2026 WRC, ERC (International) Rally thread
Discussion
Well that was an action packed rally!
Brilliant drive by Solberg, I did expect him to win at least one rally this year but not Monte.
Impressed by Armstrong's pace for his first time in Rally1 and I think first time at Monte as well.
Tough weekend for Paddon but he got through it, despite his experience he has only really done Monte once (excluding 2018 with that fatal accident on SS1) and was well and truly starting the weekend on the back foot without any proper testing - he only had a 'tyre test' on snowy roads using the Rally2 and a basic tarmac test at Hyundai HQ in the Rally1.
Does anyone know what the issue was with SS12? There were a few comments about the gravel crews being delayed so the first few cars on the road couldn't get their ice notes in time and had to run without them - seems quite unfair if half the field had to run without ice notes but the later cars still had them.
Brilliant drive by Solberg, I did expect him to win at least one rally this year but not Monte.
Impressed by Armstrong's pace for his first time in Rally1 and I think first time at Monte as well.
Tough weekend for Paddon but he got through it, despite his experience he has only really done Monte once (excluding 2018 with that fatal accident on SS1) and was well and truly starting the weekend on the back foot without any proper testing - he only had a 'tyre test' on snowy roads using the Rally2 and a basic tarmac test at Hyundai HQ in the Rally1.
Does anyone know what the issue was with SS12? There were a few comments about the gravel crews being delayed so the first few cars on the road couldn't get their ice notes in time and had to run without them - seems quite unfair if half the field had to run without ice notes but the later cars still had them.
Edited by GravelBen on Monday 26th January 10:01
Monte was the first WRC event in a long time that had me distracted from other activities just to follow what I could of it. Changeable conditions, later runners at times able to take advantage.
It does look like Elfyn was the most consistent all weekend. Solberg superb at times but so very lucky to get through that fence twice - so many times part of that would burst a radiator or oil cooler or something else.
It does look like Elfyn was the most consistent all weekend. Solberg superb at times but so very lucky to get through that fence twice - so many times part of that would burst a radiator or oil cooler or something else.
Not 2026 related but it looks like Toyota are developing an all new car for the 2027 season rumoured to be bringing back the Celica name.
https://www.rallye-sport.fr/toyota-en-essais-pour-...
https://www.rallye-sport.fr/toyota-en-essais-pour-...
Ardennes92 said:
ecsrobin said:
A great start by Solberg, 30+ sec ahead after day one, I think it s been mentioned previously that it s Evan s year but if Solberg keeps performing as he has I think it s his to lose.
All was well till today !! Think things have unravelled
bergclimber34 said:
Brief note here that Sophie Rumeau, a French woman won the latest round the French gravel champiobnship this weekend, this is probably the toughest gravel series outside maybe Finland to win. Another Mouton in the making.
Also worth noting that Conner Martell picked up his third consecutive second place in the series. Nice for the sport to see an American driver come over to Europe and be competitive and get more experience in the same cars used in WRC/ERC. I have been watching the Croatia WRC round (not watched Sunday yet, so please bear that in mind..
What a joke these Hancook tyres are.
I appreciate the stages were badly affected by cuts but the Hancoock tyres seem spectactularly poor, I cant remeber other tyres used in previous pre Hanccoks being so unreliable. It's not just the slicks, the gravel tyres seem similarly poor.
Do fans, the drivers and teams really want to see drivers cruising through the stages in an attempt to avoid punctures. Even then, punctures are only too prevalent Just make the tyres stronger - some performane will no doubt be lost, but it would be the same for all. No fun seeing cars in road mode limping through stages with damaged wheels after the tyres have delaminated and left the bodywork in tatters.
It might help if more anti cut deterrent markers were put in place. It's pretty obvious where they are, the crews put them in their pace notes. In Japan for example, the organisers have the benefit of drainage gullies and kerbs which are visible to crews who don't take liberties as a result!
Just looks bad imho.
What a joke these Hancook tyres are.
I appreciate the stages were badly affected by cuts but the Hancoock tyres seem spectactularly poor, I cant remeber other tyres used in previous pre Hanccoks being so unreliable. It's not just the slicks, the gravel tyres seem similarly poor.
Do fans, the drivers and teams really want to see drivers cruising through the stages in an attempt to avoid punctures. Even then, punctures are only too prevalent Just make the tyres stronger - some performane will no doubt be lost, but it would be the same for all. No fun seeing cars in road mode limping through stages with damaged wheels after the tyres have delaminated and left the bodywork in tatters.
It might help if more anti cut deterrent markers were put in place. It's pretty obvious where they are, the crews put them in their pace notes. In Japan for example, the organisers have the benefit of drainage gullies and kerbs which are visible to crews who don't take liberties as a result!
Just looks bad imho.
GravelBen said:
Going to be a busy weekend here - Otago Rally during the day and WRC Croatia at night!
Total opposite here although WRC leaves me slightly numb nowadays , did you get out and watch ? Meeke on fine form again . the Manta which finished 3rd classic was originally built by his dad !! fttm said:
GravelBen said:
Going to be a busy weekend here - Otago Rally during the day and WRC Croatia at night!
Total opposite here although WRC leaves me slightly numb nowadays , did you get out and watch ? Meeke on fine form again . the Manta which finished 3rd classic was originally built by his dad !! 
Meeke was dominant in the classics, unlucky for Ostberg and Hagstrom being sidelined by engine issues but they weren't matching Meeke's pace either. Pretty high attrition all round with lots of mechanicals and off road excursions.
I never knew that about Derek's Manta, cool bit of history! Its a great car - very quick driver too, 3 time Otago Classic winner. I've sat in with him on a couple of rallysprints (once in that Manta and once in his previous Mk2 Escort 2.4 Holbay), quite eye-opening commitment level to a casual punter!
Then Paddon on the podium in Croatia was the icing on the cake for a good rally weekend!
I watched the highlights of Croatia on Tuesday night on ITV4 and with the early demise of Elfyn and Solberg the top 10 naturally had a few WRC2 cars in it .
I couldn't quite believe my eyes , does that say Lancia with 2 cars in there ?
Obviously yes it did , I had no idea that Lancia were even making anything currently let alone entering the WRC with something ,although the Italian domestic market is probably the best place to find one .
Then they showed one on screen , would never have guessed it was a Lancia .
I should pay more attention .
I couldn't quite believe my eyes , does that say Lancia with 2 cars in there ?
Obviously yes it did , I had no idea that Lancia were even making anything currently let alone entering the WRC with something ,although the Italian domestic market is probably the best place to find one .
Then they showed one on screen , would never have guessed it was a Lancia .
I should pay more attention .
GravelBen said:
Yes, great weekend though with the size of the field I only got to 2 stages each day - could have squeezed a 3rd stage on Sunday but my second stage of the day was already about halfway towards home, so I just carried on home from there instead of backtracking. Truckload of photos to sort through as usual...
Meeke was dominant in the classics, unlucky for Ostberg and Hagstrom being sidelined by engine issues but they weren't matching Meeke's pace either. Pretty high attrition all round with lots of mechanicals and off road excursions.
I never knew that about Derek's Manta, cool bit of history! Its a great car - very quick driver too, 3 time Otago Classic winner. I've sat in with him on a couple of rallysprints (once in that Manta and once in his previous Mk2 Escort 2.4 Holbay), quite eye-opening commitment level to a casual punter!
Then Paddon on the podium in Croatia was the icing on the cake for a good rally weekend!
Saw something on FB today that said it was a replica Manta so I maybe mistaken , somebody in NZ has a recently restored proper McHale manta built by Sydney Meeke . Derek will probably know who Meeke was dominant in the classics, unlucky for Ostberg and Hagstrom being sidelined by engine issues but they weren't matching Meeke's pace either. Pretty high attrition all round with lots of mechanicals and off road excursions.
I never knew that about Derek's Manta, cool bit of history! Its a great car - very quick driver too, 3 time Otago Classic winner. I've sat in with him on a couple of rallysprints (once in that Manta and once in his previous Mk2 Escort 2.4 Holbay), quite eye-opening commitment level to a casual punter!
Then Paddon on the podium in Croatia was the icing on the cake for a good rally weekend!
fttm said:
Saw something on FB today that said it was a replica Manta so I maybe mistaken , somebody in NZ has a recently restored proper McHale manta built by Sydney Meeke . Derek will probably know who
I have heard about another Manta being prepped for rallying here but haven't seen it on the stages yet and can't remember whose it is!Derek's one was imported from Ireland, but as far as I know its not an original McHale car.
ETA: found a snippet about its history here: https://kerrymotorsportnews.com/2025/08/04/machale...
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