Takamoto Katsuta claimed victory in Croatia after a dramatic final stage that saw Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville throw away a likely first win of the 2026 World Rally Championship season.
Neuville took a 1m15.4s lead into the final stage and was seemingly on course to end Toyota’s 100% winning start to the season. However, the Belgian lost the rear of his i20 N and clouted a concrete block, causing terminal damage to the front-right of his car. Neuville lost over 20 minutes but did manage to finish the final stage, provisionally classified down in 20th place overall.
It handed Safari Rally Kenya winner Katsuta a second consecutive WRC win by 20.7s from Sami Pajari, with Hyundai’s Hayden Paddon in third.
Neuville had been locked in the victory fight throughout the 20-stage contest in what proved to be one of the most attritional asphalt rallies for some time.
Neuville found himself firmly in the victory fight on Friday after the championship’s top two Elfyn Evans and Oliver Solberg retired on Friday morning. Monte Carlo winner Solberg went off the road just 4.8km into the event after clipping a rock face which sent his GR Yaris off the road in the opening stage.
Championship leader Evans set the pace topping two tests before he suffered a rare back-to-back retirement following last month’s Safari Rally exit. The Welshman misjudged a tight right-hander in what appeared to be a confusion over a pacenote that resulted in his car firing off the road in stage three, and into only his second retirement since Greece 2024.
That handed Toyota’s Pajari the rally lead by 2.7s from Neuville, with Safari Rally Kenya winner Katsuta, 6.4s adrift in third. Pajari went on to control the rally from that point on Friday as the Finn, searching for a maiden WRC win, took a 13.7s lead over Neuville into Saturday.
Thierry Neuville, Martijn Wydaeghe, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1
Photo by: Hyundai
However, the rally was turned on its head in stage 14, the second pass through the new Generalski Stol – Zdihovo test. Drivers declared the stage was more like a gravel rally test given the amount of dirt and rocks strewn all over the surface from drivers taking excessive cuts.
Surviving the extreme conditions became a lottery as leader Pajari, Katsuta, Hyundai’s Paddon and M-Sport Ford duo Jon Armstrong and Josh McErlean all picked up punctures. Of the quintet, Pajari was forced to stop and change a wheel which cost the Finn more than two minutes and the rally lead.
Neuville managed to navigate through without issue and with his rivals all delayed, he emerged with a commanding 1m15.9s lead. Katsuta was able to nurse his puncture to the finish and managed to climb to second while a crestfallen Pajari dropped to third.
Knowing the importance of a victory for both himself and the motivation for the Hyundai team, Neuville cruised through the remaining stages rather than fight for Super Sunday points. But the final stage had a final twist that shattered his victory hopes.
“I can only say sorry to everyone involved,” Neuville said immediately after the crash. “That’s the only thing I can say. All the rest we will see later. I have no explanation at the moment. This cannot happen. We will see what exactly went wrong.
“I got understeer and immediately opened the wheel and was afraid to slide and we touched something with the wheel and more damage occurred after.”
Sami Pajari, Marko Salminen, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT2 Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
Photo by: Toyota Racing
Making only his second WRC start driving the Hyundai i20 N Rally1, Paddon drove smartly to inherit a first WRC podium since Rally Australia 2018.
Team-mate Adrien Fourmaux endured an eventful rally that began with a puncture on Friday before the Frenchman retired from fifth on Saturday when his i20 N struck a telegraph pole. Fourmaux rejoined on Sunday, and despite co-driver Alex Coria briefly losing his pacenote book, the pair secured two Super Sunday points after suffering a puncture on the final stage.
Such was the attrition rate, WRC2 runners filled the top 10. This was headed by Yohan Rossel, who claimed a historic first WRC2 victory for Lancia following the iconic brand’s decision to rejoin rallying’s top series this year. It is the first time Lancia has finished in the top five of a WRC event since 1993. Meanwhile the last time a non-top-category car reached the top five overall on a pure asphalt WRC rally was Robert Kubica in Germany 2013.
Rossel guided his Ypsilon HF Integrale to the win by 38.8s from his younger brother Leo Rossel, driving a Citroen C3 Rally2. Lancia’s Nikolay Gryazin claimed the final podium spot after overtaking Roope Korhonen on the final day.
After rejoining the rally on Saturday, Solberg dominated the stages claiming 10 fastest times on his way to salvaging 10 vital Super Sunday points for his title push. Likewise, Evans managed to secure eight points.
M-Sport-Ford’s Armstrong showed impressive pace throughout and came close to securing a maiden WRC stage win on several occasions. A crash on Friday ended any hopes of a top-five finish but the Northern Irishman did pick up six Super Sunday points.
Team-mate McErlean finished the rally but again was delayed by several issues. The Irishman suffered three punctures, an engine issue and lost seven minutes to a cockpit fire in his Ford Puma on Saturday.
We want to hear from you!
Let us know what you would like to see from us in the future.
Take our survey
– The Autosport.com Team
Read the full article here