The 2025 Rally Croatia delivered one of the most dramatic weekends of the World Rally Championship (WRC) season: Takamoto Katsuta arrived on Sunday with the mission of finishing second and scoring points, and left with the victory, the championship lead, and a place in the history books as the first Japanese driver to top the overall standings. It all happened because Thierry Neuville hit a concrete block in the final kilometers of the Power Stage and lost a lead of more than a minute that he had already secured.

The Belgian had built that advantage from Saturday's chaos. When Sami Pajari punctured on SS14 and lost more than two minutes from first place, and Katsuta lost 1 minute 30 seconds due to the same problem on the same stage, Neuville found himself at the front without having done anything out of the ordinary. He started Sunday with a 1:14.5 lead over Katsuta and navigated the early stages without trouble until the impact with the concrete block and a broken right-front suspension turned a closed race into an open one in a matter of seconds.

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What repeats with Katsuta

Four weeks earlier, at the Safari Rally Kenya, Elfyn Evans, Oliver Solberg, and Sébastien Ogier all retired on Saturday due to different mechanical issues, and Katsuta moved into the lead to win his first world championship rally. In Croatia, the causes were different but the result was similar: Evans and Solberg crashed on Friday, Pajari and Katsuta punctured on Saturday, Neuville hit the wall on Sunday, and in both rallies Katsuta was the only one to reach the finish without decisive incidents when others could not. With 81 points, he leads the championship, seven ahead of Evans.

Toyota moved up to 206 points in the constructors' standings against 141 for Hyundai, a gap that continued to grow in Croatia with Neuville being the fastest for most of the event.

Pajari led the rally for a day and a half

Sami Pajari was out front from Friday morning until SS14 on Saturday and was fastest on most stages, but the slow puncture that forced him to stop in the early kilometers of the longest stage of the day cost him more than two minutes and the race. He finished second, 20.7 seconds behind Katsuta in the final classification, with three consecutive top-three results in the championship and still no victory.

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Hayden Paddon finished third in his first participation in this rally, without winning any stage or being fastest at any point. He reached the finish when others could not, and that was enough for his first top-three finish since the 2018 Rally Australia. "A result is a result," said Paddon. "We did it by being technical, by being wise, and by being smart."

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Evans and Solberg had both crashed on Friday — Evans on SS3 due to a tighter-than-expected corner and Solberg without even finishing SS1 — and restarted on Saturday with accumulated time penalties. On Sunday, Solberg won the Super Sunday and the Power Stage with Evans second in both classifications, splitting the ten available bonus points between them. Evans remains second in the championship with 74 points, and Solberg is third with 68.

Lancia wins in WRC2 for the first time in its modern history

Yohan Rossel won the WRC2 category in the Lancia Ypsilon HF Rally2 by 38.8 seconds over his brother Léo, in the second event of the year for that car. It is Lancia's first WRC2 victory and the first time the Italian manufacturer has finished in the top five of a WRC round since 1994. Nikolay Gryazin, Yohan's teammate in the team, finished third in the category.

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The championship continues on asphalt at the Canary Islands from April 23rd to 26th, with stages on volcanic surfaces in Gran Canaria.

WRC Overall - Croatia Rally 2026

POS	#	PILOTO/COPILOTO	EQUIPO	MARCA	MODELO	TIEMPO
1	18	Takamoto KATSUTA Aaron JOHNSTON	Toyota Gazoo Racing Wrt	Toyota	Gr Yaris Rally1	2:51:15.8
2	5	Sami PAJARI Marko SALMINEN	Toyota Gazoo Racing Wrt2	Toyota	Gr Yaris Rally1	+ 20.7
3	20	Hayden PADDON John KENNARD	Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team	Hyundai	I20 N Rally1	+ 2:07.7
4	55	Joshua MCERLEAN Eoin TREACY	M-sport Ford World Rally Team	Ford	Puma Rally1	+ 12:23.1
5	11	Thierry NEUVILLE Martijn WYDAEGHE	Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team	Hyundai	I20 N Rally1	+ 20:00.8
6	16	Adrien FOURMAUX Alexandre CORIA	Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team	Hyundai	I20 N Rally1	+ 49:21.5
7	95	Jon ARMSTRONG Shane BYRNE	M-sport Ford World Rally Team	Ford	Puma Rally1	+ 49:31.1
8	33	Elfyn EVANS Scott MARTIN	Toyota Gazoo Racing Wrt	Toyota	Gr Yaris Rally1	+ 56:14.8
9	99	Oliver SOLBERG Elliott EDMONDSON	Toyota Gazoo Racing Wrt	Toyota	Gr Yaris Rally1	+ 79:02.2
10	29	Yohan ROSSEL Arnaud DUNAND	Lancia Corse Hf	Lancia	Ypsilon Hf	+ 5:19.9
11	21	Léo ROSSEL Guillaume MERCOIRET	2c Junior Team	Citroen	C3	+ 5:58.7
12	28	Nikolay GRYAZIN Konstantin ALEKSANDROV	Lancia Corse Hf	Lancia	Ypsilon Hf	+ 6:17.8
13	30	Alejandro CACHÓN Borja ROZADA	Toyota España	Toyota	Gr Yaris	+ 6:42.8
14	22	Roope KORHONEN Anssi VIINIKKA	Rautio Motorsport	Toyota	Gr Yaris	+ 6:54.0
15	23	Roberto DAPRÀ Luca GUGLIELMETTI	Roberto Daprà	Skoda	Fabia Rs	+ 7:38.1
16	31	Emil LINDHOLM Gabriel MORALES	Toksport Wrt	Skoda	Fabia Rs	+ 9:20.5
17	36	Kajetan KAJETANOWICZ Maciej SZCZEPANIAK	Kajetan Kajetanowicz	Toyota	Gr Yaris	+ 10:08.9
18	27	Taylor GILL Daniel BRKIC	Taylor Gill	Toyota	Gr Yaris	+ 10:14.4
19	32	Romet JÜRGENSON Siim OJA	M-sport Ford World Rally Team	Ford	Fiesta Mk Ii	+ 10:21.3
20	26	Andreas MIKKELSEN Jørn LISTERUD	Toksport Wrt	Skoda	Fabia Rs	+ 12:18.1
21	39	Viliam PRODAN Marko STIPERSKI	Viliam Prodan	Skoda	Fabia Rs	+ 18:39.6
22	41	Johannes KEFERBÖCK Ilka MINOR	Johannes Keferböck	Toyota	Gr Yaris	+ 24:31.6
23	40	Ugur SOYLU Onur VATANSEVER	Gp Garage My Team	Skoda	Fabia Rs	+ 31:45.7
24	57	Mitja KLEMENČIČ Vili OŠLAJ	Mitja Klemenčič	Skoda	Fabia Rs	+ 34:15.6
25	54	Williams ZANOTTO Paolo CARGNELUTTI	Williams Zanotto	Skoda	Fabia Rs	+ 36:45.3
26	53	Stefan GÖTTIG Natalie SOLBACH-SCHMIDT	Stefan Göttig	Hyundai	I20 N	+ 43:19.9
27	37	Pablo SARRAZIN Yannick ROCHE	Pablo Sarrazin	Citroen	C3	+ 50:39.4
28	38	Bernhard TEN BRINKE Tom WOODBURN	Bernhard Ten Brinke	Toyota	Gr Yaris	+ 64:04.3
29	56	Eris MAROTTI Aleksandra DEVUNIĆ	Eris Marotti	Skoda	Fabia	+ 65:14.3
30	35	Yuki YAMAMOTO James FULTON	Printsport	Toyota	Gr Yaris	+ 66:46.3
31	42	Henk VOSSEN Radboud VAN HOEK	Henk Vossen	Hyundai	I20 N	+ 67:40.8
32	34	Mille JOHANSSON Johan GRÖNVALL	M-sport Ford World Rally Team	Ford	Fiesta Mk Ii	+ 75:32.1
33	49	Ali TÜRKKAN Oytun ALBAYRAK	Castrol Ford Team Türkiye	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	+ 15:45.3
34	46	Calle CARLBERG Jørgen ERIKSEN	Calle Carlberg	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	+ 16:02.6
35	52	Craig RAHILL Conor SMITH	Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	+ 19:13.6
36	50	Gil MEMBRADO Adrián PÉREZ	Gil Membrado	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	+ 20:33.2
37	51	Kerem KAZAZ Corentin SILVESTRE	Team Petrol Ofisi	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	+ 22:10.2
38	48	Raúl HERNÁNDEZ José MURADO	Raúl Hernández	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	+ 24:15.2
39	45	Nicolas OTTO Hugo MAGALHÃES	Nicolas Otto	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	+ 35:11.3
40	47	Leevi LASSILA Mikko LUKKA	Leevi Lassila	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	+ 49:23.3
41	43	Matteo FONTANA Alessandro ARNABOLDI	Matteo Fontana	Ford	Fiesta Rally3	+ 56:57.5
42	58	Romain SAUTRON Anwaarah SAUTRON	Romain Sautron	Renault	Clio Rally3	+ 98:13.9
43	60	Vjekoslav ČIČKO Eugen KOKOLIĆ	Vjekoslav Čičko	Peugeot	208 Rally4	+ 44:08.4
44	59	Tomas HRVATIN Đani SIMČIĆ	Ak Rijeka	Ford	Fiesta	+ 51:56.5
45	62	Igor MANDIĆ Albert IVANČIĆ	Igor Mandić	Ford	Fiesta	+ 59:48.0
46	61	Igor TOMLJANOVIĆ Tomislav ŠKREBLIN	Ak Zagorje	Renault	Clio	+ 84:46.3