RALLY FINLAND 2026: HYUNDAI MOTORSPORT RECOVERS TO FOURTH AND FIFTH
FOURMAUX FINISHES FOURTH AS NEUVILLE CLIMBS TO FIFTH ON THE FINAL STAGE
Hyundai Motorsport recovered from a difficult opening phase to secure fourth and fifth places at Rally Finland 2026, with Adrien Fourmaux and Alexandre Coria finishing fourth and Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe moving up to fifth on the final stage.
The result came after Hyundai’s crews lost valuable time during Friday’s unpredictable conditions, despite demonstrating strong pace throughout the rally.
HYUNDAI SHOWS FRONT-RUNNING PACE
Rally Finland 2026 featured rapidly changing conditions on Friday, with sunshine giving way to torrential rain. Hyundai Motorsport showed competitive speed, with Fourmaux winning SS1 and SS9, while Neuville shared victory on SS10.
However, the changing conditions cost both crews significant time and pushed them away from the podium fight.
Fourmaux entered Saturday sixth overall and quickly recovered positions. A clean morning allowed the French driver to move into fourth after incidents involving Martin Sesks and Elfyn Evans.
Fourmaux remained in contention for third place through Saturday, entering the final stage level on time with Evans. He ultimately finished the day fourth.
Neuville also made progress, recovering one position to end Saturday sixth despite continuing to search for the right balance from his Hyundai i20 N Rally1.
FOURMAUX MISSES PODIUM BY 3.8 SECONDS
Fourmaux began Sunday just 3.8 seconds behind Evans and launched an attack for the final podium position.
His charge was disrupted on the opening pass of Himos-Jämsä when a bumblebee entered the cockpit, distracting the Frenchman and costing him valuable time.
The deficit was ultimately too large to recover, leaving Fourmaux fourth overall. He nevertheless added championship points by finishing third in both the Power Stage and Super Sunday classifications.
Neuville completed the rally in fifth after climbing one position on the final stage. The Belgian also secured fourth place in both the Super Sunday and Power Stage standings.
LAPPI'S HOME RALLY ENDS EARLY
Hyundai's Esapekka Lappi and Enni Mälkönen were forced out of their home event on Friday.
The Finnish crew went wide at a crest on SS4 after taking the wrong line based on a pace-note error. Their Hyundai i20 N Rally1 rolled into a ditch, with damage to the roll cage preventing them from returning to the rally.
No direct driver or team quotation was provided in the supplied press release, so no quotation has been added to avoid creating information that was not given.
KEY POINTS
• Rally Finland 2026: Hyundai Motorsport finished fourth and fifth overall.
• Adrien Fourmaux and Alexandre Coria took fourth place.
• Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe climbed to fifth on the final stage.
• Fourmaux won SS1 and SS9 during the rally.
• Neuville shared victory on SS10.
• Fourmaux finished third in the Power Stage and Super Sunday classifications.
• Neuville finished fourth in both the Power Stage and Super Sunday classifications.
• Esapekka Lappi and Enni Mälkönen retired after a crash on SS4.
Crew Notes: Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria (#16 Hyundai i20 N Rally1)
Crew on the pace on Thursday and Friday, claiming two wins and seven top-five stage times
Frenchmen finish in fourth in valiant recovery from Friday’s weather-related set-backs
Fourmaux said: “I have some mixed feelings at the end of Rally Finland. I’m very happy because I was really enjoying the rally, and I’m very pleased with the pace I was giving in the stages. I’m just a bit disappointed not to finish on the podium. We lost 1 minute 25 seconds to Sami in the rain on Friday, and today we have ended the rally 1 minute 35 seconds behind, which shows how close the gaps are if we removed the rainy stage. However, I’ve no regrets. We scored good points on Sunday, but I do feel we deserved more than that.”
Crew Notes: Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (#11 Hyundai i20 N Rally1)
Belgians leapfrogged Takamoto Katsuta to finish Finland in fifth
Closed the rally on upward trajectory with fourth in Power Stage and Super Sunday
Neuville said: “Friday was the toughest day for our rally, and after that we were just waiting for today to take some Power Stage and Super Sunday points. In the end we scored four bonus points, which is a decent result considering what happened on Friday. It was a bit of bad luck; we went a little wide, hit one stone, and that was enough to damage the suspension. Then we were unlucky again with the timing of the rain. The result of that made the rest of the rally very challenging, but I was able to enjoy today.”
Hyundai Motorsport WRC Sporting Director Andrew Wheatley said: “Rally Finland is a real case of ‘what if?’ We came to Finland confident we could fight for the podium and without the challenges on Friday, we believe we could have achieved a result that would better reflect the team’s hard work and efforts. Today has been a strong showing from Adrien and Thierry, taking third and fourth in both the Power Stage and points in the Super Sunday classifications. It has been an incredible Rally Finland with many stories to tell, as a team we can be happy with the strength and reliability of our car, but above all it has been a fantastic spectacle for the fans and for rallying as we look to a new era. We were hoping for more, but we will regroup and come back fighting in Paraguay.”
Next rally
WRC’s next challenge sees the return of iconic red-earth gravel as Rally del Paraguay returns August 27-30 for the first of a South American double header
Hayden Paddon and John Kennard will return to the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 cockpit for their fourth WRC event of the year following appearances in Monte-Carlo, Croatia and Japan.
Final Overall Classification – Rally Finland
1 S. Pajari M. Salminen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 2:27:58.0
2 O. Solberg E. Edmondson Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +26.7
3 E. Evans S. Martin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +1:19.5
4 A. Fourmaux A. Coria Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +1:35.9
5 T. Neuville M. Wydaeghe Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +3:52.5
6 T. Katsuta A. Johnston Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +4:18.2
7 J. McErlean E. Treacy Ford Puma Rally1 +4:32.7
8 J-M. Latvala J. Hänninen Toyota GR Yaris +8:25.5
9 R. Virves J. Viilo Skoda Fabia RS +8:46.9
10 T. Suninen J. Hussi Toyota GR Yaris +9:03.0
Super Sunday Classification – Rally Finland
1 O. Solberg 27:00.3
2 E. Evans +2.9
3 A. Fourmaux +15.5
4 T. Neuville +19.3
5 S. Pajari +19.7
2026 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers’ Standings
After round 10
1 Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team 514
2 Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team 340
3 Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team 2 184
4 M-Sport Ford World Rally Team 130
2026 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers’ Standings
After round 10
1 E. Evans 201
2 S. Pajari 171
3 T. Katsuta 160
4 O. Solberg 156
5 S. Ogier 139
6 A. Fourmaux 129
7 T. Neuville 125
8 E. Lappi 25
9 H. Paddon 21
10 J. McErlean 21
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