Photo Credit: Rally Japan
BY FRANK KAHEESI & HENRY MBAZIIRA-FMU MEDIA/USPA
IT was all smiles for Oliver Solberg, as Toyota announced its 2026 WRC driver lineup after a successful weekend in Japan.
The WRC2 champion steps up to a full-time seat role, alongside Elfyn Evans, Takamoto Katsuta, Sami Pajari, and Sebastien Ogier who will run on a part-time.
“Today I get to say something I’ve dreamed of since I was a kid… I’m becoming a Toyota driver in WRC, Thank you to TOYOTA Gazoo Racing team for believing in me, and my family supporting all the way!”
“This opportunity means everything — and I’ll fight for it every single day, 2026 let’s go…,”. intimated Oliver Solberg on his twitter handle, after Toyota’s official announcement.
As per wrc.com story outline; The move gives the 24-year-old Swede, who sensationally won Rally Estonia outright on his GR Yaris Rally1 debut in July, his first full campaign at the sport’s top level with co-driver Elliott Edmondson.
It also means the 2025 manufacturers’ champions will again boast a blend of youth and experience as they chase more titles in 2026.
Evans and co-driver Scott Martin will continue for a seventh successive season with the Japanese marque while Ogier will return for another partial programme alongside Vincent Landais, contesting more than half of next season’s rallies as he pursues further victories and supports the team’s title push.
Katsuta, the first graduate of the TGR WRC Challenge Program, will seek to build on a breakthrough 2025 that included podiums in Sweden and Finland, while Pajari heads into his second full Rally1 season after a promising rookie year capped by a maiden top-three finish on FORUM8 Rally Japan last weekend.
Team principal Jari-Matti Latvala said the expanded line-up underlined Toyota’s long-term vision:
“It’s a pleasure to welcome Oliver to the team on a full-time basis after the fantastic job he has done with the GR Yaris Rally2 this year.
Along with Elfyn and Seb, who’ve been driving extremely well in the title fight, as well as Takamoto and Sami, we once more have a strong driver line-up with a great mix of speed and experience.”
The announcement also coincides with a major next step for the TGR WRC Challenge Program, which will see Yuki Yamamoto embark on another full WRC2 season in 2026 aboard a GR Yaris Rally2.
The programme will expand further to include Japanese hopefuls Shotaro Goto and Takumi Matsushita, plus Estonia’s Jaspar Vaher – the first non-Japanese driver selected – following a global evaluation held in Finland earlier this year.
