Is Hyundai going backwards? Is the i20 N Rally1 actually slower than it was this time last year? Or, has Toyota just made even greater strides with its GR Yaris Rally1?
Looking at Rally Sweden stage-on-stage data from 2025 to 2026 is, of course, largely meaningless given the disparity in road conditions from last year to this.
This topic is not a new one; Ott Tänak elected to go back to the first incarnation of the non-hybrid i20 N Rally1 for the final two asphalt rounds of last year’s world championship – despite the team running the car for almost a full season.
Just before Thierry Neuville won Rally Saudi Arabia, Hyundai’s sporting director Andrew Wheatley spoke with confidence about the evolution car.
“We know more about the Evo now,” he said. “We know that the Evo is a better car, because on the gravel rallies that were a problem in the past, the Evo is faster, no question.”
Hyundai sporting director Wheatley says rival team Toyota has made gains this season
In Sweden, the answer was less conclusive. On the back of Toyota’s 1-2-3-4 result, Wheatley was asked if the i20 had, in fact, gone backwards in terms of pace.
“I don’t know whether we’ve gone backwards or Toyota has gone forwards,” said Wheatley. “If we compare Friday morning’s loop against everybody else, it’s quite clear that the Toyota is about half a second per kilometer faster than it was this time last year. So, when you compare somebody that’s fairly consistent, you can see quite clearly that there’s a step [for Toyota]. And that’s where we know we haven’t gone backwards, but we also know that the competition is equally difficult this year.”
Wheatley pointed to the improved traction from the podium-dominating Yaris, adding: “Toyota has made a step forward, particularly in how they manage the tires, how they get the traction and how they manage the traction. And secondly, we’ve stayed where we were or potentially lost a bit of feel in the car, lost a bit of feedback in the car. And when you add those together, you get to where we are.”
