2026 is the last season of a regulation cycle. The last season of Rally1. This year is evolution, the next one revolution.
But the World Rally Championship’s official start to the 2026 season suggested otherwise in some ways. There are changes – and potentially more shifts to come once the cars set off from Toudon on Thursday night.
Toyota arrive as the yardstick; its 2025 season a masterclass in sheer imperiousness. Hyundai doesn’t want a repeat. Sat inside the Red Bull energy station minutes before cars would cross the start ramp to declare 2026 go, Adrien Fourmaux was adamant a corner had been turned.
Hyundai was playing catch-up last season, trying to get its head around the significantly reworked i20 N Rally1. It was a step forward in principle but with testing limited, extracting improved performance was a tough ask.
Toyota’s deputy team principal Juha Kankkunen is expecting a repeat of last year’s struggles from Hyundai won’t happen again and the championship race will tighten up.
Thierry Neuville’s 2025 was a nightmare come to life. Mid-season last year there were rare expressions of anger at stage ends, incensed by punctures derailing his campaign. But that win at last year’s season finale has re-energized him. Relaxed and smiling as he milled around the season launch, his pre-Saudi blues are seemingly already forgotten for the 2024 world champion.
But it’s hard not to look at 2025 as blending into 2026. For every facet that made 2026 feel like a continuation of last year, there was a counterpoint that reminded you it’s not exactly business as usual either.
Kalle Rovanperä and Ott Tänak’s absence did not weigh as heavily as expected. We’ve lost two titans of our discipline from the mix but we’re gaining another in Oliver Solberg. And being at Monaco’s Port Hercule has finally made it all real – not only for us, but Solberg especially.
One thing remains the same: in Monte, Sébastien Ogier is the most popular man around and the default favorite to win. That hasn’t changed a bit. Last year Neuville and Elfyn Evans couldn’t stop him for winning a ninth title.
For M-Sport the goal is consistency. McErlean and Treacy will be joined by their new Academy teammates Armstrong and Shane Byrne on the start ramp at Rallye Monte-Carlo next month.
The Irish quartet will combine McErlean and Treacy’s knowledge gained throughout their maiden Rally1 season in 2025 with Armstrong’s strong JWRC and ERC experience to launch into 2026 with clear goals.
Mārtiņš Sesks plans to contest a seven-round FIA World Rally Championship programme in 2026 driving a Puma Rally1 for M-Sport Ford World Rally Team.
The Latvian, alongside co-driver Renārs Francis, has locked in six WRC starts for 2026, with a seventh appearance at Rally Saudi Arabia also under consideration.
The programme will be complemented by selected European Rally Championship outings as the pairing looks to convert the promise shown over the past two seasons into consistent front-running performances.
