competitive super special stage in this area since 2008. Heavy rain made the city roads slippery too. Solberg chose to get through rather than risk trying to extend his advantage, eventually returning to Monaco with a lead of 59.3 seconds. Unlike the mountain stages, where ice and snow dictated grip, the city test also demanded a quick adjustment to the road boundaries and drainage. Even a short distance could affect the result built up over the whole day.

The fight for second also fluctuated. Ogier won the opening morning stage and briefly closed to within 3 seconds of Evans. Evans then responded, restoring the gap between them to about 26 seconds by the end of Saturday. Toyota’s hold on the top three therefore still contained an internal contest: Evans had second place to defend, while Ogier could continue to apply pressure in the mountains on Sunday. Hyundai’s Fourmaux and Neuville were provisionally fourth and fifth, several minutes behind the leading crews, and were largely waiting for the situation ahead to change.

Takamoto Katsuta climbed from 12th, where Friday’s power-steering damage had left him, to ninth overall. He was third-fastest on the opening morning stage and second-fastest on the Monaco super special, gradually recovering positions through several strong individual times. In contrast, Sami Pajari went off in the slush and hit a tree. After assessing the damage, Toyota decided to withdraw his car from the event. That also showed how the treacherous conditions could eliminate crews who were not fighting for the overall lead. WRC Challenge Program driver Yuki Yamamoto recovered positions after losing substantial time in Rally2 and was provisionally sixth in that class on Saturday.

Sunday’s schedule returns to the mountains north of Monaco, with two stages each run twice. These include the famous Col de Turini, whose second running will be the Power Stage awarding extra points. Solberg’s advantage can ease the pressure to chase speed, but it cannot judge each snowy corner for him. Evans and Ogier must also consider their rally points while fighting for second. The classification below is the provisional overall order at 21:00 on Saturday; neither the closing stages nor the Power Stage has yet been included.

All Rally1 crews after Saturday’s stages