Elfyn Evans is finally a world champion.
A five-time runner-up in the World Rally Championship, the Welshman joins an illustrious list of drivers to finish top of the pile.
With six podiums and two race victories for the campaign, Evans headed into the season-ending Rally Italia Sardegna with a 17-point advantage over Toyota team-mate Sami Pajari and knew that he required just 19 points to claim the title.
However, it was never going to be straightforward for Evans, and he was at the mercy of his other title rival Oliver Solberg in the Power Stage.
If the fact that the battle for the title had gone down to the very last stage of the campaign wasn't already compelling enough, then the manner in which Evans prevailed was beyond comprehension.
Solberg had been imperious all weekend, leading the rally overall and heading the charts in the Super Sunday standings. The Swede, son of 2003 champion Petter Solberg, just needed to finish ahead of Evans in the Power Stage to claim his maiden world title.
He was on course to do just that, and his triumph seemed a formality with two corners remaining. But rallying is merciless, and with the finish in his sights, Solberg crashed to hand Evans the championship.
Evans becomes the third Briton to win the World Rally Championship.
The legendary Colin McRae was the first in 1995 as the Scotsman bounced back from consecutive retirements to pip team-mate Carlos Sainz in the iconic Subaru Impreza 555.
Six years later it was the turn of Richard Burns, who was also triumphant in a Subaru Impreza as he capitalised on the retirement of McRae at the season-ending Rally Great Britain.
Britain has waited 25 years for another world champion, with Evans finishing second in five of the previous six years, but 2026 is finally the season where the Welshman has unshackled himself as WRC's nearly man.
British World Rally Championship winners
- Colin McRae - 1995
- Richard Burns - 2001
- Elfyn Evans - 2026
