Thierry Neuville capitalised on Sébastien Ogier’s late puncture to claim Hyundai’s first WRC victory of 2026 by 16.3 seconds.
Neuville ends Hyundai’s winless start
Thierry Neuville claimed the 2026 Rally de Portugal after a late puncture cost Sébastien Ogier what looked set to be a record-extending eighth victory on the Matosinhos-based gravel event.
Neuville and co-driver Martijn Wydaeghe finished the 23-stage rally in 3hr 53min 01.7sec, with Oliver Solberg 16.3sec behind. Championship leader Elfyn Evans took third, 29.1sec behind the victorious Hyundai i20 N Rally1.
It was Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team’s first win of the season after Toyota swept the opening five rounds. Neuville secured his 23rd WRC victory and his second in Portugal, eight years after he last won the event.
The result changed the course of Neuville’s campaign. The 2024 world champion entered round six seventh in the drivers’ standings, having missed the podium on each of the first five rallies and crashed on the final stage while leading Croatia Rally.
Four drivers trade the lead
Portugal delivered the closest lead fight of the 2026 season so far, as four different drivers topped the standings during a demanding four-day itinerary affected by rain, mud and shifting grip levels.
Solberg set the early pace. He completed Thursday’s three stages 3.4sec ahead of Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux, but the Swede could not extract the same speed from his Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 on Friday, opening the door for Fourmaux.
Fourmaux relied on consistent pace rather than a Friday morning stage victory to hold off Sami Pajari and Ogier until stage eight. His Hyundai bottomed out and left the road, picking up two punctures and surrendering almost half a minute. Solberg went off at the same spot but avoided punctures.
That put Ogier ahead, and he finished Friday only 3.7sec clear of Neuville. Solberg briefly returned to the lead in Saturday morning’s rain-hit stages, before Ogier handled the difficult conditions well enough to end the day with a commanding 21.9sec advantage.
Neuville stayed within reach. His weekend had its setbacks, but keeping the Hyundai in contention became decisive when the rutted Portuguese roads produced one final turn.
Ogier’s puncture changes everything
Ogier started Sunday with a healthy cushion and another landmark Portugal victory in sight. It vanished on Vieira do Minho 2, the penultimate stage, when the Toyota driver sustained a right-rear puncture and stopped to replace the wheel.
Ogier fell from first to sixth, 1min 26.6sec behind Neuville. The same punishing, rock-strewn test also caught Pajari. The Finn was on course for a fifth straight podium before his own wheel change dropped him from third to seventh.
Neuville took over the lead with just the Fafe Wolf Power Stage left. There was no repeat of his final-test error in Croatia. He and Wydaeghe completed the stage without incident, sealing the win and maximum event points.
“We never give up, and that paid this weekend,” Neuville said. “Nothing was really perfect, but we always somehow got through.”
After an otherwise strong weekend, Ogier was left with a result decided by a problem beyond his control. Sixth place earned him eight championship points, plus one bonus point.
Solberg and Evans fill Toyota podium places
Solberg moved up to second after a rally in which he led early and briefly returned to the top on Saturday. He finished 12.8sec ahead of Evans, whose latest Toyota podium strengthened his championship lead.
Fourmaux fought back from Friday’s double puncture to take fourth, 54.8sec behind his Hyundai team-mate. Takamoto Katsuta finished fifth for Toyota, ahead of Ogier and Pajari.
Dani Sordo was eighth in the third Hyundai i20 N Rally1, with Mārtiņš Sesks bringing his Ford Puma Rally1 home ninth. Teemu Suninen rounded out the top 10 in a Toyota GR Yaris Rally2, 11min 13.8sec behind the winner.
Toyota put two cars on the podium and five in the top seven, but Hyundai took the victory. Neuville turned sustained pressure into a win, while Fourmaux’s fourth place showed the i20 N Rally1’s pace throughout the event.
A vital championship reset
Portugal does not wipe away Hyundai’s difficult start to 2026, though it does halt Toyota’s perfect run of victories and gives Neuville momentum after five rounds without a podium.
The win also showed the value of staying within striking distance on a punishing gravel rally. Ogier carried the bigger margin into Sunday, but Neuville’s measured drive left Hyundai ready to capitalize when the leader hit trouble.
Evans departs Portugal with his championship lead intact, while victory puts the defending 2024 champion Neuville back in contention after a subdued opening. The WRC season resumes at Rally Japan from May 28 to 31, where Hyundai will try to build on its breakthrough and apply sustained pressure to Toyota.
