World Rally Championship drivers felt Saturday’s leg of Croatia Rally was too extreme, with conditions unfair and potentially unsafe without more anti-cut devices present.
Returning to the world championship calendar in 2026 after a one-year hiatus in the European Rally Championship, Croatia Rally moved its base from capital city Zagreb to the coastal city of Rijeka.
While three of the event’s 10 stages remain, the other seven are all brand-new to the WRC – and some completely new to rallying altogether.
SS11/14 Generalski Stol – Zdihovo was one of those stages and proved decisive in the event’s narrative, as six of the Rally1 cars punctured on the second pass – including rally leader Sami Pajari and his then third-placed team-mate Takamoto Katsuta.
Elfyn Evans was one of the few drivers to avoid drama, but said at the end of the stage he preferred the “old style” Croatia stages.
The WRC leader told DirtFish: “It’s tough. Obviously, the conditions are something we’re used to, but the problem is when the level of gravel is that much, you have to put your wheels in places that they shouldn’t be and it’s so different to the [pace] notes.
Evans prefers the old Croatia stages, like SS10/15 Ravna Gora - Skrad (pictured)
“OK, we have a gravel crew. But they’ve been under pressure for time as well today; there’s a few delays and they can’t change everything in the end. So I think that the repeat of SS11 was probably one of the more extreme stages we’ve seen on Tarmac for a long time. It’s ruined the rally of many of the guys that were still fighting for good positions.
“So I think it’s not great when it’s like that.”
Asked his preference on the previous Croatia stages, Evans added: “They were also very polluted, but the edges of the road were very different somehow, more soil. So you’ve got pollution, yes, but you didn’t end up with all these rocks and having to cut a crazy amount to try to avoid the gravel.
“I think in the instance of that stage, as much as we don’t really like anti-cuts, it would have been sensible [to have them].”
Oliver Solberg was fastest on both passes of the stage, but felt conditions on the second pass were borderline unsafe.
“It’s a bit too much cutting, too much gravel, and not for the puncture’s sake, but just also a bit for the safety’s sake,” he said. “We’re coming 200 kilometers an hour, full covered gravel and all it takes is one mistake in the gravel through notes or smoke or a little bit through little cuts or something for punctures.
“You don’t want to take all the cuts. So it’s been a tricky day.”
Hyundai driver Thierry Neuville gained the most out of the second running of the stage as the two Toyotas he was fighting with picked up punctures.
“I enjoy the stages but it’s true that some sections are very extreme,” said Neuville. “I think a bit more anti-cutting system would help for that and also be more equal for everybody. It’s easy to put in place and in those places where they are, it works.
“Other than that, I liked the mix of stages from yesterday and today, it’s a very challenging event and I’m enjoying it.”
Team-mate Hayden Paddon felt punctures for two-thirds of the field, including himself, was “probably inevitable” as “all the rocks were in the line, so you had to drive them”.
He added: “I think it’s also that it’s unfair on Hankook because I’ve driven other brands of tires and they would have punctured as well, it would have made no difference. It was the fact the road conditions were not suitable. It needed anti-cuts or something.
“All in all, the rest of the stages were very nice, they’ve got their challenges, I think that one is just a little bit too far.”
No Tarmac tire would've coped with the gravel on the road, said Paddon
Erstwhile leader Pajari, who’s now third and 1m46.4s off the lead, was also asked by DirtFish if SS11/14 should have featured more anti-cuts.
“Maybe on this one particular special stage, I would say it was not fun anymore, it was a bit too much maybe,” the Finn mused. “Especially this first half of the stage. We should have some difficult conditions, it doesn’t need to be too straightforward.”
Reflecting on the emotions of losing sight of a maiden WRC win, Pajari said he felt “not so great” but was “happy to finish the loop because we were in a situation where basically I didn’t have any spare tires left, so I was just really safe on the last two stages.
“But anyway, it’s a really big disappointment and I’m quite gutted for that. It’s also part of the game.”
