HYUNDAI RALLY ESTONIA 2026: TEAM TARGETS STRONG RETURN ON FAST GRAVEL

NEUVILLE, FOURMAUX AND LAPPI LEAD HYUNDAI'S CHALLENGE AS THE WRC HEADS TO ESTONIA

Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team heads to Rally Estonia, the ninth round of the 2026 FIA World Rally Championship, looking to convert its recent gravel pace into a strong result.

After leading 12 of the 17 stages at Acropolis Rally Greece before late punctures ended its victory hopes, Hyundai arrives in Estonia encouraged by the performance of the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 on gravel.

The event marks the beginning of a demanding sequence of high-speed gravel rallies, with Estonia's fast roads placing a premium on commitment, precision and consistency.

"Hyundai arrives in Estonia looking to turn its strong gravel pace into a competitive points haul on one of the fastest rallies of the WRC season."

FAST GRAVEL PROVIDES A NEW CHALLENGE

Based in Tartu, Rally Estonia features 18 special stages covering more than 300 competitive kilometres across flowing gravel roads, fast jumps and technical forest sections.

The 2026 edition follows a compact schedule, beginning with Friday morning's shakedown before competitive action starts later the same day. Saturday forms the longest leg of the rally, while Sunday's final stages will decide the overall result.

Having shown strong speed in Greece, Hyundai now faces a completely different challenge on smoother and significantly faster gravel roads.

THREE-CAR RALLY1 LINE-UP

Hyundai will field three Hyundai i20 N Rally1 cars in Estonia.

Reigning world champion Thierry Neuville continues his championship campaign alongside teammate Adrien Fourmaux, while Esapekka Lappi returns to the team for the first time since Safari Rally Kenya.

The Finnish driver brings valuable experience to one of the fastest rallies on the calendar.

BUILDING ON RECENT GRAVEL FORM

Hyundai has demonstrated competitive gravel pace in recent events, including victory in Portugal and a front-running performance at Acropolis Rally.

The team will now aim to transform that speed into a strong points finish on the fast Estonian stages, where small margins often separate the leading crews.

"Fast gravel, blind crests and flowing roads make Rally Estonia one of the most demanding events for both drivers and teams."

RALLY ESTONIA FACTS

• Round 9 of the 2026 FIA World Rally Championship

• Base: Tartu, Estonia

• Surface: Gravel

• Special Stages: 18

• Competitive Distance: Over 300 kilometres

• Hyundai won Rally Estonia on its WRC debut in 2020

KEY POINTS

• Hyundai heads to Rally Estonia for Round 9 of the 2026 FIA World Rally Championship.

• Rally Estonia features 18 high-speed gravel stages covering more than 300 competitive kilometres.

• Hyundai showed strong pace at Acropolis Rally by leading 12 of 17 stages.

• Late punctures prevented Hyundai from converting that pace into victory in Greece.

• Thierry Neuville, Adrien Fourmaux and Esapekka Lappi will represent Hyundai in Estonia.

• Esapekka Lappi returns to Hyundai for the first time since Safari Rally Kenya.

• Rally Estonia is based in Tartu and is among the fastest events on the WRC calendar.

• The rally rewards precision, commitment and consistency on flowing gravel roads.

• Hyundai previously won Rally Estonia during the event's WRC debut in 2020.

• The team aims to build on its recent strong gravel performances.

Quotes

"We showed strong pace on gravel in Greece and now head to Rally Estonia looking to convert that performance into a strong result."

"Rally Estonia is one of the fastest events on the WRC calendar, where precision and confidence are essential for success."

Q+A with Hyundai Motorsport WRC Sporting Director Andrew Wheatley

Acropolis Rally showed the pace of the Hyundai i20 N Rally1, with the team leading much of the event before late setbacks. What positives can you carry into Rally Estonia?

"With such a positive start to the second half of the season in terms of performance, we can be confident that the fundamentals of the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 are in place to support a strong push through the second half of the season. The speed of the crews was great, but equally impressive was the reliability. Despite being one of the hottest and toughest rounds of the season, Hyundai Motorsport enjoyed perfect reliability, and this gives us the confidence to push for the best possible performance heading into some of the fastest rallies of the year."

Rally Estonia marks the start of a run of fast gravel events. What will be the biggest challenge for the team this weekend?

"As always, the biggest challenge in Estonia will be our competitors. In 2026, Hyundai made a change to our nominated test road – we moved the test road from Finland to the south of France. The idea behind this was to help the team develop the parts required to compete on the four rough gravel rallies in the season, as well as to support the tarmac development programme. However, this means that we will not have the same opportunity for unlimited testing on the high-speed gravel roads and jumps that we see in Estonia and Finland. The team is planning three days of testing in Estonia before transferring to Finland to continue the programme, but we will be relying on the experience developed in previous years to support the changes made to the car for 2026. The other challenge will be the weather. The bulk of the testing has taken place in sunshine and dry road conditions; however, there is a chance that rain could fall in the week before the rally, which would significantly change the required set-up and could also give an advantage to the cars running at the front of the field."

Esapekka Lappi returns to the third Hyundai i20 N Rally1 at an event where he has plenty of experience. What does he bring to the team this weekend?

"Esapekka and Enni will bring their considerable experience of Scandinavian roads to the team. They have been competing in the Finnish National Championship for the last two seasons and, as they did in Sweden, will help the team establish the base set-up and the small changes required to make sure the car is able to compete at 100%. EP is a former Rally Finland winner and has very good experience of Estonia and Finland. As a team, we will be using every ounce of their experience as we compete against Toyota, who are based in central Finland. Hyundai has a good history in Estonia, finishing second, third and fifth in 2025, and with another year of experience in the Evo chassis, we will come to this rally with high hopes but realistic expectations."

Views from the crews

Thierry Neuville said: “We’re heading into Estonia with confidence after two gravel rallies where we have consistently shown strong pace and fought for victory. Taking a win and a second place is encouraging, and our pre-event test also felt very positive. We’ve been competitive in Estonia in recent years, and if the conditions stay dry, they should suit us well. The key to this rally is finding the right balance between traction, precision and protection over the huge jumps, while having complete trust in the car. Our goal is clear: to fight for victory and score a lot of points to fight back in the championship.”

Adrien Fourmaux said: "Estonia is a completely different challenge to Acropolis, instead of rough, slow and technical roads, you're straight into some of the fastest stages on the calendar, so confidence is everything. I really enjoy this type of rally and we've completed a good test to prepare for it. We didn't get the result we wanted in Greece, but that's behind us now we are focused on the challenges ahead. Estonia gives us a fresh opportunity and if we can put together a clean and consistent weekend, I'm confident we have the potential to be competitive."

Esapekka Lappi said: “I am very much looking forward to being back in the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 again, especially as it will be the last outing of this car at these super-fast events, which is cool to be part of. We used the pre-event test to find the correct balance with differentials, suspension, and downforce. If we nail our pace notes, the rest should be easy. It is hard to know exactly where we are on fast gravel, although the recent results have shown the car has performed well on this surface. My hope is to be fighting higher than the top five.”

Car	Driver	Co-driver
Hyundai i20 N Rally1	Thierry Neuville	Martijn Wydaeghe
Hyundai i20 N Rally1	Adrien Fourmaux	Alexandre Coria
Hyundai i20 N Rally1	Esapekka Lappi	Enni Mälkönen