Farewell Tarmac, the current generation of Rally1 cars can now say. If they could talk, that is…
The WRC isn’t a Disney Pixar movie, but the script at Rally Japan was somewhat familiar.
There may be nothing unfamiliar about a Toyota top-four lockout, but at least the order of them – and the Yaris missing from that formation finish – taught us plenty.
Here’s what we learned from Rally Japan 2026.
Solberg is still too error prone
Japan was a microcosm of Oliver Solberg’s first half of 2026. The Swede won more stages than anyone else at the weekend and claimed all 10 Super Sunday points, but he also made a mistake, crashed, retired for the day and finished outside the points-paying positions.
That Solberg posesses sensational speed is beyond question. We knew that even four years ago, during that ill-fated and abrupt spell with Hyundai. But it’s not unfair to say that he’s made some sort of error on all seven rallies so far.
At the beginning of the year, he got away with it. Now, he isn’t.
Sébastien Ogier says Solberg needs to be careful not to want too much too early, which feels like good advice. Instead of chasing every stage win and every rally victory, the championship should be the focus – and despite his deficit to Elfyn Evans growing by 18 points to 49, with start position set to affect matters on gravel, a championship’s still not impossible in 2026 with Solberg’s turn of pace.
Katsuta’s Japan unravels again…
It’s impossible to know if Takamoto Katsuta’s troubled start to Rally Japan was just unfortunately at his home event, or because it was his home event.
Either way, the result was the same: Katsuta’s wait for a home win goes on.
Expectation was raised this year as Katsuta arrived in Toyota City as a two-time WRC winner, but running wide into a drainage culvert on stage one punctured a tire and left him compromised for stage two where he really could have done with that soft-compound Hankook in the damp conditions.
This was nowhere near as heartbreaking as 2025 when he hit a water barrier while fighting for the lead, or as frustrating as 2023 when he was caught out, damaged the car but returned to win stage after stage after stage.
However for the fourth year in a row, Katsuta left Japan without a podium let alone a win. He’ll be desperate to change that in 2027.
…But Katsuta must be considered a title contender
Rally Japan winner Elfyn Evans remains the championship favorite. He drove an incredibly mature rally to lead from stage two onwards and build as large a points buffer as he can ahead of the next seven gravel events.
However Katsuta continues to trail him. The Japanese driver has been outscored by Evans in each of the last three rallies, but still he’s the Welshman’s closest challenger in a fight that’s only building in intrigue.
Katsuta is 20 points behind Evans, while Solberg is 29 points behind Katsuta. How the three concertina over the second half of the season is a genuine unknown, as the final 50% of a season has never been exclusively loose-surface before.
How big a factor will Sami Pajari be (six points behind Solberg and on the podium again in Japan). Is Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux still to be considered? And are we really ruling out Ogier? A thrilling end to the year awaits.
Armstrong’s bizarre issue
When he first said it, I thought he was joking. I think many others did, too. But Jon Armstrong’s body sweat really has been affecting how he hears co-driver Shane Byrne.
Even in a sport as diverse as rallying, you can discover something new!
Armstrong isn’t unfit, but by his own admission he sweats more than most. While that wouldn’t usually affect things, it transpires it’s interfering with where his intercom lead connects to his helmet.
At Rally Islas Canarias Armstrong suffered an intermittent intercom problem, where Byrne sounded “like Darth Vader” (in team principal Rich Millener’s words). The same thing happened on Friday afternoon in Japan, which appears to be due to the sweat from Armstrong’s racesuit seeping onto his belts where the cable from his helmet plugs in.
“I always sweat when I’m rallying anyway, so it’s one thing you just deal with,” Armstrong said, “but it’s not good if it’s affecting the equipment that you’re using.”
As for his actual rally performance, Armstrong admitted there were “multiple people wanting me just to try and have a clean rally and keep out of trouble” – and that’s what he did, quicker than team-mate Josh McErlean too.
Hyundai relieved to be done with Tarmac
Thierry Neuville and Adrien Fourmaux both love driving on Tarmac, but neither particularly enjoys steering their i20 N Rally1 on it.
As expected, the Hyundai was no match for the Toyota on the Tarmac stages of Japan; the GR Yaris Rally1 has now won every single stage of the last two Tarmac events.
The unexpectedly high temperatures in Japan only exacerbated Hyundai’s struggle to get the front end to bite with hard compound Hankooks fitted; the car was 0.2s/km adrift of where the team had hoped according to sporting director Andrew Wheatley.
Nothing any of the drivers did with setup or driving style cured the problem, and you sensed there was little point given this specification for the Hyundai is now surplus to requirements.
“Usually I would be disappointed to end the Tarmac season already, but this time I’m not,” said Neuville. “So that says it all, no?”
Suffice to say, there aren’t many sad faces wearing Hyundai shirts about what’s coming next. 2026 essentially starts now.
WRC2 remains unpredictable
We can’t look at the current WRC2 standings like we would any other category, as due to dropped scores and the ‘best five from seven’ rule, a driver with zero points today can still wear the crown should they win five of the next seven events.
But regardless, four drivers are covered by four points at the top of the table with three of them tied on the same tally. However you slice it, that’s good competition.
In truth, that’s always been true of WRC2. But there’s an added air of unpredictability about the contest this year.
In seven rallies we’ve had six different winners – with Nikolay Gryazin joining the list in Japan after an epic fight with Alejandro Cachón decided on the powerstage – and for the first time in a good while, no clear and obvious championship favorite.
Citroën, Lancia, Škoda and Toyota have also won rallies, proving just how balanced and competitive the Rally2 field remains. Which, with an eye on 2027, is an encouraging sign indeed.
