The Agony and the Ecstacy: Katsuta Inherits the overall victory at 2026 WRC Croatia as Neuville’s World Collapses

Grobnik Circuit, Croatia: If you want to know what heartbreak looks like, don't look at the stage times—look at the face of Thierry Neuville as he rolled into the final control on three wheels on the final test of the 2026 Croatia Rally. In a sport that often demands every ounce of a driver’s soul, the the tight stage of Croatia decided to take just a little bit more today.

The Final Day Catastrophe

The script was written. Neuville had navigated the treacherous, leaf-strewn "speed traps" of Saturday with the surgical precision of a champion, carrying a massive 1m 14.5s lead into the final morning. He didn’t need to be a hero; he just needed to be a finisher. But on the Wolf Power Stage, the 9.05-mile Alan-Senj test, the dream shattered. Caught out on a patch of loose gravel at a fork in the road, the Belgian slid wide, dove for an escape road, and clattered a concrete block. The front-right suspension of his Hyundai i20 N Rally1 was decimated. He limped to the end, dropping over 21 minutes, before retiring the car in a state of absolute devastation.

The Beneficiary: A New Championship Leader

That left Takamoto Katsuta and Aaron Johnston to pick up the pieces. "Taka" had spent his Sunday morning resigned to a safe second place, only to be told at the finish line that he had just secured his second consecutive WRC victory. It’s a seismic moment for the sport; Katsuta, a man traditionally viewed as a gravel specialist, has now conquered the most technical asphalt on the calendar. With this win, he officially vaults to the top of the WRC Drivers' Championship standings for the first time in his career.

The Graveyard of Giants: Notable Retirements

The final two days were a clinical execution of the pre-rally favorites.

Elfyn Evans: After showing blistering pace early, the Welshman’s rally effectively ended on Saturday. Despite rejoining to claim points in the "Super Sunday" classification, his overall challenge was buried in the Croatian shrubbery.

Adrien Fourmaux: The Frenchman was Hyundai's great hope for a podium, chasing teammate Hayden Paddon for fourth on Stage 12, until he oversteered into a telegraph pole. The impact was terminal, ending his weekend in an instant.

M-SPORT: It was a weekend where the Blue Oval’s high hopes were ground into the abrasive, unforgiving Croatian asphalt. For M-Sport’s young guns, Jon Armstrong and Josh McErlean, the 2026 trip to the Adriatic was less a rally and more a brutal lesson in the cruelty of high-speed precision.

The challenge wasn't the mud—these roads remained bone-dry and searingly hot—but rather the "ice-slick" polished nature of the tarmac itself. Armstrong, showing flashes of that searing pace that makes him such a threat on sealed surfaces, saw his charge evaporated on Friday’s fourth test. A millimetric miscalculation into a deceptive, high-speed right-hander sent his Puma Rally1 clattering into a concrete kerb; the impact wasn't just a noise, it was a season-altering thud that ended his bid for a maiden podium before the first service.

McErlean, meanwhile, fought a pitched battle with the sheer lack of lateral grip on the "glassy" mountain passes, not to mention a small fire in the car, and then the car failing to start in the tire changing zone. His weekend became a gritty exercise in damage limitation, haunted by the ghosts of the rally’s high-profile casualties. He watched from the stop line as the leaderboard was hollowed out:

Oliver Solberg: Following his opening-stage crash, Solberg spent Sunday reminding everyone what might have been, winning the Super Sunday classification by 13.1 seconds, yet finishing over an hour down in the overall standings.

The WoLF Power Stage

While Neuville provided the drama, the Wolf Power Stage win itself was snatched by the ever-resilient Oliver Solberg, who swept the maximum five points to salvage what he could from a weekend defined by a Friday morning error.

Final Classification: 2026 Croatia Rally

Pos.	Driver	Car	Time / Gap
1	Takamoto Katsuta	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	2h 51m 15.8s
2	Sami Pajari	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+20.7s
3	Hayden Paddon	Hyundai i20 N Rally1	+2m 07.7s
4	Yohan Rossel	Lancia Ypsilon HF (WRC2)	+5m 19.9s
5	Leo Rossel	Citroen C3 (WRC2)	+5m 58.7s

Special mention must go to Yohan Rossel, who delivered Lancia's first top-five overall finish in the WRC since 1994, taking a landmark WRC2 victory for the new Ypsilon program.

Asphalt Anarchy: Pajari Navigates a Graveyard of Giants on Day One of 2026 WRC Croatia

 

Grobnik Circuit, Croatia: The 2026 Croatia Rally has transformed from a high-speed asphalt chess match into a brutal war of attrition, with the Istrian hills clinically dismantling the championship’s heavy hitters. This isn't just about pure speed anymore; the relocation to the Adriatic coast and the introduction of a route that is 75% brand new has turned the fourth round of the season into a relentless 300km minefield. From the narrow, leaf-littered technical tests of Istria to the high-altitude challenges of the Platak mountains, the shifting grip levels and "ice-slick" tarmac have left a trail of shattered carbon fiber and wounded pride in their wake.

The Falling Titans

The drama didn't just knock on the door; it took the hinges off. Before the morning dew had even lifted, the title fight took a seismic hit. Oliver Solberg, arriving just eight points off the lead, saw his rally end barely five kilometers in. A snap of understeer into a rock face sent his Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 into a "wild 360-degree spin" and a permanent rest among the trees.

But the "speed trap" of the Adriatic wasn't finished. Elfyn Evans, the man who looked imperious after sweeping early tests, fell victim to the treacherous surface. In a moment of pure pacenote heartbreak—audibly exclaiming "I thought it was a three"—Evans overshot a right-hander on SS3 (Beram - Cerovlje) and plunged his Yaris into the thick foliage. Two Toyota factory cars, two pre-rally favorites, both rendered spectators in the space of two hours. M-Sport’s Jon Armstrong added to the carnage, clattering a concrete kerb on SS4 just as he was challenging for a maiden stage win. 

The Survivalist at the Summit

Amidst the wreckage, a new star is rising. Sami Pajari has found the "zen" that escaped his elders. The young Finn didn't need to be the fastest; he simply needed to be the smartest, picking his way to a shock overnight lead. He hasn't escaped the pressure, however. Thierry Neuville, struggling with balance on his Hyundai i20 N Rally1, found a "second wind" in the afternoon to stay within striking distance. Just nine-tenths behind him sits Takamoto Katsuta, Toyota’s sole hope for the win after his teammates’ disasters. 

Top 5 Overall (After Friday Leg):

Position	Driver	Team	Time / Gap
1	Sami Pajari	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	1h 12m 18.5s
2	Thierry Neuville	Hyundai i20 N Rally1	+13.7s
3	Takamoto Katsuta	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+14.6s
4	Hayden Paddon	Hyundai i20 N Rally1	+1m 15.0s
5	Adrien Fourmaux	Hyundai i20 N Rally1	+1m 54.6s

Croatia has reminded us today of a simple, cruel truth: on these roads, precision replaces endurance, and the smallest miscalculation is terminal. 

Heartbreak and Heroics: Donegal's David Kelly Snatches The 2026 Circuit Of Ireland Glory by a Whisker

 

Report: Neil McDaid 

Photos: David McDaid

DUNGANNON, IRELAND – You can keep your Monte Carlo ice, your Safari mud and dust; for pure, unadulterated drama, nothing touches a rain-lashed Saturday on some of Ireland's classic tarmac stages.

The 2026 Circuit of Ireland Rally didn't just deliver a winner; it delivered a script so packed with tension that even the most seasoned observers were left breathless. At the center of the storm was Donegal’s David Kelly, who snatched his first-ever Irish Tarmac Rally Championship win by a microscopic 0.5 seconds.

Day One: The Devine Dominance 

Friday was supposed to be the preamble, but Callum Devine turned it into a statement of intent. Armed with his Skoda Fabia RS Rally2, the Derry man was in a different zip code. He took three fastest times from the opening four stages, carving out a commanding 26.4-second lead by the time the crews reached the overnight halt. Behind him, a trio of heavy hitters—Josh Moffett, David Kelly, and Eddie Doherty—were separated by just a single second, essentially fighting for the privilege of being "best of the rest." 

Day Two: The Brantry Lough Blowout

The Saturday morning loop changed everything. As the rain turned the asphalt into a glass-slick nightmare, Devine’s charge ended in a Tyrone hedge. Leading Stage 9 (Brantry Lough II), the reigning champion slid off the road, losing four agonising minutes. While he miraculously recovered to finish 8th, the door was kicked off its hinges. 

 

Josh Moffett, piloting the Toyota GR Yaris Rally2, initially inherited the lead but immediately found himself in the fight in a battle for the top step of the podium. Moffett even lodged a formal appeal at the rally's conclusion, claiming he lost time slowing down to check on the stranded Devine—a testament to the razor-thin margins at play. 

The Final Sprint

Kelly, however, refused to blink. He moved into a 4.1-second lead on Stage 10 and, despite a furious late-stage charge from Moffett, managed his gap with the poise of a veteran. Under the most intense pressure, the Donegal man held steady through the final Dungannon tests to secure a career-defining victory. 

Position	Driver	Vehicle	Gap
1st	David Kelly	Skoda Fabia RS Rally2	Winner
2nd	Josh Moffett	Toyota GR Yaris Rally2	+0.5s
3rd	Eddie Doherty	Skoda Fabia RS Rally2	+1:00.2s

This wasn't just a win; it was a shift in the championship gravity. Kelly has arrived. With three rounds of the Championship in the bag, Kelly's victory on the Circuit moves him to third in the standings, just a mere point adrift of Callum Devine, both trailing Josh Moffet who holds the top spot. All crews will head southwest for round 4, the International Rally of the Lakes in Killarney on May 2–3.

If Kelly can maintain this form heading into Killarney, he will have a strong position heading into his home turf for the Donegal International in June.

2026 ITRC Driver Standings (Provisional After Round 3)

Note: Points for Round 3 are provisional based on final stage results.

Pos	Driver	R1 (Galway)	R2 (West Cork)	R3 (Circuit)	Total Points
1	Josh Moffett	13	22	17*	52
2	Callum Devine	22	17	6*	45
3	David Kelly	11	11	22*	44
4	Eddie Doherty	17	13	11*	41
5	Declan Boyle	9	8	9*	26