Sébastien Ogier is becoming an increasing threat in the 2026 World Rally Championship title race, but nothing changes for Elfyn Evans.
The Toyota driver leads the championship after eight of 14 rounds, holding an 11-point lead over Takamoto Katsuta and a 37-point advantage over Ogier.
Ogier, however, outscored Evans by 24 points at last week’s Acropolis Rally Greece alone, and talked up his world title bid to DirtFish immediately after that victory.
Evans, though, knew to expect this. Learning from 2025, where part-timer Ogier committed to a title tilt and ultimately won it, Evans said before 2026 even began that he must treat Ogier like a title contender at every rally he enters.
So while Ogier’s start to the season was less impressive than in 2025, Evans will have known not to rule him out of contention.
“We know he’s a threat,” Evans told DirtFish in Greece. “Well, I knew he was a threat last year as well, but yeah, I mean it’s clear the position where, you know, we’re all fighting to get as many points as we can.
“Of course this weekend wasn’t good for us, but, you know, it’ll be back to focusing on each weekend when it comes.”
Evans did receive a late boost after delivering those comments, courtesy of time penalties for both Josh McErlean and Adrien Fourmaux. They lifted Evans from seventh to fifth overall, earning him an extra four championship points.
Don’t forget, four points was the margin by which Evans lost the 2025 title to Ogier.
With six rallies remaining, the title race remains wide open. However, if Ogier commits to the South American rounds in Chile and Paraguay, he’s naturally going to present real danger to Evans given he is a nine-time and reigning world champion.
But Evans has his eye on no-one.
“I’m watching nobody,” he stated. “I need to try and do the best job I can. That’s all.”
