2026 World Rally Championship

2026 World Rally Championship

The 2026 FIA World Rally Championship was the 54th season of the World Rally Championship, an international rallying series organised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and WRC Promoter GmbH. Teams and crews competed for the World Rally Championships for Drivers, Co-drivers and Manufacturers. Crews were free to compete in cars complying with Groups Rally1 to Rally5 regulations; however, only manufacturers competing with Rally1 cars were eligible to score points in the manufacturers' championship. The championship began in January 2026 with the Monte Carlo Rally and was set to conclude in November 2026 with the Rally Saudi Arabia, until the event was removed due to the 2026 Iran war. The Rally Italia Sardegna subsequently became the season finale. The series was supported by the WRC2 and WRC3 categories at every round of the championship and by Junior WRC at selected events.

Sébastien Ogier and Vincent Landais were the reigning drivers' and co-drivers' champions, having secured the 2025 championship at the 2025 Rally Saudi Arabia. Toyota were the defending manufacturers' champions.

At the conclusion of the championship, Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin won their first World Rally Championship titles at the 2026 Rally Italia Sardegna. Oliver Solberg and Elliott Edmondson were second, trailing by five points. Sami Pajari and Marko Salminen were third, a further one point behind. In the manufacturers' championship, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT has successfully defended their title, holding a 222-point advantage over Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT.

Calendar

2026 World Rally Championship

The 2026 season was scheduled to be contested over fourteen rounds across Europe, Africa, South America and Asia, but it was ultimately reduced to thirteen rounds.

<table><thead><tr><th>Round</th><th>Start date</th><th>Finish date</th><th>Rally</th><th>Rally headquarters</th><th>Surface</th><th>Stages</th><th>Distance</th><th>Ref.</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><th>1</th><td>22 January</td><td>25 January</td><td>Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo</td><td>Gap, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France</td><td>Mixed</td><td>17</td><td>339.15 km</td><td></td></tr><tr><th>2</th><td>12 February</td><td>15 February</td><td>Rally Sweden</td><td>Umeå, Västerbotten County, Sweden</td><td>Snow</td><td>18</td><td>300.66 km</td><td></td></tr><tr><th>3</th><td>12 March</td><td>15 March</td><td>Safari Rally Kenya</td><td>Nairobi, Nakuru County, Kenya</td><td>Gravel</td><td>20</td><td>350.52 km</td><td></td></tr><tr><th>4</th><td>9 April</td><td>12 April</td><td>Croatia Rally</td><td>Rijeka, Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, Croatia</td><td>Tarmac</td><td>20</td><td>300.28 km</td><td></td></tr><tr><th>5</th><td>23 April</td><td>26 April</td><td>Rally Islas Canarias</td><td>Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, Spain</td><td>Tarmac</td><td>18</td><td>322.04 km</td><td></td></tr><tr><th>6</th><td>7 May</td><td>10 May</td><td>Rally de Portugal</td><td>Matosinhos, Porto, Portugal</td><td>Gravel</td><td>23</td><td>344.91 km</td><td></td></tr><tr><th>7</th><td>28 May</td><td>31 May</td><td>Rally Japan</td><td>Toyota, Aichi, Japan</td><td>Tarmac</td><td>20</td><td>302.82 km</td><td></td></tr><tr><th>8</th><td>25 June</td><td>28 June</td><td>Acropolis Rally Greece</td><td>Loutraki, Corinthia, Greece</td><td>Gravel</td><td>17</td><td>323.31 km</td><td></td></tr><tr><th>9</th><td>16 July</td><td>19 July</td><td>Rally Estonia</td><td>Tartu, Estonia</td><td>Gravel</td><td>18</td><td>301.80 km</td><td></td></tr><tr><th>10</th><td>30 July</td><td>2 August</td><td>Rally Finland</td><td>Jyväskylä, Central Finland, Finland</td><td>Gravel</td><td>20</td><td>316.60 km</td><td></td></tr><tr><th>11</th><td>27 August</td><td>30 August</td><td>Rally del Paraguay</td><td>Encarnación, Itapúa, Paraguay</td><td>Gravel</td><td>22</td><td>358.88 km</td><td></td></tr><tr><th>12</th><td>10 September</td><td>13 September</td><td>Rally Chile</td><td>Talcahuano, Biobío, Chile</td><td>Gravel</td><td>16</td><td>311.70 km</td><td></td></tr><tr><th>13</th><td>1 October</td><td>4 October</td><td>Rally Italia Sardegna</td><td>Alghero, Sardinia, Italy</td><td>Gravel</td><td>17</td><td>306.92 km</td><td></td></tr><tr><td colspan="9">Sources:</td></tr></tbody></table>

The 2026 Rally Saudi Arabia was included on the original calendar published by WRC Promoter GmbH and was scheduled to be the fourteenth round of the championship, but was later removed from the season:

Start date	Finish date	Rally	Rally headquarters	Surface	Stages	Distance	Removal reason	Ref.
11 November	14 November	Rally Saudi Arabia	Jeddah, Mecca Province, Saudi Arabia	Gravel	16	320.34 km	2026 Iran war
Sources:

Calendar changes

The Croatia Rally returned to the championship after being held as a European Rally Championship event in 2025.

• The Croatia Rally returned to the championship after missing the (/wiki/2025WorldRallyChampionship) season, replacing the Central European Rally. The rally featured new headquarters in Rijeka, instead of Zagreb and a brand new set of mixed tarmac stages. • The Italian Rally and Rally Japan swapped calendar slots, and the new Rally di Roma Capitale was confirmed to replace the Rally Italia Sardegna from (/wiki/2027WorldRallyChampionship?action=edit&redlink=1) onwards. • The organisers of the Acropolis Rally announced a change of its headquarters, with Loutraki serving as the new base after five years in Lamia. • The Rally Saudi Arabia was set to hold the season finale, but it was removed from the calendar in September due to the 2026 Iran war. An all-gravel round in Catalonia, Spain was reportedly mooted as a replacement, however this did not materialise as the deadline for its confirmation was not met.

Entrants

2026 World Rally Championship

The following manufacturers contested the championship under Rally1 regulations. All crews used tyres provided by Hankook.

Manufacturer	Entrant	Car	No.	Driver name	Co-driver name	Rounds
Ford	M-Sport Ford WRT	Ford Puma Rally1	55	Josh McErlean	Eoin Treacy	All
			95	Jon Armstrong	Shane Byrne	All
Hyundai	Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT	Hyundai i20 N Rally1	4	Esapekka Lappi	Enni Mälkönen	2–3, 9–10, 12
			6	Dani Sordo	Cándido Carrera	5–6, 8
					Patricia Sáiz	13
			11	Thierry Neuville	Martijn Wydaeghe	All
			16	Adrien Fourmaux	Alexandre Coria	All
			20	Hayden Paddon	John Kennard	1, 4, 7, 11
Toyota	Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	1	Sébastien Ogier	Vincent Landais	1, 3, 5–9, 11–13
					Julien Ingrassia	10
			18	Takamoto Katsuta	Aaron Johnston	2, 4
			33	Elfyn Evans	Scott Martin	1–12
			99	Oliver Solberg	Elliott Edmondson	All
	Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT2	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	5	Sami Pajari	Marko Salminen	All
Sources:

The following crews entered in Rally1 cars as privateers or under arrangement with the manufacturers.

Manufacturer	Entrant	Car	No.	Driver name	Co-driver name	Rounds
Ford	M-Sport Ford WRT	Ford Puma Rally1	9	Jourdan Serderidis	Frédéric Miclotte	8
			13	Grégoire Munster	Louis Louka	1
			22	Mārtiņš Sesks	Renārs Francis	2, 6, 8–10, 13
Toyota	Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	18	Takamoto Katsuta	Aaron Johnston	1, 3, 5–11, 13
					James Fulton	12
			33	Elfyn Evans	Scott Martin	13
			37	Lorenzo Bertelli	Simone Scattolin	2
Sources:

In detail

M-Sport kept the crew of Josh McErlean and Eoin Treacy. Jon Armstrong and Shane Byrne stepped up from the European Rally Championship to complete a full Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy lineup for the team, replacing Grégoire Munster and Louis Louka in the second full-time seat. Munster was later confirmed to contest the season opener in a third Rally1 car with the team. Mārtiņš Sesks continued to run a partial program with the team, contesting seven events during the season.

Hyundai maintained the services of Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe, and of Adrien Fourmaux and Alexandre Coria for entry in all rallies. A third car was shared by crews led by drivers Esapekka Lappi, Dani Sordo and Hayden Paddon. Paddon made his first appearance in the premium level of the championship since the 2018 Rally Australia. Lappi and Sordo also returned after their previous partial campaigns with the team in (/wiki/2024WorldRallyChampionship). Ott Tänak announced his indefinite break from the championship following the end of the (/wiki/2025WorldRallyChampionship) season. Co-driver Patricia Sáiz made her WRC debut at the 2026 Rally Italia Sardegna, partnering with Sordo.

Oliver Solberg returned to the top tier for his first full-time campaign.

Toyota retained Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin as their full-time competitor, while Sami Pajari and Marko Salminen, as well as Takamoto Katsuta and Aaron Johnston were also retained. James Fulton stepped in alongside Katsuta at the 2026 Rally Chile as Johnston spent additional time recovering from the crash at the 2026 Rally del Paraguay. Sébastien Ogier and Vincent Landais continued to run a partial program to contest ten rallies with the team. Julien Ingrassia, Ogier's former co-driver, substituted Landais, who withdrew from the 2026 Rally Finland due to personal reasons. Kalle Rovanperä announced that he would leave the championship to pursue a career in open-wheel racing, having signed a contract with Toyota Gazoo Racing to compete in the Super Formula Championship. However, he did not rule out a return to rallying in the future. His seat at Toyota was filled by Oliver Solberg, who ran his first full-time season in the class, having previously run on a part-time basis for Hyundai in (/wiki/2022WorldRallyChampionship).

Regulation changes

2026 World Rally Championship

Following the wide criticism of lengthy itinerary, a minimum of 10 rest hours was introduced into every rally weekends. Engines were also allowed to change after the start of a rally, but in doing so, crews would incur a 60-minute time penalty.

Season report

Opening rounds

The season opener took place in difficult weather conditions, which affected several crews, including both M-Sport crews of McErlean and Treacy and of Armstrong and Byrne, ending M-Sport's 24-year run of point-scoring finishes. The rally was won by Solberg and Edmondson in their first event of their first full-time season in the top tier. Toyota continued its dominance in the following round, securing a 1–2–3–4 finish, with Evans and Martin winning the event.

The Safari Rally was difficult, and all three Toyota crews nominated to score points retired on Saturday. Despite running outside the top five after the first leg, Katsuta and Johnston took their maiden career victory. A similar situation occurred in Croatia, as both championship contenders Solberg and Evans exited early. Benefiting from avoiding punctures, Neuville and Wydaeghe took the lead, a position they held until the final Power Stage, where they retired after crashing off-road. Katsuta and Johnston inherited the win and led the championship for the first time in their careers. Paddon returned to the podium for the first time since the 2018 Rally Australia by finishing third.

Mid-season events

Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe were leading the 2026 Acropolis Rally, until double punctures denied their chances of victory.

Toyota dominated the rally of Spain, with Ogier and Landais winning the event. Title contenders Solberg and Edmondson retired on the penultimate stage while in second place after crashing into the barrier. Ogier and Landais had been on course for a second consecutive victory at the Rally de Portugal until a puncture on the penultimate stage denied them the win. Neuville and Wydaeghe became the new rally leaders and won the event, Hyundai's first and only win of the season. Back on tarmac in Japan, Toyota dominated again, winning all twenty stages, with Evans and Martin taking their second victory of the season to extend their championship leads. Ogier and Landais won the Acropolis Rally after a battle with Neuville and Wydaeghe, who were affected by double punctures on the penultimate stage.

The Estonian Rally featured a dominant performance by Pajari and Salminen, who took their first victory after leading from start to finish. They secured back-to-back wins at their home event after rally leader Ogier retired on Saturday evening following a major crash. Evans and Martin secured a podium finish to extend their championship leads to thirty points, despite also rolling on Saturday. Pajari and Salminen completed a historic hat trick at the Rally del Paraguay, becoming the first crew to take their first three top-flight wins at consecutive rallies.

Closing rounds

Solberg and Edmondson won their second rally of the season in Chile, but the main story of the event was Toyota's sixth consecutive manufacturers' title, tying Lancia with ten world titles. Following the removal of the Rally Saudi Arabia, Evans and Martin entered the final round of the season as championship leaders. However, a puncture and Solberg and Edmondson leading the event meant the lead was reduced to only one point going into the final Power Stage. Whoever finished ahead would be crowned champions. Solberg and Edmondson performed well and were up on Evans and Martin until the very last sector, where they went off the road in their Yaris. Although they recovered and secured the rally victory, they ultimately lost the stage and therefore the world titles to Evans and Martin. Evans became the first British WRC drivers' champion since Richard Burns in (/wiki/2001WorldRallyChampionship).

Results and standings

Season summary

Round	Event	Winning driver	Winning co-driver	Winning entrant	Winning time	Report	Ref.
1	Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo	Oliver Solberg	Elliott Edmondson	Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT	4:24:59.0	Report
2	Rally Sweden	Elfyn Evans	Scott Martin	Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT	2:35:53.1	Report
3	Safari Rally Kenya	Takamoto Katsuta	Aaron Johnston	Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT	3:16:05.6	Report
4	Croatia Rally	Takamoto Katsuta	Aaron Johnston	Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT	2:51:15.8	Report
5	Rally Islas Canarias	Sébastien Ogier	Vincent Landais	Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT	2:43:18.9	Report
6	Rally de Portugal	Thierry Neuville	Martijn Wydaeghe	Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT	3:53:01.7	Report
7	Rally Japan	Elfyn Evans	Scott Martin	Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT	3:17:08.0	Report
8	Acropolis Rally Greece	Sébastien Ogier	Vincent Landais	Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT	3:36:40.7	Report
9	Rally Estonia	Sami Pajari	Marko Salminen	Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT2	2:31:16.5	Report
10	Rally Finland	Sami Pajari	Marko Salminen	Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT2	2:27:58.0	Report
11	Rally del Paraguay	Sami Pajari	Marko Salminen	Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT2	3:13:28.5	Report
12	Rally Chile	Oliver Solberg	Elliott Edmondson	Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT	2:57:08.2	Report
13	Rally Italia Sardegna	Oliver Solberg	Elliott Edmondson	Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT	3:24:57.0	Report
–	Rally Saudi Arabia	Rally removed (due to the 2026 Iran war)				Report

Scoring system

Points were awarded to the top ten classified finishers in each event. In the manufacturers' championship, teams were eligible to nominate three crews to score points, but these points were only awarded to the top two classified finishers representing a manufacturer and driving a 2026-specification Rally1 car. There were also five bonus points awarded to the winners in an accumulated standings across all Sunday stages, four points for second place, three for third, two for fourth and one for fifth. The same points scale was awarded to the five fastest crews of the Power Stage as well.

Position	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th
Overall	25	17	15	12	10	8	6	4	2	1
Sunday	5	4	3	2	1	—N/a
Power Stage	5	4	3	2	1	—N/a

FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers

The driver who recorded a points-scoring classification was taken into account for the championship regardless of the categories.

	Notes: Main script – Final position Text below – Points scored from overall, Sunday and the Power Stage
Pos.	Driver	MON	SWE	KEN	CRO	ESP	POR	JPN	GRE	EST	FIN	PAR	CHL	ITA	Points
1	Elfyn Evans														243
2	Oliver Solberg														238
3	Sami Pajari														237
4	Sébastien Ogier														189
5	Adrien Fourmaux														183
6	Takamoto Katsuta														175
7	Thierry Neuville														134
8	Hayden Paddon														38
9	Josh McErlean														35
10	Esapekka Lappi														33
11	Yohan Rossel														24
12	Jon Armstrong														22
13	Robert Virves														19
14	Léo Rossel														18
15	Gus Greensmith														14
16	Mārtiņš Sesks														12
17	Nikolay Gryazin														10
18	Dani Sordo														10
19	Roope Korhonen														9
20	Diego Domínguez Jr.														8
21	Alejandro Cachón														7
22	Fabrizio Zaldivar														6
23	Roberto Daprà														6
24	Andreas Mikkelsen														5
25	Jari-Matti Latvala														4
26	Arthur Pelamourgues														2
27	Alejandro Galanti														2
28	Teemu Suninen														2
29	Matteo Fontana														2
30	Taylor Gill														1
31	Eric Camilli														1
32	Emil Lindholm														1
Pos.	Driver	MON	SWE	KEN	CRO	ESP	POR	JPN	GRE	EST	FIN	PAR	CHL	ITA	Points
Sources:
Key
Colour	Result
Gold	Winner
Silver	2nd place
Bronze	3rd place
Green	Top 10 finish
Blue	Non-top 10 finish
	Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple	Did not finish (Ret)
Black	Excluded (EX)
	Disqualified (DSQ)
White	Did not start (DNS)
	Cancelled (C)
Blank	Withdrew entry from the event (WD)

FIA World Rally Championship for Co-Drivers

The co-driver who recorded a points-scoring classification was taken into account for the championship regardless of the categories.

	Notes: Main script – Final position Text below – Points scored from overall, Sunday and the Power Stage
Pos.	Co-driver	MON	SWE	KEN	CRO	ESP	POR	JPN	GRE	EST	FIN	PAR	CHL	ITA	Points
1	Scott Martin														243
2	Elliott Edmondson														238
3	Marko Salminen														237
4	Vincent Landais														189
5	Alexandre Coria														183
6	Aaron Johnston														172
7	Martijn Wydaeghe														134
8	John Kennard														38
9	Eoin Treacy														35
10	Enni Mälkönen														33
11	Arnaud Dunand														24
12	Shane Byrne														22
13	Jakko Viilo														19
14	Guillaume Mercoiret														18
15	Jonas Andersson														14
16	Renārs Francis														12
17	Konstantin Aleksandrov														10
18	Cándido Carrera														10
19	Anssi Viinikka														9
20	Rogelio Peñate														8
21	Borja Rozada														7
22	Marcelo Der Ohannesian														6
23	Luca Guglielmetti														6
24	Jørn Listerud														5
25	Juho Hänninen														4
26	James Fulton														3
27	Bastien Pouget														2
28	Marcelo Toyotoshi														2
29	Janni Hussi														2
30	Alessandro Arnaboldi														2
31	Daniel Brkic														1
32	Thibault de la Haye														1
33	Gabriel Morales														1
Pos.	Co-driver	MON	SWE	KEN	CRO	ESP	POR	JPN	GRE	EST	FIN	PAR	CHL	ITA	Points
Sources:
Key
Colour	Result
Gold	Winner
Silver	2nd place
Bronze	3rd place
Green	Top 10 finish
Blue	Non-top 10 finish
	Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple	Did not finish (Ret)
Black	Excluded (EX)
	Disqualified (DSQ)
White	Did not start (DNS)
	Cancelled (C)
Blank	Withdrew entry from the event (WD)

FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers

Only the best two results of each manufacturer in the respective overall classification by the end of each rally, accumulated position of all Sunday stages and Power Stage at each rally were taken into account for the championship.

	Notes: Main script – Final position Text below – Points scored from overall, Sunday and the Power Stage
Pos.	Manufacturer	MON	SWE	KEN	CRO	ESP	POR	JPN	GRE	EST	FIN	PAR	CHL	ITA	Points
1	Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT														662
2	Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT														440
3	Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT2														251
4	M-Sport Ford WRT														168
Pos.	Manufacturer	MON	SWE	KEN	CRO	ESP	POR	JPN	GRE	EST	FIN	PAR	CHL	ITA	Points
Sources:
Key
Colour	Result
Gold	Winner
Silver	2nd place
Bronze	3rd place
Green	Top 10 finish
Blue	Non-top 10 finish
	Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple	Did not finish (Ret)
Black	Excluded (EX)
	Disqualified (DSQ)
White	Did not start (DNS)
	Cancelled (C)
Blank	Withdrew entry from the event (WD)