2026 World Rally Championship

Calendar changes

• The Croatia Rally is set to return to the championship after missing the 2025 season, replacing the Central European Rally.^[11] The rally would feature a new headquarter in Rijeka, instead of Zagreb.^[12]
• 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 2027 onwards.^[13]
• The organisers of the Acropolis Rally have announced the change of its headquarters, with Loutraki to serve as the new base after five years in Lamia.^[14]

In detail

M-Sport kept the crew of Josh McErlean and Eoin Treacy.^[20] Jon Armstrong and Shane Byrne would step 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.^[21] Munster was later confirmed to contest the season opener in a third Rally1 car with the team.^[22] Mārtiņš Sesks would continue to run a partial program with the team, contesting seven events during the season.^[23]

Esapekka Lappi (left), Dani Sordo (middle) and Hayden Paddon (right) to return to the top tier for part-time campaigns.

Hyundai maintained the services of Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe, and of Adrien Fourmaux and Alexandre Coria for entry in all rallies.^[24] A third car will be shared by crews led by drivers Esapekka Lappi, Dani Sordo and Hayden Paddon.^[25] Paddon is set to make his first appearance in the premium level of the championship since the 2018 Rally Australia.^[26] Lappi and Sordo are also due to return after their previous partial campaigns with the team in 2024.^[27] Ott Tänak announced his indefinite break from the championship following the end of the 2025 season.^[28]

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.^[29] Sébastien Ogier and Vincent Landais would continue to run a partial program to contest ten rallies with the team.^[30] 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.^[31] However, he did not rule out a return to rallying in the future.^[32] His seat at Toyota was filled by Oliver Solberg, who is under contract to run his first full-time season in the class, having previously run on a part-time basis for Hyundai in 2022.^[33]

Opening rounds

The season opener was held under complicated weather conditions, which caught out several crews, including both M-Sport crews of McErlean and Treacy, and of Armstrong and Byrne, meaning M-Sport ended their 24-year point-scoring finish.^[36] The rally was won by Solberg and Edmondson in their first rally of their first full-time season in the top-tier.^[37] Toyota continued their dominance in the following round, locking a 1–2–3–4 at the end of the rally, with Evans and Martin winning the event.^[38]

Season summary

More information Round, Event ...

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	[39][40]
2	Rally Sweden	Elfyn Evans	Scott Martin	Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT	2:35:53.1	Report	[41][42]
3	Safari Rally Kenya					Report
4	Croatia Rally					Report
5	Rally Islas Canarias					Report
6	Rally de Portugal					Report
7	Rally Japan					Report
8	Acropolis Rally Greece					Report
9	Rally Estonia					Report
10	Rally Finland					Report
11	Rally del Paraguay					Report
12	Rally Chile					Report
13	Rally Italia Sardegna					Report
14	Rally Saudi Arabia					Report

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Scoring system

Points are awarded to the top ten classified finishers in each event.^[43] In the manufacturers' championship, teams are eligible to nominate three crews to score points, but these points are only awarded to the top two classified finishers representing a manufacturer and driving a 2025-specification Rally1 car. There are 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 is awarded to the five fastest crews of the Power Stage as well.^[44]

FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers

The driver who records a points-scoring classification would be taken into account for the championship regardless of the categories.

More information Pos., Driver ...

Pos. Driver MON SWE KEN CRO ESP POR JPN GRE EST FIN PAR CHL ITA SAU Points 1 Elfyn Evans 217+4+5 125+5+4 60 2 Oliver Solberg 125+1+4 412+3+2 47 3 Takamoto Katsuta 76+0+0 217+4+3 30 4 Adrien Fourmaux 412+3+2 510+1+0 28 5 Thierry Neuville 510+0+0 76+0+5 21 6 Sébastien Ogier 315+0+3 18 7 Sami Pajari Ret0+0+0 315+2+0 17 8 Esapekka Lappi 68+0+1 9 9 Léo Rossel 68+0+0 8 10 Yohan Rossel 180+5+1 6 11 Jon Armstrong Ret0+0+0 84+0+0 4 12 Roberto Daprà 84+0+0 4 13 Josh McErlean Ret0+0+0 92+0+0 2 14 Arthur Pelamourgues 92+0+0 2 15 Matteo Fontana 310+2+0 160+0+0 2 16 Eric Camilli 101+0+0 1 17 Roope Korhonen 101+0+0 1 – Hayden Paddon 110+0+0 – – Dani Sordo – Pos. Driver MON SWE KEN CRO ESP POR JPN GRE EST FIN PAR CHL ITA SAU Points Sources:[45][46]

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) Notes: Main script – Final position Text below – Points scored from overall, Sunday and the Power Stage

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FIA World Rally Championship for Co-Drivers

The co-driver who records a points-scoring classification would be taken into account for the championship regardless of the categories.

More information Pos., Co-driver ...

Pos. Co-driver MON SWE KEN CRO ESP POR JPN GRE EST FIN PAR CHL ITA SAU Points 1 Scott Martin 217+4+5 125+5+4 60 2 Elliott Edmondson 125+1+4 412+3+2 47 3 Aaron Johnston 76+0+0 217+4+3 30 4 Alexandre Coria 412+3+2 510+1+0 28 5 Martijn Wydaeghe 510+0+0 76+0+5 21 6 Vincent Landais 315+0+3 18 7 Marko Salminen Ret0+0+0 315+2+0 17 8 Enni Mälkönen 68+0+1 9 9 Guillaume Mercoiret 68+0+0 8 10 Arnaud Dunand 180+5+1 6 11 Shane Byrne Ret0+0+0 84+0+0 4 12 Luca Guglielmetti 84+0+0 4 13 Eoin Treacy Ret0+0+0 92+0+0 2 14 Bastien Pouget 92+0+0 2 15 Alessandro Arnaboldi 310+2+0 160+0+0 2 16 Thibault de la Haye 101+0+0 1 17 Anssi Viinikka 101+0+0 1 – John Kennard 110+0+0 – – Cándido Carrera – Pos. Co-driver MON SWE KEN CRO ESP POR JPN GRE EST FIN PAR CHL ITA SAU Points Sources:[45][46]

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) Notes: Main script – Final position Text below – Points scored from overall, Sunday and the Power Stage

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FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers

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

More information Pos., Manufacturer ...

Pos. Manufacturer MON SWE KEN CRO ESP POR JPN GRE EST FIN PAR CHL ITA SAU Points 1 Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT 125+4+3 125+5+4 117 217+5+5 217+4+3 NC0+0+0 NC0+0+0 2 Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT 315+4+2 412+2+0 66 412+2+0 510+0+1 NC0+0+0 NC0+1+5 3 Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT2 Ret0+0+0 315+3+0 18 4 M-Sport Ford WRT Ret0+0+0 68+0+0 14 Ret0+0+0 76+0+0 Pos. Manufacturer MON SWE KEN CRO ESP POR JPN GRE EST FIN PAR CHL ITA SAU Points Sources:[45][46]

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) Notes: Main script – Final position Text below – Points scored from overall, Sunday and the Power Stage

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