A new-look Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team (TGR-WRT) will begin their 10th season of competition today when the 2026 FIA World Rally Championship opens with the Rallye Monte-Carlo 22-25 January.
The championship tests cars, drivers and team members more than any other motorsports discipline. From the freezing snow to the desert heat, on every kind of road surface, it offers a unique setting to learn about the roads and conditions facing Toyota customers around the world.
Since their debut season in 2017, TGR-WRT have won the manufacturers’, drivers’ and co-drivers’ titles six times and helped Toyota establish a new record for rally victories, which currently stands at 105.
After a record-breaking 2025 campaign, TGR-WRT enter this year with the goal of defending their titles. Not resting on their laurels, the team continue to work on improving the all-conquering GR Yaris Rally1 car, which sports a striking new red, white and black livery.
Making use of the homologation jokers available for the final season of the current Rally1 regulations, the team have focused on developing the car’s aerodynamics and suspension. Changes include a new rear wing (fitted to the three manufacturer entries for round one) while new suspension parts allow for more set-up options.
A refreshed driver line-up for 2026 adds more exciting young talent to TGR-WRT’s proven roster. All five GR Yaris Rally1 crews will be in action on round one.
Sébastien Ogier claimed a record-equalling ninth world championship in a thrilling conclusion to the 2025 season, guided by co-driver Vincent Landais. He is also the most successful driver in the long history of Rallye Monte-Carlo, which is based in his hometown of Gap in the French Alps, having achieved his 10th victory on the event last year.
Before the start of the rally at Monaco Harbour on Thursday, a new special edition GR Yaris marking Ogier’s ninth title will be unveiled in a world premiere. It will be displayed alongside the GR Yaris MORIZO RR that was created with TGR-WRT Chairman Akio Toyoda – aka Morizo – and first revealed earlier this month at the Tokyo Auto Salon.
Elfyn Evans embarks on his seventh successive full season with TGR-WRT, along with co-driver Scott Martin. Last year’s championship runners-up, they have finished on the podium four times at Rallye Monte-Carlo during their time with the team, including second place in 2025.
He said, “After a short turnaround like always, I’m looking forward to the new season and to be hopefully fighting at the sharp end. I’m sure it’s going to be a competitive year and we will have to be at our best.
“There’s quite a lot of continuity in terms of the car and the tyres, and although we finished last season in a pretty good place, the team is always working to find improvements and that bit more performance that we as drivers are always asking for.
“Rallye Monte-Carlo is always a bit of an unknown in the sense that you cannot be sure beforehand what conditions you will face. It’s a huge challenge and it’s all about adapting as best as you can during the event.”
Joining the line-up for the 2026 season are Oliver Solberg and co-driver Elliott Edmondson following their dominant run to last year’s WRC2 title in the GR Yaris Rally2 car plus victory on their GR Yaris Rally1 debut in Estonia. With six previous Rallye Monte-Carlo starts to his name, Solberg is the third and final driver nominated to score manufacturers’ points for TGR-WRT.
Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team arrives intent on reclaiming early momentum in what it knows is a critical year. Thierry Neuville, the 2024 WRC champion and twice a Monte-Carlo winner, heads the attack alongside Adrien Fourmaux, who impressed on his Hyundai debut here last season. New Zealand’s Hayden Paddon returns to rallying’s top level for the first time since 2018 in the third i20 N Rally1.
M-Sport Ford lines up with a youthful and ambitious squad at the season opener. Grégoire Munster makes a one-off start after claiming his maiden WRC stage win at Monte-Carlo last year, while Josh McErlean builds on a solid Rally1 debut season. Fresh from a breakout FIA European Rally Championship campaign, Northern Irishman Jon Armstrong makes his top-class debut on the sport’s most unforgiving stages.
In WRC2, an iconic name returns as Lancia makes its long-awaited comeback to the championship. The debut of the Ypsilon Rally2 HF Integrale marks the brand’s first WRC appearance since 2000 – a symbolic moment at the event where Lancia remains the most successful manufacturer of all time.
The action begins on Thursday afternoon and concludes on Sunday afternoon in Monaco. Saturday night adds a spectacular twist, with the championship returning to the streets of Monaco for a competitive super-special stage around Port Hercule for the first time since 2008.
