“I Want to End the Rally1 Era on My Own Terms!” — Thierry Neuville Reveals His Plan to Keep Toyota on Its Toes Ahead of Sardinia

Thierry Neuville is heading into Rally Italia Sardegna 2026 with a clear objective: finish the Rally1 era with a victory.

What was once expected to be another late-season battle on the FIA World Rally Championship calendar has now become something much bigger for Hyundai Motorsport. Following the cancellation of Rally Saudi Arabia, Sardinia will officially serve as the final round of the 2026 WRC season, bringing the current Rally1 generation to an end.

For Neuville, the significance is personal.

The Belgian driver has spent much of his career at the highest level of the WRC, and Sardinia is one of the events where he has already created part of his legacy. He has won the rally three times, including victories in 2016, 2018 and 2023. Now, with the final Rally1 event approaching, Neuville has made it clear that he does not want Hyundai to simply participate in the farewell.

He wants to fight for the top step.

Hyundai’s official preview confirms that Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe will contest the Sardinia finale alongside Adrien Fourmaux and Alexandre Coria and Dani Sordo and Patricia Sáiz. All three Hyundai crews are targeting a strong result, while Neuville has specifically identified victory as the objective.

The Rally1 Era Is Reaching Its Final Chapter

The importance of Sardinia has changed dramatically since the original 2026 calendar was announced.

The season was initially scheduled to continue into November with Rally Saudi Arabia. However, the FIA and WRC Promoter confirmed in September that the Saudi Arabian round would not take place because ongoing regional uncertainty affected the logistical arrangements required for the event.

That decision moved Sardinia into a completely different position.

Rally Italia Sardegna, scheduled for October 1–4, 2026, is now the final event of the championship. It will also mark the final European appearance for the current Rally1 machinery before the WRC moves into its next technical chapter.

For Hyundai, Toyota and M-Sport Ford, this means the final competitive kilometres of the Rally1 generation will be contested on Sardinian gravel.

For Neuville, there is an additional layer.

This is the final opportunity to put the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 on top of the podium before the sport moves toward the new WRC27 era.

That makes the Belgian driver’s message particularly significant.

He is not approaching Sardinia as a ceremonial farewell.

He is approaching it as a final fight.

Neuville Has Already Shown What He Can Do in Sardinia

Sardinia is not an unfamiliar battlefield for Neuville.

His record on the island is one of the strongest among the current Rally1 drivers. Hyundai Motorsport notes that Neuville has already won the event three times, while Hyundai itself has collected seven victories at Rally Italia Sardegna.

His first Sardinia victory came in 2016.

Two years later, he produced another memorable performance, recovering late in the rally to defeat Sébastien Ogier by only 0.7 seconds. He returned to the top step again in 2023.

That history matters because the 2026 route will demand precisely the qualities Neuville has demonstrated throughout his career.

The event features 17 special stages covering 307.02 kilometres, with narrow and abrasive gravel roads placing enormous pressure on tyres, suspension and driver precision.

There is little room for an unnecessary mistake.

There is even less room for a driver who cannot manage his tyres.

And Hyundai knows that.

“Our Target Is Clear”

Neuville’s own assessment of the event has been direct.

The Hyundai driver described Sardinia as the final round of the Rally1 era and said the team’s target is to fight for victory.

That statement changes the tone around Hyundai’s final event.

Rather than treating Sardinia as a farewell celebration, Neuville is treating it as a final competitive opportunity.

He also pointed to Hyundai’s pre-event testing as an important part of the preparation process. The Belgian believes the team has found elements that can give him the confidence and speed needed to challenge at the front.

That is exactly what Hyundai will need.

Toyota arrives in Sardinia with five Rally1 entries: Elfyn Evans, Sami Pajari, Oliver Solberg, Takamoto Katsuta and Sébastien Ogier. Hyundai will field Neuville, Fourmaux and Sordo, while M-Sport Ford will enter Josh McErlean, Jon Armstrong and Mārtiņš Sesks.

The numbers alone show the scale of the challenge facing Hyundai.

Toyota has strength in numbers.

Hyundai has experience.

And Neuville has one final opportunity to turn that experience into a result that will define the end of an era.

Why Toyota Cannot Afford to Ignore Neuville

Toyota’s immediate priority in Sardinia will be the drivers’ championship.

Elfyn Evans enters the final round with 230 points, while Sami Pajari has 213 and Oliver Solberg has 209. That leaves Pajari 17 points behind Evans and Solberg 21 points behind the championship leader.

Every stage therefore matters.

Every tyre choice matters.

Every position matters.

And that is where Neuville’s objective becomes particularly interesting.

He does not need to be involved in Toyota’s internal championship battle to influence it.

If Hyundai can produce a genuinely competitive package in Sardinia, Neuville could become another major variable at the front of the field.

A fast Hyundai could force Toyota drivers to respond.

A strong Neuville could alter the rhythm of the rally.

And a victory for Neuville would give Hyundai the final statement of the Rally1 era.

That is why the phrase “keep Toyota on its toes” fits the competitive situation, even though Neuville himself has not publicly described his goal in those exact words.

His documented objective is simpler.

He wants to win.

The Pressure on Hyundai Is Different This Time

Hyundai enters Sardinia with more than a normal race weekend hanging over the team.

The manufacturer has spent 2026 fighting through a complicated period for the WRC program.

Neuville and Fourmaux have been the two full-season drivers, while the third Hyundai i20 N Rally1 has rotated between experienced crews. The structure was designed to maximize Hyundai’s competitiveness during the final season of the current Rally1 regulations.

But the future has created another layer of uncertainty.

Earlier in 2026, questions remained over Hyundai’s WRC program beyond the end of the Rally1 era. Reports indicated that the manufacturer had not committed to a new Rally1 car for the 2027 regulations, leaving uncertainty around what its top-level WRC involvement could look like beyond 2026.

That makes the Sardinia weekend especially important for Neuville.

The Belgian is not simply racing at the end of a regulation cycle.

He is competing during a period when the future direction of the team itself has been under discussion.

A strong performance would therefore carry significance beyond the points.

It would underline what Neuville and Hyundai have been capable of achieving with the current generation of machinery.

Neuville Knows the Conditions Will Be Brutal

Sardinia has never been a rally where speed alone guarantees success.

The stages are technical, narrow and abrasive. Stones can appear close to the racing line, while repeated runs over the same sections can create deep ruts and expose the road surface.

Tyre management will be critical.

Neuville specifically highlighted the demanding nature of the stages and the importance of avoiding mistakes. The October timing also means the conditions will differ from the hotter editions of the event held earlier in the year.

The route will still punish drivers who attack without control.

That creates a difficult balance.

Neuville needs to be aggressive enough to challenge Toyota.

But he also needs to preserve the tyres and the car over 307 competitive kilometres.

That balance could ultimately decide whether Hyundai’s final Rally1 weekend becomes a respectable farewell or a genuine title-stage victory challenge.

A Rally With Personal Meaning for Neuville

There is also a historical reason why Sardinia matters so much to Neuville.

The island has already produced some of the defining moments of his WRC career.

His 2018 victory remains particularly memorable because of how late the battle was decided. Neuville overturned the deficit to Ogier during the final stage and won by just 0.7 seconds.

The rally has continued to produce extraordinary margins since then.

In 2024, Ott Tänak defeated Ogier by only 0.2 seconds, one of the closest finishes in WRC history.

That history tells Neuville exactly what Sardinia can do.

The rally can remain undecided until the final kilometres.

A driver can lose or gain enormous amounts of time through tyre management, road conditions and small mistakes.

For a driver trying to close an era with victory, that unpredictability could be an advantage.

Hyundai’s Final Rally1 Attack

The Hyundai approach for Sardinia is therefore clear.

The team wants to finish the season strongly, and Neuville wants to fight for the win.

Fourmaux and Sordo will also have roles to play, with Hyundai targeting a podium-level result from its three crews.

The manufacturer has a strong historical connection with the rally, having collected seven victories, six double podiums and 17 individual podium finishes at the event.

That history gives Hyundai a reason to believe.

But history will not win the 2026 event.

The current Hyundai i20 N Rally1 must deliver.

Neuville must execute.

And Toyota will be determined to control the final championship battle.

That combination sets up one of the most intriguing finales of the current WRC generation.

The Final Rally1 Weekend Could Become a Statement

There is a temptation to view the end of an era as a nostalgic moment.

Neuville’s approach suggests something different.

He wants to race.

He wants to challenge.

And above all, he wants to win.

That mentality could turn Sardinia into a much more intense battle than a simple farewell event.

Toyota will arrive with the championship fight still open between Evans, Pajari and Solberg. Hyundai will arrive with Neuville, Fourmaux and Sordo looking for a final major result with the i20 N Rally1.

The numbers are already dramatic.

The championship leader has only a narrow advantage.

The rally contains 17 stages and more than 300 kilometres of competitive action.

And the event itself represents the end of one of the most recognizable technical eras in modern WRC competition.

For Neuville, the equation is even simpler.

One rally remains.

One final opportunity exists to put a Rally1 Hyundai on the top step.

And Sardinia is a place where he has already proven that he knows how to win.

Thierry Neuville’s Last Chance to Write the Ending

The story of the Rally1 era will eventually be remembered through championship titles, legendary victories and spectacular battles.

Neuville now has a chance to add another chapter.

He has already won in Sardinia three times.

He has already experienced the pressure of fighting Toyota’s leading drivers.

He has already spent more than a decade competing at the highest level of the WRC.

Now he returns to the island for a completely different reason.

This time, it is not simply another round.

It is the final Rally1 round.

Hyundai wants to finish with victory.

Neuville wants to finish with victory.

And Toyota arrives with a championship battle that could be decided over the same roads.

The result could be one of the most revealing weekends of the entire 2026 season.

Because when the cars leave Alghero and the final Rally1 stage is completed, the current era will be over.

Neuville has made his intention clear: he does not want the final chapter to be written for him.

He wants to fight for it himself.

And if his Hyundai has the pace he believes it can find, Toyota may have to deal with one final Rally1 threat before the sport turns the page toward 2027.