Oliver Solberg wins the opening round of the 2026 WRC at Rally Monte Carlo

Oliver Solberg won the Rally Monte Carlo by 51.8 seconds ahead of Elfyn Evans in his first rally as a full-time driver for Toyota, confirming that the hiring of the Swede was a correct strategy by the Japanese manufacturer. Solberg had spent three full years in WRC2 where he developed during 2023-2024 before winning the 2025 title with five victories in seven rounds, which earned him a one-off invitation to Estonia 2025 where he won with the GR Yaris Rally1 by 25.2 seconds ahead of Ott Tänak. That single Rally1 appearance in 2025 convinced Toyota to sign him as a full-time driver for 2026.

Monte Carlo punished Sébastien Ogier with his worst result since 2012, left Hyundai nearly six minutes behind struggling with the winter tire package, and eliminated four Rally1 cars before the final Sunday. Solberg not only survived the extreme snow and ice conditions but controlled the rally from the second special stage on Thursday when he led Evans by 31.1 seconds. At 24 years old, he broke the age record that Ogier set when he won this event at age 25 in 2009, adding 30 points that leave him four ahead of Evans in the championship heading to the Rally Sweden on February 12th.

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His last Rally1 experience before Monte Carlo had been in 2022 with Hyundai, where he achieved a fourth place in Ypres as his best result but never found consistent pace. The lack of results led him to drop to WRC2 for 2023-2024, where he refined his driving over two seasons before winning the 2025 championship. He now has two rallies, two victories in the GR Yaris Rally1, numbers that only Marcus Grönholm had achieved when he won his first two races with Ford in 2006.

Solberg Maintains Over a Minute Lead During Sunday

Solberg arrived on Sunday with a 59.3-second lead over Evans after a Saturday where he lost 17 seconds to the Welshman in the 29.93-kilometer SS10 La Bréole-Bellaffaire when temperatures rose and snow turned to mud, although he recovered 11.4 seconds in the following stage. The critical moment came on the second pass through La Bréole when he lost traction, went through a fence into snowy terrain, spun the GR Yaris without stopping, and returned to the asphalt to win that stage by 1.9 seconds over Evans, demonstrating that his speed overcame any momentary error.

The four Sunday stages in the mountains above Monaco, with the Col de Turini featuring in the last two tests, allowed the Swede to manage his margin without major scares. Evans won the Power Stage to reduce the final gap to 51.8 seconds, but he never truly threatened a lead that remained over a minute since Friday. The Welshman has 26 championship points against Solberg's 30 before Rally Sweden on February 12th.

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All Three Hyundais Finish Over Six Minutes Behind the Winner

Adrien Fourmaux finished fourth, 5:59.3 behind the winner, and Thierry Neuville was fifth, 10:29.8 behind, a gap that exposes the serious problems of the Korean team in these conditions. All three Hyundai drivers reported difficulties with the winter tires throughout the weekend, complaining about a lack of confidence to clear snow and find consistent traction. Toyota won with the same Hankook tire package that Hyundai used, suggesting the differences lie in how each team worked on the setup and tire strategy.

Fourmaux lost 30 seconds in fog on Thursday, suffered electrical problems on Friday, and had a spin on Saturday before finally winning the special stage on the Monaco circuit in torrential rain, breaking the monopoly Toyota had maintained until that moment. It was the only stage win for Hyundai in the entire rally.

Neuville lost three minutes stuck in a ditch on Friday and two more minutes changing a tire on Sunday. Hayden Paddon completed his first WRC rally for a manufacturer since 2018 in tenth position after losing four minutes on Saturday when he went off in SS12.

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Complicated Debut for the Two Lancia Ypsilon HF in Rally2

The return of Lancia to the WRC in Rally2 had a difficult start with its two Ypsilon HF cars from the Lancia Corse HF team. Yohan Rossel broke a wheel on the first stage and finished 18th, 42:42.1 behind, unable to recover from the initial incident that left him out of contention since Thursday. Nikolay Gryazin, driving the second Ypsilon HF, went off in a snowy section on Saturday and finished 13th, 31:56.2 behind.

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Rally Sweden on February 12th on Scandinavian roads with compacted snow and ice will test whether the differences between Toyota and Hyundai in Monte Carlo were specific to the Alpine conditions or if they represent a wider performance gap that the Korean team needs to close quickly.

WRC Overall - Rallye Monte Carlo 2026 - WRC

POS	DRIVER/CO-DRIVER	TEAM	MANUFACTURER	MODEL	TIME	GAP TO LEADER	GAP TO PREVIOUS
1	Oliver SOLBERG Elliott EDMONDSON	TOYOTA GAZOO RACING WRT	Toyota	GR Yaris Rally1	4:24:59.0	-	-
2	Elfyn EVANS Scott MARTIN	TOYOTA GAZOO RACING WRT	Toyota	GR Yaris Rally1	4:25:50.8	+ 51.8	+ 51.8
3	Sébastien OGIER Vincent LANDAIS	TOYOTA GAZOO RACING WRT	Toyota	GR Yaris Rally1	4:27:01.2	+ 2:02.2	+ 1:10.4
4	Adrien FOURMAUX Alexandre CORIA	HYUNDAI SHELL MOBIS WORLD RALLY TEAM	Hyundai	i20 N Rally1	4:30:58.3	+ 5:59.3	+ 3:57.1
5	Thierry NEUVILLE Martijn WYDAEGHE	HYUNDAI SHELL MOBIS WORLD RALLY TEAM	Hyundai	i20 N Rally1	4:35:28.8	+ 10:29.8	+ 4:30.5
6	Takamoto KATSUTA Aaron JOHNSTON	TOYOTA GAZOO RACING WRT	Toyota	GR Yaris Rally1	4:38:04.4	+ 13:05.4	+ 2:35.6
7	Hayden PADDON John KENNARD	HYUNDAI SHELL MOBIS WORLD RALLY TEAM	Hyundai	i20 N Rally1	4:43:46.5	+ 18:47.5	+ 5:42.1
8	Léo ROSSEL Guillaume MERCOIRET	2C JUNIOR TEAM	Citroen	C3	4:37:57.4	+ 12:58.4	+ -50.1
9	Roberto DAPRÀ Luca GUGLIELMETTI	ROBERTO DAPRÀ	Skoda	Fabia RS	4:40:06.9	+ 15:07.9	+ 2:09.5
10	Arthur PELAMOURGUES Bastien POUGET	ARTHUR PELAMOURGUES	Hyundai	i20 N	4:43:08.4	+ 18:09.4	+ 3:01.5
11	Eric CAMILLI Thibault DE LA HAYE	ERIC CAMILLI	Skoda	Fabia RS	4:43:35.4	+ 18:36.4	+ 27.0
12	Christopher INGRAM Alexander KIHURANI	CHRISTOPHER INGRAM	Toyota	GR Yaris	4:46:41.7	+ 21:42.7	+ 3:06.3
13	Nikolay GRYAZIN Konstantin ALEKSANDROV	LANCIA CORSE HF	Lancia	Ypsilon HF	4:56:55.2	+ 31:56.2	+ 10:13.5
14	Cédric CHERAIN Jasper VERMEULEN	CÉDRIC CHERAIN	Skoda	Fabia RS	4:56:58.3	+ 31:59.3	+ 03.1
15	Jarosław KOŁTUN Ireneusz PLESKOT	JAROSŁAW KOŁTUN	Skoda	Fabia RS	5:00:21.1	+ 35:22.1	+ 3:22.8
16	Romet JÜRGENSON Siim OJA	M-SPORT FORD WORLD RALLY TEAM	Ford	Fiesta Mk II	5:00:44.0	+ 35:45.0	+ 22.9
17	Filip KOHN Ross WHITTOCK	FILIP KOHN	Skoda	Fabia RS	5:05:38.3	+ 40:39.3	+ 4:54.3
18	Yohan ROSSEL Arnaud DUNAND	LANCIA CORSE HF	Lancia	Ypsilon HF	5:07:41.1	+ 42:42.1	+ 2:02.8
19	John WARTIQUE Maxime ANDERNACK	JOHN WARTIQUE	Skoda	Fabia RS	5:11:36.2	+ 46:37.2	+ 3:55.1
20	Mattéo CHATILLON Maxence CORNUAU	MATTÉO CHATILLON	Skoda	Fabia RS	5:12:01.9	+ 47:02.9	+ 25.7
21	Eliott DELECOUR Sabrina DE CASTELLI	ELIOTT DELECOUR	Toyota	GR Yaris	5:12:06.5	+ 47:07.5	+ 04.6
22	Amaury MOLLE Alex DUBOIS	AMAURY MOLLE	Skoda	Fabia RS	5:16:20.5	+ 51:21.5	+ 4:14.0
23	Johannes KEFERBÖCK Ilka MINOR	JOHANNES KEFERBÖCK	Toyota	GR Yaris	5:18:03.1	+ 53:04.1	+ 1:42.6
24	Albert VON THURN UND TAXIS Jara HAIN	ALBERT VON THURN UND TAXIS	Skoda	Fabia RS	5:25:59.2	+ 61:00.2	+ 7:56.1
25	Olivier BURRI Stéphane FELLAY	OLIVIER BURRI	Toyota	GR Yaris	5:33:32.1	+ 68:33.1	+ 7:32.9
26	Filippo MARCHINO Pietro Elia OMETTO	FILIPPO MARCHINO	Citroen	C3	5:39:10.7	+ 74:11.7	+ 5:38.6
27	Eamonn BOLAND MJ	EAMONN BOLAND	Ford	Fiesta Mk II	5:39:38.6	+ 74:39.6	+ 27.9
28	Stefano MELLA Veronica TRAMONTIN	STEFANO MELLA	Skoda	Fabia RS	6:05:58.0	+ 100:59.0	+ 26:19.4
29	Andreas FRANKE Michael WENZEL	ANDREAS FRANKE	Skoda	Fabia Evo	6:09:10.1	+ 104:11.1	+ 3:12.1
30	Paolo VALLIVERO Stefano CIRILLO	PAOLO VALLIVERO	Toyota	GR Yaris	6:13:03.6	+ 108:04.6	+ 3:53.5
31	Dimitrios DRIVAKOS Aikaterini BANTE	DIMITRIOS DRIVAKOS	Hyundai	NG i20	6:13:40.1	+ 108:41.1	+ 36.5
32	Julien PIGUET Marc HADDAD	JULIEN PIGUET	Citroen	C3	6:16:35.1	+ 111:36.1	+ 2:55.0
33	Henk VOSSEN Saskia BLEIJENBERG	HENK VOSSEN	Hyundai	i20 N	6:26:16.9	+ 121:17.9	+ 9:41.8
34	Błażej GAZDA Michał JURGAŁA	BŁAŻEJ GAZDA	Renault	Clio Rally3	5:24:43.8	+ 59:44.8	+ -34.1
35	Renaud DOLCE Quentin GIROUD	RENAUD DOLCE	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	5:25:07.7	+ 60:08.7	+ 23.9
36	Eric ROYÈRE Alexis GRENIER	ERIC ROYÈRE	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	5:36:47.5	+ 71:48.5	+ 11:39.8
37	Matteo FONTANA Alessandro ARNABOLDI	MATTEO FONTANA	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	5:40:46.6	+ 75:47.6	+ 3:59.1
38	Ghjuvanni ROSSI Kylian SARMEZAN	GHJUVANNI ROSSI	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	5:55:37.9	+ 90:38.9	+ 14:51.3
39	Andrea SPATARO Alessia MUFFOLINI	ANDREA SPATARO	Peugeot	208 Rally4	5:42:34.9	+ 77:35.9	+ -3.0
40	Paolo VIGO Matteo CANOBBIO	PAOLO VIGO	Lancia	Ypsilon	6:01:49.3	+ 96:50.3	+ 19:14.4
41	Giancarlo DE MATTEIS Giulia BICO	GIANCARLO DE MATTEIS	Lancia	Ypsilon	6:04:45.3	+ 99:46.3	+ 2:56.0
42	Emanuele FIORE Martina MUSIARI	EMANUELE FIORE	Lancia	Ypsilon	6:18:37.6	+ 113:38.6	+ 13:52.3
43	Jean Paul PALMERO Mattia PASTORINO	JEAN PAUL PALMERO	Lancia	Ypsilon	6:38:44.5	+ 133:45.5	+ 20:06.9
44	Giacomo MATTEUZZI Juri FROSINI	GIACOMO MATTEUZZI	Renault	Clio RS Line	6:01:58.8	+ 96:59.8	+ -46.7
45	Davide CAGNI Alessio SPEZZANI	DAVIDE CAGNI	Renault	Clio RS Line	7:32:36.4	+ 187:37.4	+ 90:37.6
46	Christophe BERARD Christophe BERNABO	CHRISTOPHE BERARD	Alpine	A110	6:18:32.8	+ 113:33.8	+ -4.6
47	Marc DESSI Serena GIULIANO	MARC DESSI	Alpine	A110	7:13:03.9	+ 168:04.9	+ 54:31.1
48	Armand FUMAL Jules ESCARTEFIGUE	ARMAND FUMAL	Alpine	A110	7:25:03.6	+ 180:04.6	+ 11:59.7