Hyundai Aims To Make Waves At Unpredictable Croatia
2026 croatia rally preview 02
Fresh off a podium in Kenya, the Hyundai factory outfit is towing its battered optimism to Croatia, where the tarmac is beautiful and unforgiving in equal measure.
The rally has moved to the Rijeka area for the first time and hands teams a neat little headache: 300.28 kilometres of stages that hop from seaside flow to knuckle-whitening mountain turns across 20 tests. Precision will matter. So will courage and just a smidge of good luck.
The team arrives with three crews and a clear brief. The technical bosses have been tinkering with setup to make the car less moody when grip changes, but full upgrades are being drip-fed rather than unleashed all at once. One crew brings valuable tarmac experience, another pair are building form for the season, and the third is back in a car type that should suit these kinds of roads. In short, expectations are cautious rather than gung ho.
Why Croatia Is Brutal
This rally lives and dies by split seconds. The stages are fast and fluid so a single mistake can eat the podium. Add seaside weather that can flip from dry to slippery in the time it takes to open a map and you have an event where attrition often outshines outright speed. The sensible crews will aim to make fewer mistakes than the others and let reliability do the heavy lifting.
The crews know what they are in for. One talks up the joy of finding new stages and the importance of pace notes when the surface changes every few corners. Another admits the team has not been perfect on tarmac lately and welcomes the fresh stages as a chance to reset. The returning driver is looking to build momentum after recent outings, aware that road position will make day one tougher but confident pace can be found as the rally unfolds.
Ultimately this will be a test of setup, stamina and nerve more than outright horsepower. If the team can keep the cars where the road is intended to be and avoid the kitchen-sink moments that ruin rallies, there is every chance they will be in the mix when the chequered flag drops.
Zachary Skinner is the editor of TechDrivePlay.com, where tech, cars and adventure share the fast lane.
A former snowboarding pro and programmer, he brings both creative flair and technical know-how to his reviews. From high-performance cars to clever gadgets, he explores how innovation shapes the way we move, connect and live.
