The 50th Rally Islas Canarias – Rally of Spain became the fifth round of the 2026 WRC season and took place from April 23 to 26 on the asphalt roads of Gran Canaria. The event featured 18 special stages and 322.04 competitive kilometres, while the rally itself quickly turned into a demonstration of strength by Toyota Gazoo Racing. The team locked out the top four overall and passed the milestone of 300 WRC podium finishes.
Victory went to Sébastien Ogier and Vincent Landais in the Toyota GR Yaris Rally1. They finished 19.9 seconds ahead of Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin, while Sami Pajari and Marko Salminen completed the podium. Takamoto Katsuta finished fourth, confirming Toyota’s complete control at the front of the field.
Thursday: Las Palmas Show Stage and Katsuta as First Leader
The rally began not with a traditional mountain stage, but with a short super special at the stadium in Las Palmas. In front of a large crowd, Takamoto Katsuta won the opening run and became the first leader of the event. His advantage was more symbolic than strategic, but it immediately showed how close the Toyota drivers were: Pajari, Ogier, Evans and Solberg were all nearby, while Oliver Solberg had already shown strong pace by topping the shakedown.
For Hyundai, the start was also significant because of Dani Sordo’s return to Rally1. The Spaniard immediately became the leading Hyundai driver and received strong support from the home crowd, but from the opening kilometres it was clear that Toyota felt more confident on Gran Canaria’s smooth, fast and high-grip asphalt roads.
Friday: Ogier Takes Control as Toyota Holds the Top Five
The real mountain stages began on Friday. One test was cancelled for organisational reasons, but it did not change the overall picture: Ogier won the morning stages and quickly moved into the lead. By the end of the first full competitive day, five Toyotas occupied the top five positions, while Sordo held sixth as the best Hyundai representative.
Ogier managed the day in his usual style: without unnecessary risk, but with constant pressure on his rivals. After service, Solberg increased his pace and won SS5, moving up to second place, but Ogier responded by winning the next stage and made better use of his tyres on the abrasive asphalt. The evening stadium-style super special did not alter the main situation: Ogier went into the overnight halt with a lead of almost nine seconds.
In WRC2, Yohan Rossel took the lead in the Lancia Ypsilon Rally2 HF Integrale. He began building his advantage on Friday and ended the day ahead of Alejandro Cachón, with Léo Rossel running third.
In WRC3, Spaniard Gil Membrado led after Friday’s programme, using the home advantage to head the Rally3 category.
Saturday: Rain Brings the Fight Back to Life as Solberg Closes In
Saturday became the key day of the rally. In the morning, Elfyn Evans won SS9 by a narrow margin and climbed to third overall, then delivered an excellent drive on the rain-affected SS10, where he was 2.5 seconds faster than his nearest rivals. Conditions changed constantly: some sections remained dry and grippy, while others had damp patches, making every mistake much more costly.
On the long SS11, Solberg continued to put pressure on Ogier. The gap between them on individual stages was measured in tenths, and by the middle of the day the leader’s advantage had been reduced to around five seconds. After service, the battle became even closer: on SS13, Ogier and Solberg set identical times, and on the final Saturday stage Solberg was again fastest. Before Sunday, only 3.8 seconds separated the two Toyota drivers.
Hyundai, meanwhile, still had no answer. Its crews struggled with the car’s balance and could not attack the racing lines with the same confidence as the Toyota drivers. Adrien Fourmaux gradually became the most effective of the three Hyundai drivers, while Sordo began to lose ground after his strong start.
In WRC2, Rossel remained in control. His advantage before the final day stood at 27.5 seconds, despite changing conditions, damp sections and high temperatures on parts of the route.
Sunday: Solberg Attacks — and Crashes Out of Contention
The final day began as a direct duel for victory. Solberg won the first two Sunday stages and reduced Ogier’s lead to 2.2 seconds. It looked as though the winner would be decided only on the Power Stage. But on the second pass of Ingenio – Valsequillo, on SS17, Solberg made a mistake in a right-hand corner over a jump, hit a metal barrier and was forced to retire. The crew was unharmed.
After that, Ogier had a comfortable margin and calmly brought the rally home. The Frenchman admitted that this was not the kind of ending he wanted: Solberg had driven a strong rally, but in rallying it is not enough only to be fast — you also have to reach the finish. Ogier also noted that he kept his rhythm and did not panic when his young teammate began to reduce the gap.
Evans inherited second place and made the most of Sunday: he won the Wolf Power Stage, topped Super Sunday and regained the lead in the World Championship by two points over Katsuta. After the finish, he described the weekend as strong, but admitted that a weak start had prevented him from fighting properly for victory.
WRC / Rally1 Results
- Sébastien Ogier / Vincent Landais — Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
- Elfyn Evans / Scott Martin — Toyota, +19.9
- Sami Pajari / Marko Salminen — Toyota, +1:40.8
- Takamoto Katsuta / Aaron Johnston — Toyota, +1:51.2
- Adrien Fourmaux / Alexandre Coria — Hyundai, +3:29.5
- Thierry Neuville / Martijn Wydaeghe — Hyundai, +3:41.0
- Dani Sordo / Cándido Carrera — Hyundai, +3:57.7
- Josh McErlean / Eoin Treacy — Ford, +5:45.4
DNF: Oliver Solberg / Elliott Edmondson — Toyota.
WRC2: Rossel Gives Lancia Its Second Consecutive Victory
In WRC2, victory went to Yohan Rossel and Arnaud Dunand in the Lancia Ypsilon Rally2 HF Integrale. For Lancia, it was a second consecutive category win after its success in Croatia. Rossel built his result on a strong Friday attack, winning a series of stages, and then controlled his pace intelligently through the changing conditions on Saturday and Sunday.
The French crew finished 25.1 seconds ahead of Alejandro Cachón. Eric Camilli took third after late heartbreak for Léo Rossel, who lost his chance of a podium near the end. After the finish, Rossel said that everything had worked perfectly for the team — from tyre choice to car set-up — although controlling the pace had not been easy because of the tight fight behind him.
WRC3 and Junior WRC: Membrado Takes His First Big Win
In WRC3, victory went to Gil Membrado and Adrián Pérez in a Ford Fiesta Rally3. For Membrado, it was a particularly important result: a home event, his first WRC appearance on the Canary Islands stages, and his first category victory. He also won the Junior WRC classification.
His rally was not easy. Tymek Abramowski kept him under pressure during the weekend, and the WRC3 lead changed hands on individual stages. But Membrado managed to regain control and finish as the class winner, making his success one of the key Spanish stories of the weekend.
Main Conclusions
Rally Islas Canarias 2026 was Toyota’s rally. The team won its fifth event of the season, filled the top four places and scored 59 of a possible 60 points in the manufacturers’ championship. After the Canary Islands round, Toyota increased its advantage over Hyundai to 98 points, while Evans moved into the lead of the drivers’ standings with 101 points against Katsuta’s 99.
For Hyundai, the rally was worrying: Fourmaux, Neuville and Sordo finished fifth, sixth and seventh, but the gap to Toyota on smooth asphalt was too large. M-Sport, by contrast, gained an important clean finish from Josh McErlean, who was eighth overall.
The main drama of the rally was Oliver Solberg’s retirement. He was the only driver who truly forced Ogier to defend his lead until the final kilometres, but an error on SS17 turned a potential fight for victory into another harsh WRC lesson. Ogier, meanwhile, added another rally win to his career record — a victory achieved not only through speed, but also through composure under pressure.
