Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta snatched a shock WRC Croatia Rally victory after Thierry Neuville crashed out on the final Wolf Power Stage, denying Hyundai a possible first win of the 2026 season.
The dramatic conclusion marked Katsuta’s second consecutive World Rally Championship triumph following his earlier success at the Safari Rally Kenya and also propelled him to the top of the drivers’ standings for the first time in his career.
Neuville entered the day with a commanding 1m14.5s lead having charged his Hyundai to the top on Saturday after Sami Pajari’s costly puncture, and was firmly in contention for victory.
Katsuta and co-driver Aaron Johnston lurked behind in second after adopting a measured approach on the asphalt surfaces that had already claimed Toyota teammates Elfyn Evans and Oliver Solberg on Friday.
However, the competition turned on its head during the decisive 14.2 km Wolf Power Stage along Alan – Senj 2 where Neuville lost control of his Hyundai i20 N Rally1 midway through a high-speed left-hander and speared into a concrete block, shredding the front-right suspension.
The 2024 World Rally Champion attempted to limp on but was losing so much time that he parked up near the finish, having been radioed by team principal Pablo Marcos to stop. He worked on the car for almost 20 minutes, then crawled to the finish line and retirement.
“I can only say sorry to everyone involved,” said Neuville. “Working hard, that’s the only thing I can say. All the rest we will see later. I’ve no explanation at the moment, so, sorry. This cannot happen but we will see exactly what went wrong.”
The setback handed Takamoto Katsuta WRC Croatia Rally victory by 20.7 seconds over Sami Pajari, while Hayden Paddon salvaged Hyundai’s heartbreak with a podium finish.
Oliver Solberg pulled off a clean sweep on Super Sunday, claiming the maximum 10 points from the day’s classification and the Wolf Power Stage, while Elfyn Evans took second.
In WRC2, Yohan Rossel romped to a maiden category win for Lancia after more than three decades. The French driver finished fourth overall, followed by his younger brother Leo Rossel in the Citroën C3, while Nikolay Gryazin rounded out the Rally2 podium.
READ MORE:
Full WRC Croatia Rally 2026 Results
Neuville takes Rally Croatia lead for Hyundai as puncture chaos shakes up competition
Sami Pajari seizes Croatia Rally lead as Elfyn Evans and Oliver Solberg crash on Day 1
