After a record-breaking 2025 season, having already secured a fifth consecutive manufacturers’ championship and with three of its crews still fighting for the drivers’ and co-drivers’ titles, the team will aim high on all fronts again next year, fielding five GR Yaris Rally1 cars on the majority of events.

Solberg, 24, and co-driver Elliott Edmondson are handed the opportunity to move up to Rally1 machinery after securing this year’s WRC2 title at the wheel of the GR Yaris Rally2 car and claiming a stunning overall win on their debut with TGR-WRT at Rally Estonia in July.

The promotion of Solberg follows that of Pajari, the 2024 WRC2 champion, who will enter 2026 having gained a full year of experience at the highest level under his belt and put in promising performances along the way alongside co-driver Marko Salminen, including a maiden podium at Rally Japan.

Katsuta, the first graduate of the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRC Challenge Program, will look to continue his growth next season after producing his strongest performances to-date in 2025 in Sweden and Finland, finishing second on both occasions with his co-driver Aaron Johnston.

The team can also count on experienced and proven winners to lead its chase for the championship titles. Evans will go into his seventh successive full season with the team after one of his strongest and most consistent seasons to-date, where he and co-driver Scott Martin currently lead the fight for the title with one rally remaining.

After expanding his career win tally with multiple victories in 2025 and fighting for a ninth drivers’ crown, Sébastien Ogier will once more commence a partial programme at January’s season-opening Rallye Monte-Carlo that will include more than half of the season’s rounds along with co-driver Vincent Landais.

TGR WRC Challenge Program takes exciting steps forward for 2026

The TGR WRC Challenge Program, which started in 2015, continues to go from strength to strength in its aim of developing rally drivers who can compete on the world stage, following in the footsteps of Takamoto Katsuta.

After demonstrating strong progress with his speed and consistency during 2025, the Program’s second-generation driver Yuki Yamamoto will make another step in his development next year, embarking on a full season of WRC rallies driving a GR Yaris Rally2 including a seven-round WRC2 bid.

Three new drivers will also step into the GR Yaris Rally2, including the Program’s third generation of drivers Shotaro Goto and Takumi Matsushita, who make another step forward for their third year of rallying after impressing during 2025 in Rally3 machinery.

In addition, as part of TGR-WRT’s commitment to identifying and supporting talented young drivers, the Program will expand to welcome a driver from outside Japan for the first time. A global selection event was held in Finland earlier this year for five invited drivers who have previously shown potential on the lower rungs of the rally ladder.

Jaspar Vaher, 18 years old from Estonia, particularly impressed the TGR-WRT instructors with his ability, despite a lack of previous four-wheel drive rally experience, and will line up alongside Goto and Matsushita in a schedule of events including national, European and world championship rounds.

The Program’s fourth generation of drivers, Rio Ogata and Kanta Yanaguida, demonstrated strong progress in their first season and will step up from two-wheel drive Rally4 cars to four-wheel drive Rally3 machinery next year, as will Japanese co-driver Tomiya Maekawa.

This year’s selection process for Japanese drivers is underway. Following an initial selection in Japan in September, six drivers have been invited to the final stage in Finland in December.