Fourmaux and Solberg, who has been signed by Toyota’s factory team for next season, entered the national Rally Dévoluy, which served as a useful warm-up ahead of January’s Rally Monte Carlo. The stages were held close to the city of Gap, which has been the base for Monte in recent years.
Fourmaux held a slight advantage before the start, having already contested the event a year earlier in Hyundai’s Rally1 car. For Solberg, it was his first asphalt rally in Toyota’s top-class machine.
Fourmaux opened up a gap of 22.7 seconds on the first day, but Solberg was able to claw back some time over the six stages on the final day. Fourmaux still secured victory by 14.7 seconds ahead of the Swedish Toyota driver.
For Fourmaux, the win itself was less important than the chance to fine-tune Hyundai’s setup in a proper rally and winter conditions.
“The plan for this rally was clear: to improve the car in wet and slippery conditions. We were happy to have Oliver there to see where we are. And then we tried to really work on our weaknesses,” Fourmaux told RallyJournal.com.
Solberg admitted he did not have particularly high expectations heading into a rally driven on demanding asphalt stages.
“I think we were quite quick, but there was snow and a bit of everything. It was difficult to do the first runs in damp conditions because you don’t want to slide off. But after that the feeling was quite good,” Solberg said.
“I was more nervous than excited. I know the car already, but still I was a little bit more nervous,” admitted Solberg, who won last year’s Rally Estonia in Toyota’s Rally1 car.
Hyundai’s new 2026 signing Hayden Paddon took part in the event in Hyundai’s Rally2 car and finished third overall. The New Zealander ended up just over four minutes behind rally winner Fourmaux.
The opening round of the 2026 WRC season, Rally Monte Carlo, takes place on 22–25 January. Paddon will return to the top category for the first time since 2018.
Watch the video from the Rallye National Hivernal du Dévoluy below!
