- Rapidly changing winter conditions in the Alps placed strategy and adaptability at the center of the 2026 WRC season opener.
- Hankook's rally tires supported stable competition across high-speed tarmac, snow, and ice throughout the demanding Monte-Carlo stages.
- Early-season momentum carries through to the upcoming Rally Sweden
MONACO, Jan. 26, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Rallye Monte-Carlo, the opening round of the 2026 FIA World Rally Championship (WRC), wrapped up on January 25 across Monaco and France, with Hankook Tire & Technology Co., Ltd. (hereafter Hankook), a global leading tire company of the Hankook & Company Group (Chairman HyunBum Cho), supporting the season opener as the championship's exclusive rally tire supplier.
Rallye Monte-Carlo opened the 2026 WRC season against an unpredictable winter mountain backdrop, where snow, ice, wet asphalt, and dry tarmac repeatedly intersected across the stages. Along the tarmac roads winding through the French Alps, rapidly changing conditions remained a constant factor throughout the rally, placing tire performance and strategic decision-making at the heart of the competition.
Contested across 17 special stages totaling 339 km through Monaco and France, the event required drivers to respond to shifting surface conditions at every stage. Precision driving and well-timed strategic decisions proved essential throughout what is widely regarded as one of the most challenging season openers on the WRC calendar.
Hankook supplied its Ventus Z215 tarmac rally tire and Winter i*cept SR20 snow rally tire, to ensure stable competition. The Ventus Z215 delivered precise handling and cornering stability on dry asphalt, while the Winter i*cept SR20 provided reliable grip across sections combining snow and ice. Together, the tires helped drivers maintain performance throughout the rally's characteristic winter challenges.
After a fierce contest, Oliver Solberg and co-driver Elliott Edmondson of Toyota GAZOO Racing claimed victory. In particular, Solberg made headlines by becoming the youngest winner of the Rallye Monte-Carlo in the 21st century, breaking a 56-year-old record set by Björn Waldegård in 1970. Furthermore, the Toyota team swept the podium, demonstrating overwhelming competitiveness and stable performance from the very first round of the 2026 season.
Since the 2025 season, Hankook has supplied rally tires exclusively across all WRC classes under a three-year agreement, continuing to demonstrate its technical competitiveness on the global motorsport stage. In preparation for this role, the company conducted more than 2,000 km of driving and performance testing across eight countries from 2023 onward, leading to the development of FIA-certified high-performance rally tires designed to deliver stable performance in harsh environments.
The 2026 FIA World Rally Championship continues with 14 rounds across four continents from January through November. The next challenge comes at Rally Sweden from February 12 to 15, where full-snow and ice stages, high-speed running on studded tires, and extreme cold temperatures will once again place durability and traction at the forefront following the Monte-Carlo opener.
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