Toyota targets record-equaling WRC title haul on Rally Paraguay

Toyota has the chance to match Lancia’s record of 10 FIA World Rally Championship manufacturers’ titles when Rally Paraguay hosts round 11 of the 2026 season this week.

The Japanese manufacturer (above, during pre-event shakedown) starts the first of the WRC’s back-to-back South American gravel rallies on the verge of securing a sixth consecutive manufacturers’ crown and its 10th in total – putting it level with the Italian manufacturer’s long-standing benchmark.

Toyota Gazoo Racing has built a commanding 174-point advantage over its nearest rival, Hyundai Motorsport, after 10 of 14 rounds. With a maximum of 240 points still up for grabs over the remaining rounds – 60 per rally – Toyota’s GR Yaris Rally1 fleet only needs to outscore Hyundai by six points in Paraguay to put the 2026 championship beyond reach and join one of the WRC’s most storied marques in the double-digits club.

And the stats are certainly in Toyota’s favor: only twice in 2026 has it failed to outscore Hyundai by six points or more, on Safari Rally Kenya and in Portugal (scene of Hyundai’s only win of the season).

Lancia earned its 10 titles between 1974 and 1992, with iconic cars such as the Stratos HF, Rally 037 and Delta HF Integrale bringing the firepower.

Toyota earned its first manufacturers’ crown in 1993 – the first of two for the Celica GT-Four – added a Corolla-equipped crown in 1998, then returned to title-winning ways in 2018 with the Yaris WRC. After a second Yaris WRC success in 2021, the Japanese marque has dominated the WRC’s Rally1 era, taking four consecutive titles with the Yaris Rally1 between 2022 and ’25, and now looking poised to add a fifth – the 10th overall – in the final season for the championship’s top-tier rules set.

Lancia earned its 10th WRC manufacturers’ title in 1992 with the final rally version of the iconic Delta HF Integrale, the “Evo.” Toyota can reach double digits on titles, too, this weekend. Getty Images

Toyota arrives in South America with formidable strength in depth. All five GR Yaris Rally1 drivers occupy the top five positions in the drivers’ standings, while Toyota has won nine of the opening 10 rallies of 2026. Those nine wins include double victories for Elfyn Evans, Takamoto Katsuta, Sebastien Ogier and Sami Pajari, and a single win for Oliver Solberg. All are in action in Paraguay.

“We will have our first opportunity to secure the manufacturers’ title, but we are not expecting that to be easy,” said Toyota’s deputy team principal, Juha Kankkunen. “We found out last year when we did this rally for the first time just how challenging the roads and the conditions can be there.”

Kankkunen’s caution is understandable after Paraguay’s spectacular WRC debut last season showed just how quickly fortunes can change on its distinctive red-earth roads.

Ogier won the inaugural event after recovering from an early tire deflation, but heavy rain transformed conditions during Sunday’s final leg and caused dramatic swings further down the order.

The nine-time and reigning WRC champ returns after his Rally Finland challenge last time out ended in a high-speed roll while leading. Ogier, who has committed to contesting the remaining four rounds, sits fifth in the drivers’ standings, 62 points behind championship leader Evans.

Evans holds a 30-point advantage over Pajari, whose breakthrough top-level WRC victory in Estonia was followed by a second consecutive triumph on home ground in Finland. That sets up the possibility of the 24-year-old Finn making it three wins in a row at an event where he finished sixth in 2025. Should he do so, he’ll be the first driver in WRC history to earn his first three wins consecutively.

Katsuta is another 11 points back in third, with Solberg five points further behind after consecutive runner-up finishes in Estonia and Finland. Solberg is no stranger to Paraguay either, having won WRC2 there on his first visit last year.

Hyundai, meanwhile, heads to the event’s Encarnacion base determined to thwart Toyota’s title aspirations – or at least delay the inevitable by a couple weeks.

Thierry Neuville and Adrien Fourmaux both showed strong pace on Paraguay’s debut, with Neuville claiming third and taking maximum Super Sunday and Wolf Power Stage bonus points. Fourmaux was in podium contention until worsening rain on the final test.

They are joined this week by Hayden Paddon in the third of the factory i20 N Rally1s. The New Zealander, who’s running a part-time program with Hyundai, makes his first top-level WRC start on gravel since Rally Australia in 2018. Seven of his nine WRC podiums have come on gravel, including his sole victory in Argentina a decade ago.

Hyundai’s hopes of a strong showing were temporarily boosted when its factory trio posted second, third and fourth fastest times in the pre-rally shakedown. Incredibly, all three crews posted an identical time of 3m01.1s on the short, 3.48-mile stage. But, Toyota’s Katsuta set the benchmark time in his GR Yaris Rally1 on his final test run, the Japanese driver’s 2m59.5s run besting the i20 N Rally1 contingent by 1.6s.

Completing the Rally1 entry, M-Sport Ford fields Josh McErlean and Jon Armstrong. McErlean arrives after finishing seventh overall, best of the Puma Rally1s, in Finland, while Paraguay represents completely new territory for Rally1 rookie Armstrong.

In WRC2, the second tier of international rallying, Estonia’s Robert Virves arrives in South America having taken maximum points on each of his four nominated appearances this season. The Skoda Fabia RS driver’s wins in Kenya, Greece, Estonia and Finland have built a commanding position at the head of the outright standings.

Having not competed in the WRC for more than three decades, Lancia returned to international rallying in 2026 with its WRC2-contending Ypsilon HF. Wins for Yohan Rossel in Croatia and the Canary Islands and Nikolay Gryazin in Japan have put it on the verge of wrapping up the WRC Teams’ Championship in Paraguay.

Lancia returned to the WRC in 2026 after a three-decade absence. Capturing the WRC2 teams’ championship with its Ypsilon HF won’t add to its 10 overall WRC titles, but it’s still an impressive first season back. Red Bull Content Pool

Virves and the Lancia duo are joined by a strong WRC2 entry that includes Toyota GR Yaris Rally2-equipped Alejandro Cachon and Gus Greensmith and Romet Jurgenson’s Ford Fiesta.

Now in its second season on the WRC schedule, Paraguay presents an even greater challenge than 12 months ago. With 223 competitive miles across 22 special stages, it’s the longest rally on the 2026 calendar and around 20 miles longer than last year. More than one third of the competitive route is new, with only two tests remaining completely unchanged from 2025.

Fast, junction-heavy roads and significant jumps are mixed with narrower, technical forest sections, while the soft red-clay surface can provide high grip when dry but become exceptionally slippery if rain arrives.

Friday is the longest leg at 95.31 competitive miles and includes two passes over the rally’s longest test, the 21.1-mile Yerbatera stage. Saturday introduces further new roads before ending with a mixed-surface super special on the Encarnacion Costanera.

Five stages remain on Sunday, culminating in a 6.38-mile blast through the rally-ending, bonus points-paying Encarnacion Wolf Power Stage.

• Catch WRC action from all rounds of the 2026 FIA World Rally Championship on RACER Network and the RACER+ App. Tune in on Monday, Aug. 31 at 9:00pm ET for full highlights from Rally Paraguay.
• RACER Network is also your home for the WRC Magazine show, with new episodes landing on the Thursday before every WRC event. Get up to speed for Rally Paraguay at 7.30pm ET on Thursday, Aug. 27.
• Join R92, RACER’s ultimate all-access membership, for just $99 for one year and get 24/7 motorsports streaming on the RACER+ app, unlimited digital access to the RACER archive, and exclusive member perks. CLICK HERE and join now for the ultimate motorsports fan experience.