WRC Canarias: Ogier leads Solberg after Day 2 as Toyotas dominate

Sébastien Ogier capped a dominant Friday for Toyota at Rally Islas Canarias, ending the day with an 8.9-second lead after the final superspecial.

The nine-time world champion laid the foundations in the morning, winning both completed stages to build an early advantage despite a cancellation disrupting the loop. The Tejeda – San Mateo test was cancelled due to spectator issues, but did little to halt Toyota’s momentum. Sami Pajari, Elfyn Evans, Oliver Solberg and Takamoto Katsuta ensured a clean Toyota top five at midday.

The afternoon brought a reshuffle behind Ogier. Solberg emerged as his closest challenger, briefly outpacing the Frenchman to climb into second before Ogier reasserted control with two more stage wins. After the closing superspecial, the gap stood at 8.9 seconds between the pair.

“I’m happy because the feeling in the car is better now,” Ogier said after setup changes improved his confidence.

Behind them, the battle for third remained tight. Pajari held on to the position by just 0.5 seconds from Evans, underlining how closely matched the Toyota drivers are. Katsuta, meanwhile, slipped further back and ended the day just under 30 seconds off the lead.

Hyundai and M-Sport can’t match Toyota

Hyundai, in contrast, endured a difficult and telling Friday. Dani Sordo was the team’s leading driver in sixth, but all three i20 N Rally1 crews struggled with front-end grip and persistent understeer.

Thierry Neuville highlighted the core issue, admitting he could not follow the same racing lines as the Toyotas, an insight that underlined the performance gap on these technical asphalt roads. Adrien Fourmaux faced similar limitations, as the two leading Hyundais finished the day just under a minute off the lead.

Further down the order, Josh McErlean led M-Sport Ford’s efforts, while team-mate Jon Armstrong endured a difficult day. The Irishman lost time in the morning after running straight on into an escape road. Armstrong’s troubles continued later when a transmission issue during the warm-up to the superspecial left him tackling tight hairpins with only front-wheel drive.

Armstrong ended the day in P11, 11.1 seconds behind Yohan Rossel, who leads WRC2. In WRC2, home hero Alejandro Cachón sits in P2, 22 seconds behind Rossel and just 4.9 seconds ahead of Léo Rossel.

Rally Islas Canarias continues tomorrow with six stages, covering just over 112 competitive kilometres.

Rally Islas Canarias all info: LIVE timing, LIVE report, stage maps, entry list, itinerary and more!

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Photo: Toyota GAZOO Racing