Toyota has unveiled its 2026 lineup, with Oliver Solberg replacing the circuit racing-bound Kalle Rovanperä
Photography by Toyota
Words by Luke Barry
Oliver Solberg will replace Kalle Rovanperä at Toyota for the 2026 World Rally Championship in an otherwise unchanged lineup.
That means the Swede will team up with Elfyn Evans, Takamoto Katsuta, Sami Pajari and Sébastien Ogier behind the wheel of a Toyota GR Yaris Rally1.
While Solberg won Rally Estonia in a one-off chance with Toyota this year, and drove for Hyundai in 2022, next season will be his first complete campaign in a top-class car.
Solberg, Evans, Katsuta and Pajari will all contest the full 14-round championship, with Ogier committing to “more than half of the seasonʼs rounds” starting with the season-opening Monte Carlo Rally.
Toyota team principal Jari-Matti Latvala said: “Itʼs a pleasure to welcome Oliver to the driver line-up on a full-time basis after the fantastic job he has done driving the GR Yaris Rally2 this year – and, of course, his amazing debut in our Rally1 car in
Estonia.
“Along with Elfyn and Séb, who have both been driving extremely well in fighting for this yearʼs championship, as well as Takamoto, whoʼs shown this year that he can compete for victories, and Sami, who has been gaining valuable experience in his first full season at the highest level, we will once more have a strong driver line-up featuring a great mix of speed and experience.
“We have a wonderful team and with these drivers, our passion will be on show inside and outside the cockpit next year.”
Solberg drove for Toyota at this year's Rally Estonia, where he sensationally won
Solberg added: “This year has been an absolutely incredible one for me as a part of the Toyota Gazoo Racing family. We achieved our main goal to win the WRC2 championship together and to do a fast and consistent season with the GR Yaris Rally2. Then we got the opportunity to do Estonia in the Rally1 car, which was simply an amazing week.
“Now I have this chance to come back to the top level of WRC for a full season, so a lot of dreams have come true for me this year and Iʼm really grateful to
be part of this great team. We need to be realistic because we still have a lot to learn with the Rally1 car, but weʼre going to have fun and do the best that we can.”
Eighteen-year-old Estonian Jasper Vaher becomes the first non-Japanese driver to join Toyota’s WRC Challenge Program, and will compete in a GR Yaris Rally2 next season.
Two-time Estonian junior champion Vaher was chosen from a five-driver selection process held in Finland earlier this year, and he’ll take on a mixture of WRC, ERC and national championship events alongside third-generation Program drivers Shotaro Goto and Takumi Matsushita.
Gen2 driver Yuki Yamaoto’s program will expand to a full suite of WRC events, including a seven-round WRC2 program. The fourth-generation pairing of Rio Ogata and Kanta Yanaguida will step up from Rally4 to Rally3 machinery.
Words:Luke Barry
Tags: Oliver Solberg, Toyota, WRC, WRC 2026
Publish Date November 10, 2025 DirtFish 
https://dirtfish-editorial.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com/2025/11/ObIR2zI2-SOLBERG08EST25tb3056-780x520.jpg November 10, 2025
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