Oliver Solberg's Dramatic Crash in Rally Islas Canarias

In a dramatic turn of events, Toyota's Oliver Solberg crashed out of Spain's Rally Islas Canarias during the final moments of Sunday's penultimate stage. Solberg, who was hot on the heels of his teammate Sebastien Ogier, had managed to narrow the gap to just 2.2 seconds after completing two of the last four stages.

However, the rally took a disappointing turn when the Swede veered off the road, 14 kilometers into the third stage, and collided with a barrier. The crash resulted in the loss of his car's left front wheel, rendering it too damaged to proceed. Fortunately, Solberg and his crew escaped unharmed.

With Solberg out of the competition, teammates Elfyn Evans and Sami Pajari moved up to the final two podium spots behind Ogier, who maintains a 24.3-second lead over Evans with one final 13.27-km stage left. Meanwhile, Japan's Takamoto Katsuta, the current championship leader, holds fourth place for Toyota. "It is not the way we wanted to see it go," admitted Ogier, a nine-time world champion. "Oliver was doing a great job up until that point. Rallying is tough. Being fast is important, but being at the end even more."

(With inputs from agencies.)