Elfyn Evans believes the WRC drivers’ title fight remains wide open despite taking a 17-point lead into the closing stage of the season. In an interview published by Motorsport.com on September 18, the Toyota driver said opening the road on Sardinia’s gravel would be difficult. He needs to prepare as he would for any other rally, rather than trying to defend his championship position by cruising. His recent puncture in Chile is an immediate reason for that caution.
One fewer rally, but 35 points still available
The FIA and WRC Promoter announced on September 17 that Rally Saudi Arabia would no longer count towards this year’s WRC. Under the revised arrangement, Sardinia on October 1-4 would become the 13th and final round. The announcement also stated that the calendar change remained subject to World Motor Sport Council approval. The withdrawal concerns the Saudi event’s WRC component; its Middle East Rally Championship event is still scheduled for November.
Toyota’s post-Chile standings showed Evans on 230 points, Sami Pajari on 213 and Oliver Solberg on 209, leaving the latter two 17 and 21 points behind respectively. Under the FIA’s 2026 sporting regulations, when full points are awarded, the overall rally winner receives 25 points, with 5 each for the fastest cumulative Sunday time and the Power Stage winner, making 35 in total. Power Stage times also count towards Sunday’s cumulative classification, so the final round involves both the full-rally result and these two bonus-points contests.
Chile puncture damages both overall and Sunday results
Toyota’s September 13 report set out what happened. Evans held second at the end of Saturday and won the opening Sunday stage, briefly leading the day’s cumulative standings. A puncture on the penultimate stage then forced him to stop and change the tyre, costing around two minutes and dropping him to fifth overall. He subsequently finished second on the Power Stage, 0.5s behind Solberg and 0.1s ahead of Pajari, earning 4 points from that element.
Evans said in the interview that Solberg’s Chile performance had recovered 20 points, demonstrating how quickly an advantage on paper could shrink. He also said the precise cause of the puncture remained unclear. For him, the lesson from Chile was to keep pursuing a normally competitive result, rather than going to Sardinia simply to get the car to the finish.
The cost of opening the road depends on the conditions
Evans is concerned that running first on gravel as championship leader could mean sweeping loose material off the surface and losing grip. Toyota’s account of Friday in Chile also showed that rain had negated the road-sweeping disadvantage he faced at earlier rounds. Assessing the opening-road task in Sardinia therefore requires attention to the actual moisture and loose material on the surface. Toyota’s Sardinia description highlights fast, narrow stages with rough, rocky roads.
INKA SPORTS analysis: Defending a lead still requires Sunday points
Chile’s final day showed how one incident can change two classifications: time spent stopped counts towards both the overall rally time and Sunday’s cumulative result, while the subsequent Power Stage still offers a separate chance for bonus points. Evans finishing second on the Power Stage after dropping to fifth overall demonstrates why the three elements must be distinguished. Looking only at the finishing position misses the effects that lost Sunday points and points recovered on the final stage have on the championship gap.
Losing a round leaves both Evans and his pursuers with one fewer opportunity to repair a bad weekend. The leader must limit losses while maintaining enough speed to contest all the available points. A 17-point margin cannot be translated into a fixed safe pace. Whether a cautious approach in Sardinia is appropriate must be judged against the actual road-opening conditions, the time gaps to his two rivals and the Sunday and Power Stage standings. Simply reaching the finish does not prove that the lead has been protected.
Conclusion
Evans will prepare for Sardinia with a championship advantage, but Chile has shown how a single Sunday puncture can affect several scoring elements. The calendar change concentrates the remaining title opportunities into the final round. Maintaining competitive pace, responding to the actual road conditions and pursuing Sunday’s bonus points all remain tasks for the leader.
