Preparations for the 2026 World Rally Championship began in earnest last weekend just a matter of days after Rally Saudi Arabia brought the curtain down on the 2025 campaign.
With the opening round of the 2026 season in Monte Carlo a little more than a month away on 22-25 January, Toyota and Hyundai both fielded cars in last weekend’s Rallye National Hivernal du Devoluy in France.
The 10-stage asphalt event held in wet and snowy conditions offered Toyota’s new recruit Oliver Solberg and co-driver Elliott Edmondson a first opportunity to drive the GR Yaris Rally1 on asphalt. It also provided Hyundai the perfect proving ground for Adrien Fourmaux to develop the i20 N Rally1 Evo car, which has so far struggled to perform on asphalt – particularly when the road surface becomes slippery.
Hyundai also entered its new recruit Hayden Paddon in an i20 N Rally2 to allow the New Zealander to get to grips with the Hankook tyres ahead of his return to the WRC top tier after an eight-year hiatus.
Solberg knows what he needs and wants
Solberg’s last outing in the GR Yaris Rally1 came on gravel when he famously won Rally Estonia in what was then a one-off outing for the Toyota factory squad.
Now rewarded with a full-time seat at the factory team for 2026, the Swede described the rally as a “very important” test to prepare for the challenges of Monte Carlo next month.
Solberg seemingly quickly adjusted to the car in tricky conditions for the first time, claiming four stage wins across the rally to finish the event only 14.7s behind eventual winner Fourmaux.
Oliver Solberg, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Photo by: Toyota Racing
The biggest eye-opener for the new WRC2 champion was understanding the car’s aerodynamics on asphalt. Solberg now believes he has a solid foundation to work from when the season begins next month.
“The sensation [driving on asphalt] is different. On gravel it feels quite natural but here you need to understand [the car],” said Solberg.
“On gravel, you are quite limited by the grip and you are always floating and you can feel your way with the aero. But here, you need to learn the aero and trust it because here you have a lot of grip and then in some of the fast corners you are like ‘ah I can go fast’. It is a bit different.
“I started with a basic set up. I haven’t had a test, so I didn’t know what idea I should have and then you have to feel a little bit and see what you can do. I have an idea in my head now for what I need and what I want.
“For me, this is very good and very important as I can get an idea about the car and what I need to improve with my driving and we had a chance to change something [on the car], so it has been very good. It is just fine tuning for my driving now.”
Fourmaux: Hyundai is going in the right direction
Fourmaux was familiar with both the conditions and the event’s stages after beating Toyota’s Kalle Rovanpera to the victory 12 months ago in what was his first competitive drive for Hyundai after switching from M-Sport-Ford.
The Frenchman posted the fastest times on six of the 10 tests to extend his winning run at the rally, but the main focus for Hyundai was on improving its recalcitrant i20 N on asphalt.
Adrien Fourmaux, Hyundai World Rally Team
Photo by: Vincent Thuillier / Hyundai Motorsport
According to Forumaux, the car has made progress enough to leave him feeling positive ahead of Monte Carlo, but there is still some work still to do.
Hyundai is expected to undergo an intensive test programme over the off-season developing its car. The squad is expected to deploy bonus homologation jokers offered to all teams by the FIA, to improve certain aspects of its challenger in what will be the final season of Rally1 regulations.
“The plan for this rally was clear: to improve the car in the wet and slippery conditions. We were happy to have Oliver there to see where we are, and then we tried to really work on our weakness,” said Fourmaux.
“It was quite positive. We still have some jobs to do but Monte Carlo is not tomorrow, and we have some test days.
“[The car] is going in the right direction, so I’m quite positive. There is still some work for sure, and we tried to figure out what is wrong with one thing on the car. But when we sort it, I think it is going to be okay.”
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– The Autosport.com Team
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