Solberg leads in Sardinia as Evans drops back to fifth

Oliver Solberg ended Saturday as the leader at Rally Italia Sardegna, the final round of the World Rally Championship season. The Swedish Toyota driver holds a 33.6-second advantage over world champion Sébastien Ogier, with fellow Toyota driver Sami Pajari in third, 1:39.9 off the lead.

Solberg, Pajari, and Elfyn Evans are locked in a three-way battle for the world title, with the Welshman concluding the day in fifth place.

Hyundai's Thierry Neuville retired from second position on the afternoon's opening stage, promoting Pajari and Evans to fourth and fifth. On the next test, Adrien Fourmaux (Hyundai) suffered his second puncture of the day, allowing Evans to briefly claim fourth place ahead of him.

That running order was dealing a blow to Solberg's title aspirations, but Fourmaux managed to reclaim fourth position on the day's final stage, dropping Evans back to fifth, 6.4 seconds behind the Frenchman.

Ahead of Sunday's allocation of Super Sunday and Power Stage bonus points, the championship standings based on these provisional results would read: Evans on 240 points, Solberg on 234, and Pajari on 228. A maximum of 10 bonus points remains up for grabs across tomorrow's final four stages, featuring two tests run twice.