WRC 2026 Rd.12 Preview | 2026 | PRESS RELEASE | WRC

Rally Chile: Preview TGR-WRT targets second success on South American soil

2026.09.04 (Fri)

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team continues its South American adventure with ambitions of more success at Rally Chile on September 10-13.

Following a demanding Rally del Paraguay last week, the team’s five GR YARIS Rally1 cars have been rebuilt and transported across the Andes mountains in readiness for round 12 of 14 in the 2026 FIA World Rally Championship.

While Sami Pajari completed a historic hat-trick of victories in Paraguay, TGR-WRT took another step towards securing the manufacturers’ championship. With a lead of 173 points and just 180 left up for grabs, the team can guarantee the title in Chile if it scores at least seven points.

Meanwhile, the team’s contenders continue an exciting battle over the drivers’ crown with three rounds remaining. Championship leader Elfyn Evans has 20 points in hand over his closest rival Pajari after the latter’s three consecutive wins. Oliver Solberg is the next closest challenger in third, 41 points from the lead, with Takamoto Katsuta a further 15 points back in fourth. Nine-time world champion Sébastien Ogier, 68 points from the lead, will target a repeat of his 2025 win in Chile.

Katsuta will compete in Chile alongside James Fulton, who will stand in for regular co-driver Aaron Johnston. Following further examinations upon returning home after a high-speed accident on the final day in Paraguay, Johnston was found to have sustained a fracture to his collarbone, and will miss Rally Chile to allow more time to recover before returning to competition. The team wishes Johnston a speedy recovery and looks forward to welcoming him back to action soon.

With Fulton stepping up to partner Katsuta, TGR WRC Challenge Program driver Yuki Yamamoto will be joined by Topi Luhtinen for Chile as he continues his maiden South American adventure in WRC2.

Yamamoto drives one of eight GR Yaris Rally2 cars on the entry list: Diego Domínguez and Gus Greensmith, who finished first and second in the class in Paraguay, are joined by fellow series regulars Alejandro Cachón, Andrea Lafarja and Adrien Mosca, while Chilean brothers Alberto and Pedro Heller have made the switch to the GR Yaris Rally2 for this edition of their home event.

This will be the WRC’s fifth visit to Chile and the gravel roads in the forests of the Biobío region surrounding the Pacific port city of Concepción, located about 500 kilometres to the south of capital city Santiago. The stages combine fast and technical sections with a mix of smooth and abrasive surfaces, while rain and fog can create challenging conditions.

The rally route has been significantly revised for 2026 with around 40 per cent of the 311.18 competitive kilometres being new to the WRC. After shakedown and a ceremonial start in Concepción on Thursday, the opening leg on Friday consists of three heavily reworked stages to the south-east each run twice either side of mid-day service. Saturday is the longest day of the rally offering 139.2 km across two loops of three familiar stages to the south of Concepción across the Biobío River. Sunday takes place in a similar area where the new Carampangue is paired with the returning Biobío Power Stage.

Quotes:
Juha Kankkunen (Deputy Team Principal)
“After an eventful rally in Paraguay, we’re looking forward to continuing this South American adventure in Chile. Our team has been hard at work this week to rebuild the cars so that they are like new again for Chile. On paper, Chile can be a more straightforward rally with fast and flowing roads that the drivers enjoy, but we know that the weather there can still bring some surprises. The manufacturers’ title is close now and we have pretty strong chances to secure that, while the drivers’ championship is getting more exciting as we near the end of the season and we will keep giving all our crews the same chances to win.”

Elfyn Evans (Driver car 33)
“After Paraguay we know that we can look forward to a similarly warm welcome from the fans in Chile. The rally is generally quite a fast one with flowing stages that are usually good to drive, but the challenge depends a lot on the weather which can change quite dramatically during the weekend. When it’s dry, the surface can be very loose for the early cars and it can also get extremely abrasive to the point that you really have to consider tyre management carefully. When it’s wet, it can get pretty muddy, similar to what you might find in Wales, and the fog can also make things extremely difficult.”

Sébastien Ogier (Driver car 1)
“Paraguay was a tough event, as it was for most, and now we just need to look forward to Chile. It’s a rally where the conditions can hopefully be more consistent and it can be a fair fight between everyone, even if we know that the weather can also change quite quickly there. It’s another event that we have great memories of winning last year, and we will of course be trying to repeat that this time. The roads are pretty good fun to drive and the atmosphere is always nice, so it should be an enjoyable one.”

Oliver Solberg (Driver car 99)
“Rally Chile should be another fantastic South American experience. The rally culture is really big there with a lot of passion, and there’s some great stages. They can seem pretty straightforward but the character varies quite a lot: Friday has normally been quite narrow and cambered, a bit like New Zealand, and then the other days are a bit wider, more like Wales – and it can get pretty muddy when it rains. The road can also evolve a lot from first to second pass and become really abrasive for the tyres. I have good memories from Chile last year when we won both the rally and the title in WRC2, and we’ll try our best for another good result now in Rally1.”

Takamoto Katsuta (Driver car 18)
“Like in Paraguay, the fans in Chile have always been really excited for the rally and supporting us as drivers. The stages can be quite tricky. Some of the roads – particularly those we’ve driven on Friday in recent years – are quite cambered and narrow and there’s not so much margin. If they stay dry, the roads can get abrasive so you need to manage the tyres, especially on the second pass, but the weather can also make things difficult if there’s low cloud or fog. I want to wish Aaron a speedy recovery and I’m grateful to James and to the team for their support and making it possible for us to drive together in Chile.”

Sami Pajari (Driver car 5)
“We have been on a really nice run lately and I hope Rally Chile can be good for us as well. It is a rally I know quite well now, as I’ve done it twice already in the Rally1 car, and it’s one of my favourites because of the profile of the stages. Some of them are pretty similar to Finland: really fast and flowing with some really nice camber that helps you take more speed through the corners. It can also be pretty challenging, with high tyre wear, and the weather can change really quickly. Like in Paraguay, the fans are very passionate and I’m looking forward to it.”

Yuki Yamamoto (Driver WRC Challenge Program GEN2)
“I’m looking forward to continuing this South American adventure in Chile. Paraguay was a very challenging rally, but it was nice to finish it with some good pace and a good feeling which we can carry forward to Chile. This will be another new rally for me, and I know that the character of the stages will be different again to Paraguay, but it looks like they can be quite nice and flowing to drive, and maybe a bit more like those in Finland that I’m familiar with. I’ll try to take what we learned from Paraguay and do my best.”