
Hankook Moves to Calm WRC Tyre Fears Before Acropolis
Hankook is testing a revised hard compound for the Acropolis Rally after durability concerns in Portugal, a year on from Thierry Neuville's furious Greek puncture run.

Conner Martell will make his World Rally Championship debut at the Acropolis Rally in a Lancia Ypsilon Rally2 HF Integrale, the latest step in the storied marque's WRC comeback that already yielded a first win in 33 years.

Hankook is testing a revised hard compound for the Acropolis Rally after durability concerns in Portugal, a year on from Thierry Neuville's furious Greek puncture run.

WRC leader Elfyn Evans insists the title fight is wide open at the midpoint despite a 20-point lead, naming Oliver Solberg a live threat with seven gravel rounds left.

Oliver Solberg concedes he is learning the hard way after a third asphalt crash of the season at Rally Japan, while Toyota team-mate Sebastien Ogier urges the fast young Swede to add consistency without burning his wings.

A Toyota 1-2-3-4 at Rally Japan handed Elfyn Evans victory and a bigger championship lead, but nine-time world champion Sebastien Ogier refused to be satisfied with second, insisting he came to win.

Elfyn Evans controlled FORUM8 Rally Japan from start to finish for his third win on the event and a stretched WRC championship lead, while Oliver Solberg explained the costly Saturday crash that ended his charge.

The Forum8 Rally Japan moves from November to a late-May slot for 2026, reshaping WRC strategy as Toyota's Elfyn Evans defends a 12-point championship lead over home favourite Takamoto Katsuta.

Hayden Paddon has returned to the World Rally Championship's top class with Hyundai eight years after walking away, and after a podium on his comeback campaign the New Zealander plans to drop his safety-first approach at Rally Japan.

Sebastien Ogier has won Rally Italia Sardegna for a record fifth time, holding off Ott Tanak by 7.9 seconds and team-mate Kalle Rovanpera by 50.5 seconds after a tense final stage in which the Toyota part-timer admitted his car nearly broke. The Sardinian win moves Ogier within striking distance of the WRC drivers' championship lead heading into Rally Greece.

Spanish outfit RMC Motorsport, in partnership with Spain's national motorsport federation RFEDA, has become the second new constructor to commit to building a Rally1 car under the FIA's 2027 World Rally Championship regulations, joining Toyota and the existing Project Rally One programme.

Rally Italia Sardegna marks Round 6 of the 2026 WRC and the last running on Italian soil before the event relocates to a Rome base in 2027. Hyundai brings out an unusually deep bench with Thierry Neuville, Adrien Fourmaux, Dani Sordo, Hayden Paddon and Esapekka Lappi all on the entry list.

Ott Tanak completed his first day in Toyota WRC27 prototype on Finnish gravel as Sebastien Ogier welcomes the 2019 champion back to development duty for the marque he won the title with.