The WRC Croatia Rally debuted on the world championship calendar in 2021, became an instant tarmac classic, skipped 2025 entirely, and now returns April 9-12 as Round 4 of a championship that already looks nothing like anyone predicted. Three rounds in, there have been three different winners: Evans leads on 66 points, Solberg sits eight back, Katsuta just eleven behind that. The title fight is genuinely open, which makes Croatia's return feel like a pressure valve about to blow.

The expectation heading in was Evans country. He and Scott Martin have two Croatia podiums on their record, and Toyota Gazoo Racing's GR Yaris Rally1 has been the class of the field on sealed tarmac for three consecutive seasons. Solberg's championship position is almost entirely gravel-built, and Hyundai's Thierry Neuville, the reigning 2024 champion, has been struggling with just 25 points. Most observers anticipated a Toyota 1-2, with Evans reasserting control on a surface he reads well.

What nobody quite expected was the scale of the route overhaul. For the first time, Croatia has moved its service park from Zagreb to the port city of Rijeka, staging the entire event out of the historic Grobnik Circuit on the Kvarner Gulf. The stages are almost completely new to the WRC: Friday runs through Istria on roads last used in championship competition over a decade ago, Saturday climbs into the Platak mountains, and Sunday drops back to the Adriatic coast for the Alan-Senj Power Stage. Total competitive distance is 300.28 km across 20 stages.

The surface is the central technical question. Istrian tarmac is inconsistent: a section can shift from smooth and grippy to loose and patchy within a single corner. The Platak mountain stages use abrasive volcanic-style asphalt that scrubs through tire compounds aggressively, while coastal roads are wider but ice-slick in rain. Temperature swings between the coast and mountain stages can exceed 15 degrees Celsius. The Hankook Ventus Z215 slick is the primary compound, but allocation strategy across three distinct surfaces in one event is effectively a chess game at 140 km/h.

In PPF work, abrasive debris and thermal cycling attacking a surface over distance is a familiar concern; what the Platak stages do to a Rally1 car's nose in 16 km, a road car earns slowly over a year on the motorway.

Whether Evans consolidates his lead or Solberg's aggression finds a surface that finally suits it is the question worth watching this weekend.

Championship standings heading into Round 4: Evans 66, Solberg 58, Katsuta 55, Fourmaux 47, Pajari 32. Round 4 runs April 9-12, 2026, service park at Grobnik Circuit, Rijeka, Croatia.

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