UNBEATABLE LEADS
ROUGH ROADS AHEAD
UNBEATABLE LEADS
Gazoo Racing deputy team principal Juha Kankkunen recognises the historic significance of what his drivers, navigators and technicians have achieved this season. " It ' s a fantastic feeling to secure another manufacturers ' championship with this team. I was involved in some of Lancia ' s championships as a driver, and some of the first titles won by Toyota, but I ' m so happy to be part of this team now too."
A secret of the Gazoo Racing team ' s WRC success for Toyota has been the number of Finns involved. In elitelevel motorsport, and specifically rallying, Finland routinely produces the best drivers and crews. And has for many decades.
Kankkunen was a legendary driver throughout the 1980s and 1990s, becoming the first driver to win four titles. What made his achievement even more notable was that he won those four titles with three different manufacturers, proving how adaptable Kankkunen was across different team dynamics and rally cars with very different engineering and design principles.
Kankkunen ' s experience is compounded by the Toyota Gazoo Racing team principal, fellow Finn Jari-Matti Latvala. Despite the pressures of being team principal, Latvala still finds time to compete at some of the WRC events, too. With 213 WRC rally starts, Latvala is extraordinarily experienced, and it shows in the manner he manages the Toyota WRC effort.
The Toyota Gazoo Racing team carries an unassailable lead into round 13 of the 2026 WRC schedule. With a total of 614 points, Toyota has a massive 204-point lead over Hyundai( 410). In the driver ' s championship, it ' s an all-Toyota affair. Welsh driver Elfyn Evans leads the ranking on 230 points, followed by Finland ' s Sami Pajari( 213) and Sweden ' s Oliver Solberg( 210).
ROUGH ROADS AHEAD
The penultimate round of this 2026 WRC season is Rally Italy, hosted on the island of Sardinia. This event is known for its unforgiving road conditions, where the slightest navigator or driver error can lead to an eventending crash.
Sardinia has extremely narrow roads, which become even more consequential at racing speeds. That means any misunderstanding between navigator and driver could lead to a misplaced corner-clipping point and rally-ending vehicle damage.
The island of Sardinia also has a rougher, more abrasive road surface than many other European WRC events. This increases the risk of punctures, and as any WRC crew knows, tyres are the one vulnerability that driving skill and meticulous navigation cannot solve. Despite all the risks in Sardinia, Toyota will be confident of conquering the Rally Italy with another win for its unstoppable season.
OCTOBER 2026 29 WORDS IN ACTION