Review: Round 4 - Croatia Rally

Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team’s Hayden Paddon and John Kennard end a ruthless weekend at Croatia Rally with an unexpected third-place finish. Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe had a commanding lead of the rally until the final stage, where a patch of gravel forced the Belgians off the road, damaged their suspension and snatched their win away from within grasp.

Competitive action began on Friday, where all three Hyundai Motorsport crews set out to unlock the pace of the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Evo car’s pace on tarmac. Neuville was able to clinch three stage wins (SS3, SS6, SS7) and assert himself as the team’s pace-setter in second, while Paddon’s cool consistency placed him in fourth. A puncture for Adrien Fourmaux and Alexandre Coria on SS2 put them on the backfoot, but they were able to manage the rest of the day to finish Friday in fifth.
 
Saturday’s stages threw a spanner in the works for the majority of the Rally1 field. With gravel scattered across the twisty tarmac roads, punctures and unpredictable grip levels were factors on almost every test. While most competitors grappled with issues on SS14 – including a puncture for Paddon that he nursed to the stage end – Neuville made it through unharmed and rose through the ranks to clinch the rally lead. A concrete pole on SS12 put an early end to Fourmaux’s Saturday run, with a collision destroying the rear of their car and forcing them to retire for the remainder of the day.
 
Super Sunday continued to demonstrate Croatia’s unpredictability. Fourmaux’s return to the stages opened with a third-place finish on SS17 following the team’s hard work to repair the car overnight. The Frenchman was able to take third in the Super Sunday standings, and was aiming to fight tooth and nail against his competitors to secure the invaluable additional points for the team. Disaster struck in the closing kilometres of the Power Stage, when a front right puncture put an end to their pursuit for Power Stage points. The crew was able to claim two Super Sunday points to aid both championship tallies.
 
With the finish line in sight for Neuville, his strong run came to an end when gravel on the road drove the Belgian off the line and onto the edge of the road. Impact damage to the front right of their car dropped him out of the rally lead he had claimed on the previous day, and rendered him unable to finish the rally. This heartbreak for Neuville saw Paddon’s measured approach be rewarded; his expected fourth-place finish was transformed into his first WRC podium since Rally Australia 2018 – and Kennard’s first since Rally Poland 2016 – as they were promoted to third.
 
While a testing weekend for the team in Croatia ended on a bittersweet note, there were plenty of moments that showed the team’s progress with the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Evo since the end of the 2025 season. The team will return at Rally Islas Canarias to push again for success.  
 

Crew Notes: Hayden Paddon/John Kennard (#20 Hyundai i20 N Rally1)  

• Crew claim well deserved podium after rollercoaster weekend
• Third-place finish marks Paddon’s first podium since 2018, and Kennard’s first since 2016

Paddon said: “It’s definitely bittersweet for us. Firstly, I was gutted for the team and Thierry because I know how much work everyone has been putting in, and for that they really deserve the victory. It’s a surprise to be on the podium, it wasn’t ever our expectation. We stuck to our plan this weekend, and despite what I said at the start of the weekend, it was one of those rallies that you just had to survive. At this level you have to be on the limit so much, and when you’re on the limit that’s when mistakes happen – punctures and everything else we’ve seen this weekend. It’s hard to comprehend that we’re even back on a WRC podium eight and ten years later, but it’s been quite some journey.”
 

Crew Notes: Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria (#16 Hyundai i20 N Rally1)  

• Frenchmen battled a tough weekend in Croatia for admirable finish
• Crew claim two Super Sunday points

Fourmaux said: “About two kilometres before the end of the Power Stage we got a puncture – it was right in the middle of the tyre so I don’t know exactly what caused it. It was the outside wheel on a left-hand corner, so it was probably some loose rocks that we did not see, that’s it. We could have scored two extra points, but we didn’t. I’m very frustrated with what happened yesterday, that’s the main thing, and I’m very sorry to the team and for Thierry. Croatia is always a tricky one; the grip levels vary so much that it’s unpredictable, but I think that’s why it deserves to be in the championship.” 
 

Crew Notes: Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (#11 Hyundai i20 N Rally1) 

• Incident on Power Stage dropped Belgians out of contention for rally win
• Neuville/Wydaeghe will focus on bouncing back at Rally Islas Canarias

Neuville said: “First of all, I would like to express my apologies to the whole team – everybody who works with me throughout the whole year. It’s a huge disappointment for Martijn and myself, we didn’t expect that but unfortunately the rally can strike even at the very last stage. We were driving according to plan, and our target was just to get through the stage, but unfortunately, we were surprised on that corner. I probably turned in a bit too early, and my first reaction was to open, and then the incident happened. It’s going to be a tough period for us but we have no choice but to come back stronger and keep fighting. We won’t give up and our time will come again.”
 
Hyundai Motorsport WRC Sporting Director Andrew Wheatley said:

The whole team will feel what happened today because of the hard work that everyone has done this year – it was tough. Thierry and Martijn had done all the hard work they needed to do, came to the final stage with a minute lead, and with a little bit of bad luck this is now the position that we find ourselves in. We arrived here this weekend without a huge amount of confidence, and step-by-step everybody has done an incredible amount of work to put ourselves in a place where we thought we would find success. We have to be clear – Hayden has now finished on the podium, which is a great result, but unfortunately the win was not to be. It’s not the disappointment that kills you, it’s the hope. We now need to reset and try to go again. Tonight we can  sit back and lick our wounds a bit, but tomorrow we need to start again. We made our own luck  on Friday and Saturday, but what we gained there, we lost on Sunday. This one is a hard one to take for everybody in the team.
 

Next rally 

• The WRC ventures to Gran Canaria for Rally Islas Canarias from April 23-26, the second pure tarmac round of the 2026 season.