Hyundai Motorsport elects for tried and tested experience for 2026 FIA World Rally Championship line-up

Hyundai Motorsport is pleased to announce its full line-up for the 2026 FIA World Rally Championship, calling upon the expertise of five skilled and competitive crews.

Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe and Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria will contest every round of the season, set to begin with Rallye Monte-Carlo in January and conclude with Rally Saudi Arabia in November. Joining them in the third Hyundai i20 N Rally1 car will be experienced Hyundai Motorsport alumni: Dani Sordo/Cándido Carrera, Esapekka Lappi/Enni Mälkönen, and Hayden Paddon/John Kennard.

Sordo and Carrera enjoyed a strong season in the Portuguese national championship with the Hyundai i20 N Rally2, clinching the title in a close finale in October. The Spanish duo have claimed nine FIA WRC podiums together since their partnership began in 2021, including two Hyundai Motorsport podium lock-outs at Acropolis Rally in 2023 and 2024. Sordo and Carrera will begin their 2026 campaign at Rally Islas Canarias.

Lappi will be looking to add to his five podiums with the team as he embarks on his next chapter in the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 with 2024 WRC2 co-drivers’ champion, Mälkönen. While the Finnish pair only began competing together at Arctic Lapland Rally in January, they quickly powered their way to success, winning the Finnish Rally Championship. Much like the debut of their partnership, their first WRC event will also be on snow, at February’s Rally Sweden – the scene of Lappi’s long-awaited second WRC victory in 2024. 

Paddon and Kennard also make a welcome return, having last competed with the team in 2018 and 2017 respectively. However, the Kiwi duo have continued to represent the Hyundai brand on the stages, winning multiple New Zealand Rally Championships, back-to-back European Rally Championship titles in 2023 and 2024, as well as this year’s Australian Rally Championship crown. During their time at Hyundai Motorsport, the crew claimed a spectacular victory at Rally Argentina in 2016, and three further podiums in Poland (2016), Sweden (2016) and Sardinia (2015); Paddon also scored four podiums with co-driver Seb Marshall. Paddon and Kennard’s first event will be January’s Rallye Monte-Carlo.