HYUNDAI RALLY ESTONIA 2026: FOURMAUX SECURES THIRD AFTER CLOSE TEAM BATTLE
- RalliTurk TV
- Jul 20
- 5 min read
FOURMAUX HOLDS OFF NEUVILLE BY 5.9 SECONDS TO CLAIM HIS SECOND WRC PODIUM OF THE SEASON
Adrien Fourmaux and Alexandre Coria secured third place at Hyundai Rally Estonia 2026, prevailing in a closely contested battle with teammates Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe.
Fourmaux began Sunday with a 1.9-second advantage over Neuville. On the opening pass through the 24.39km Kääriku stage, he set the joint-third-fastest time and beat his teammate by 7.9 seconds, increasing the gap to more than nine seconds before the Power Stage.
The result followed a difficult Saturday for Fourmaux, who struck an anti-cut device and sustained a slow puncture. A controlled Power Stage run allowed him and Coria to secure their second podium of the 2026 FIA World Rally Championship season, finishing 5.9 seconds ahead of Neuville.
“Fourmaux and Coria protected a narrow overnight advantage to secure third place and their second WRC podium of the 2026 season.”
Neuville entered the final day with renewed momentum after overcoming balance problems with his Hyundai i20 N Rally1 on Saturday. However, an issue on the first Kääriku pass affected his confidence and reduced his opportunity to challenge Fourmaux for the podium.
Neuville responded by setting the second-fastest time on the Power Stage, but he and Wydaeghe finished fourth overall. The result leaves the two Hyundai crews tied on championship points ahead of Finland.
Esapekka Lappi and Enni Mälkönen completed Hyundai Rally Estonia 2026 in eighth place. Competing in only their third WRC event of the season and at Rally Estonia for the first time since 2023, the crew reached the finish without issues and collected additional setup data before their home rally in Finland.
KEY POINTS
• Adrien Fourmaux and Alexandre Coria finished third at Rally Estonia.
• It was their second WRC podium of the 2026 season.
• Fourmaux started Sunday 1.9 seconds ahead of Thierry Neuville.
• He increased his advantage by beating Neuville by 7.9 seconds on the first Kääriku pass.
• Fourmaux completed the rally 5.9 seconds ahead of Neuville.
• Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe finished fourth overall.
• Neuville recorded the second-fastest Power Stage time.
• Fourmaux and Neuville remain tied on championship points.
• Esapekka Lappi and Enni Mälkönen finished eighth.
• Lappi completed his third WRC event of the 2026 season without issues.
HYUNDAI FINAL CLASSIFICATIONS
3. Adrien Fourmaux / Alexandre Coria
4. Thierry Neuville / Martijn Wydaeghe — 5.9 seconds behind Fourmaux
8. Esapekka Lappi / Enni Mälkönen
Crew Notes: Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria (#16 Hyundai i20 N Rally1)
Fourmaux/Coria claimed first podium since Safari Rally Kenya
French partnership took an additional championship point on Super Sunday
Fourmaux said: "It feels very good to be back on the podium, it was a proper push today in my battle with Thierry, on the first run especially and then we had to ensure the result on the second run. Clearly the first run made the difference today because we had different setups, and it was optimised for the first pass and then a bit worse for the second, but we had a really big push on the first one. In the Power Stage, we knew that we had a decent gap; I should have done a little bit better, but overall, it has been a very positive rally, a good start for us on the fast rallies and I hope we can repeat this kind of performance in Finland."
Crew Notes: Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (#11 Hyundai i20 N Rally1)
Stage win and strong Power Stage performance capped off solid weekend
Setup changes on Saturday morning aided impressive recovery drive
Neuville said: "We started the rally with some issues, and we couldn’t really get the car working, so that meant we had to swap a lot of things for Saturday, which suddenly helped the performance to come back. We were continually improving throughout the day and closed on third by the end of Saturday, but I was just not quite in my rhythm this morning and we lost out to Adrien, who definitely deserved to take third place, hats off to him. It is still a good result for the team, considering where we came from, and second in the Power Stage was the maximum we could achieve from the weekend."
Crew Notes: Esapekka Lappi/Enni Mälkönen (#4 Hyundai i20 N Rally1)
Finnish crew built the speed during a difficult rally
Lappi/Mälkönen delivered clean event as they prepare for home event
Lappi said: "We had a challenging weekend in which we struggled with the pace. Generally, the car felt fine throughout the days, it was just difficult to understand why the speed and the times weren’t there versus the competition. On the other hand, we were able to gain more information and data on the setups and tyres, plus more mileage ahead of Finland, where we hope to be better."
Hyundai Motorsport WRC Sporting Director Andrew Wheatley said: "It has been a good weekend for us in Estonia, with a very strong team performance and 100% reliability all rally across all three cars. We came to this event after a positive test with the expectation that we could fight for the podium, so to achieve this with Adrien and to have Thierry in fourth proves the speed in the car is clearly there to be a threat on the fast gravel rallies. Across all three cars, there were improvements throughout the rally, especially Esapekka who was able to halve the deficit to the leading car on the final stage. Our aim is to take this momentum and performance with us to Finland where we hope to show that speed from the very first stage to try and secure a strong result. I also want to congratulate Sami Pajari and Marko Salminen on taking their first career WRC victory in a dominant fashion."
Next rally
Another fast gravel event is up next, with Rally Finland taking place between July 30 – August 2.
Final Overall Classification – Rally Estonia
1 S. Pajari M. Salminen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 2:31:16.5
2 O. Solberg E. Edmondson Toyota GR YarisRally1 +19.5
3 A. Fourmaux A. Coria Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +53.8
4 T. Neuville M. Wydaeghe Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +59.7
5 S. Ogier V. Landais Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +1:32.9
6 E. Evans S. Martin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +2:01.0
7 M. Sesks R. Francis Ford Puma Rally1 +2:35.3
8 E. Lappi E. Mälkönen Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +3:02.3
9 J. Armstrong S. Byrne Ford Puma Rally1 +3:28.0
10 R. Virves J. Viilo Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 +8:33.1
Super Sunday Classification – Rally Estonia
1 O. Solberg 22:37.0
2 E. Evans +3.6
3 S. Pajari +5.5
4 S. Ogier +5.6
5 A. Fourmaux +7.2
2026 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers’ Standings
After round 9
1 Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team 464
2 Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team 308
3 Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team 2 157
4 M-Sport Ford World Rally Team 116
2026 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers’ Standings
After round 9
1 E. Evans 177
2 T. Katsuta 152
3 S. Pajari 144
4 S. Ogier 139
5 O. Solberg 130
6 T. Neuville 111
7 A. Fourmaux 111
8 E. Lappi 25
9 H. Paddon 21
10 Y. Rossel 20