Toyota “nervous” of Hyundai threat ahead of WRC gravel season run
Despite dominating the World Rally Championship season so far, Toyota remains wary of the threat posed by Hyundai, with technical director Tom Fowler admitting to being “nervous” for the remaining gravel events. Toyota has displayed a clear pace advantage over Hyundai at the start of the campaign, and had Sebastien Ogier avoided a puncture in […]
Dani Sordo questions “stupid” WRC tyre rules amid compound mix up
Dani Sordo called for changes to the regulations after labelling the rules that forced World Rally Championship crews to select tyres 13 hours before they needed to be used as “stupid”. WRC crews in Portugal had to make tyre choices for Friday morning’s opening loop immediately after Thursday evening’s stage three, which concluded at 7pm. […]
Thierry Neuville inherits lead as Sebastien Ogier suffers penultimate stage puncture
Thierry Neuville inherited the Rally Portugal lead with one stage remaining after World Rally Championship title holder Sebastien Ogier suffered a puncture on the penultimate stage. Ogier headed into stage 22 seemingly on course to score an eighth career Rally Portugal victory, equipped with a 17.3s lead over Neuville. The nine-time world champion had managed […]
What a «payback» WRC victory means to Thierry Neuville and Hyundai
Thierry Neuville says victory in Portugal was personal ”revenge” for letting Hyundai down after a final stage mistake in Croatia cost the team a first World Rally Championship win of 2026. This weekend the 2024 world champion found himself in a similar position to that of a month ago in Croatia, leading into the final […]
Hyundai on top as overnight leader Oliver Solberg loses time
Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux reclaimed the Rally Portugal lead after overnight leader Oliver Solberg struggled for pace across Friday morning’s loop of stages. Fourmaux started the day 3.4 seconds behind Solberg, but was able to leapfrog the Toyota driver in the opening stage of Friday’s mammoth seven-stage itinerary. Fourmaux delivered a strong pace across the three stages, […]
Hyundai brings WRC engine upgrade to Rally Portugal
Hyundai has brought an upgraded engine to Rally Portugal in a bid to close the gap and take the fight to World Rally Championship rivals Toyota. The Korean marque has struggled to extract pace consistently from its i20 N Rally1 car, while Toyota has seemingly taken a step forward, having won all five rounds of […]
Why Hyundai’s WRC season “really starts” at Rally Portugal
The World Rally Championship’s first pure gravel rally of the season in Portugal this week is seen as an opportunity for Hyundai to ignite its 2026 campaign. Hyundai has been firmly on the back foot this season, having struggled to extract pace from an i20 N Rally1 that features a narrow operating window. The Korean […]
How Dani Sordo brings «different ideas» to Hyundai’s WRC Toyota chase
Dani Sordo brought new ideas and a “breath of fresh air” to Hyundai amid its ongoing battle to find answers for its performance struggles in the World Rally Championship, according to team boss Andrew Wheatley. Struggles extracting consistent speed from the i20 N Rally1, which has a narrow operating window, left Hyundai firmly on the […]
“Nobody knows” answer to Hyundai’s WRC struggles
Thierry Neuville says “nobody knows” how Hyundai can fix its current performance woes after another difficult World Rally Championship outing in the Canary Islands. Hyundai is yet to score its first win of the season, with last weekend’s round in Canary Islands highlighting the gap between the Korean marque and Toyota. The closest Hyundai has […]