2026 WRC Rally Portugal Report: Neuville nicks it!
Words by James Downie, videography by Nikolay D Nedelchev for Rally Media UK. Photography supplied Courtesy of GF Rally Media.
Thierry Neuville claimed Hyundai’s 1st win of 2026 in fortuitous circumstances.
The Vodafone Rally de Portugal was round six of the 2026 FIA World Rally Championship. Based around Matosinhos near the coast in the north west of the country and contested on tough gravel roads, the event ran from 7th to 10th May and comprised 23 special stages and approximately 345 competitive kilometres.
Changing weather transformed the usual dusty stages into mud with standing water, whilst deepening ruts increased the risk of punctures and made tyre management crucial. Thierry Neuville and co-driver Martijn Wydaeghe emerged victorious for Hyundai after long-time leader Sébastien Ogier suffered a puncture on the penultimate stage. The result delivered Hyundai's first WRC victory of 2026, bringing Toyota's unbeaten start to the season to an end.
It may have been a Hyundai victory but four Toyotas finished in the top seven to limit the damage. Teemu Suninen completed the overall top ten while also taking the WRC2 victory.
Sebastien Ogier drove superbly but was cruelly robbed of certain victory by a puncture on the penultimate stage.
Oliver Solberg snatched the early lead after the opening three stages on Thursday. However, Hyundai's Adrien Fourmaux quickly moved ahead on Friday morning when the rally moved into the classic rough mountainous stages in the Arganil area. Consistent speed and an effective tyre strategy gave him a 7.7-second advantage over Sami Pajari at the Friday midpoint. Behind Pajari, the competition was exceptionally close, with Ogier, Neuville and Solberg separated by only 1.9 seconds
Fourmaux nevertheless lost his advantage dramatically on SS8 Góis. An off-road excursion left his Hyundai with front and rear-right punctures and dropped him from first to sixth. Solberg had an incident at almost the same location but escaped without significant time loss.
That opened the door for Sébastien Ogier. After struggling somewhat with the balance of his Toyota during the morning, Ogier took over at the front once this was sorted. He added a stage win on the second Lousã test, while Thierry Neuville responded by winning Mortágua 2. At the end of Friday, Ogier's advantage over Neuville was just 3.7 seconds, with Pajari third, 15.2 seconds from the lead.
Adrien Fourmoux led on Friday morning but an off put him out of contention.
Championship leader Elfyn Evans, disadvantaged by running first on the road, ended the day fifth and 28.1 seconds behind Ogier.
On Saturday the rain came and the rapidly deteriorating weather brought enormous changes in grip levels. The increasingly wet stages would produce several changes at the top of the leaderboard.
The most striking came on the first run through Paredes. Solberg started the test 18.6 seconds behind Ogier but produced a superb time to catapult from fourth to first only for Ogier to immediately respond on the first stage after service and reclaim the lead.
Solberg's challenge then suffered a more serious blow on Cabeceiras de Basto 2 when his front-right tyre came off the rim. He subsequently spun on the second Paredes stage, leaving Neuville as Ogier's closest challenger.
Oliver Solberg had an up and down rally and led twice before dropping back and eventually recovering to finish 2nd.
Ogier put a seemingly decisive stamp on the rally on the second pass of Amarante. In extremely slippery conditions, he went 11.2 seconds faster than anybody else, increasing his advantage over Neuville to 16 seconds. By the finish of Saturday's action, that margin had grown to 21.9 seconds. A position Ogier rarely lets slip.
Behind them, Pajari occupied third, Solberg recovered to fourth and Evans sat fifth. Fourmaux, whose Friday punctures had dropped him out of contention for victory, was sixth.
A steady and tactically astute run saw Elfyn Evans inherit 3rd place and extend his championship lead.
Ogier entered Sunday looking odds on for an eighth Rally de Portugal victory but on the penultimate stage, Vieira do Minho 2, the Yaris picked up a right-rear puncture in the heavily rutted and rocky conditions. Forced to stop and change the wheel, he surrendered the lead and tumbled to sixth overall. Pajari, who had been heading towards another podium result, suffered a similar problem on the same test and dropped from third to seventh.
Suddenly, Neuville was leading.
He reached the final Fafe Power Stage with a 14.8-second advantage over Solberg. Rain was again threatening the result, with Neuville reporting that drops began falling as he started the stage and heavier rain arrived shortly after he finished. He successfully negotiated the test and secured victory by 16.3 seconds.
Fourmaux ended on a high by setting the fastest time on the Power Stage and finishing 4th overall
For Thierry Neuville, Portugal represented considerably more than another rally victory. It was his 23rd WRC win and his second in Portugal but more importantly it ended Toyota's run of five straight victories in 2026 and got Hyundai off the mark.
And as for Toyota, early leader Solberg salvaged 2nd and Elfyn Evans extended his championship with a steady run to 3rd but Ogier’s lost victory will hurt. M-Sports troubled season continued and Martin Sesks 9th place was the best they could manage in Portugal, whilst the top 10 was rounded out by Teemu Suninen’s WRC2 winning Yaris.
Teemu Suninen claimed top spot in WRC2.
Final classification:
Thierry Neuville Hyundai i20 N Rally1 3:53:01.7
Oliver Solberg Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +16.3s
Elfyn Evans Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +29.1s
Adrien Fourmaux Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +54.8s
Takamoto Katsuta Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +1:12.6
Sébastien Ogier Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +1:26.6
Sami Pajari Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +2:50.9
Dani Sordo Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +4:10.0
Mārtiņš Sesks Ford Puma Rally1+6:49.2
Teemu Suninen Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 +11:13.8
Drivers’ championship after Portugal:
Elfyn Evans 123
Takamoto Katsuta 111
Oliver Solberg 92
Adrien Fourmaux 79
Sami Pajari 78
Sébastien Ogier 67
Thierry Neuville 65
